The Touch of Love: Massaging Your Baby
While in the womb and from birth on, babies show sensitivity to
being touched. When our first son had colic for the first three
months, my husband and I took turns carrying him close to our
bodies and touching him constantly. Positive touching or
caressing an irritable or colicky baby seems to quiet him down.
Before birth, the fetus is constantly touched and supported by
the womb. He feels and hears his mother's body together with
most of the outside stimuli. He recognizes his father's voice
from early on and is also introduced to other peoples' voices in
the family circle. After birth, the infant associates the
specific touches with those voices and he learns to bond with
people. Thus, through the massage, warm and loving relationships
are introduced to the newborn.
Premature babies are periodically touched and caressed by their
nurses to encourage their well-being and growth. For a preemie
or a full-term newborn, the importance of bonding through close
contact with other people and the outside world cannot be
stressed enough.
Especially when the complications of the birth process delay the
bonding with the parents, massaging the baby afterwards for
about 20 minutes a day by each parent can make up for lost time.
I don't know if an energy exchange is possible through massage
as some claim; however, the benefits of massage are clear. If
massaged, even those babies born under the most desirable
conditions show faster and more improved growth.
Massage also has a favorable effect on babies experiencing
developmental lag, disabilities of any kind, and especially
separation from a caregiver or parent because of death or
illness.
Another good use for the massage is that once your baby gets
used to the massaging, if he is irritated for one reason or
another, your gentle massaging or stroking will calm him down
easily. Some scientists believe that massaging a baby may
promote new formations in the central nervous system and may
help develop more advanced motor skills.
The person massaging a baby need not be a massage therapist.
Just simple touching and gentle caresses with cooing and talking
to the baby will do. The baby massage follows a simple pattern:
from top to toe and on both sides of the body, front and back.
For the massage, in a warm room, you first hold the baby facing
you and lay him down on a soft mattress. Start with gentle
touches, fingertip strokes and strokes on the crown of the head,
to the forehead and the face, neck shoulders, arms, torso, legs
and feet. Then turn the baby over on his belly and stroke the
head, neck, back legs and feet. Combine short strokes with long
ones. During the massage, it is necessary to give equal
importance to both sides of the baby's body.
Oiling your hands while massaging a baby is not necessary unless
the skin on your hands is excessively rough. If you really want
to use oil or lotion, use it on the back of the baby after you
have turned him over on his belly. This avoids baby's ingesting
the oil or lotion when he sucks his fingers and toes.
For the massage, a baby need not be unclothed totally each time,
especially after he gets used to it and enjoys it as his special
time with the parent. Conversing with the baby and the parent's
calm and peaceful mood are very important during the massage.
If you get into the habit of massaging your baby, your baby will
show improved neurological development, greater weight gain and
higher mental functioning.
While you can, enjoy your baby as you massage him, for he will
grow into a fully functioning adult before you know it.