THE SANCTUARY MONTHLY BULLETIN - GRAND OPENING
SPOTLIGHT ON INFANT MASSAGE
THE VALUE AND ESSENTIAL NATURE OF INFANT MASSAGE: HOW AND WHY INTIMATE CONTACT WITH BABIES CAN LEAD TO HAPPIER, HEALTHIER DEVELOPMENT
AND RELATIONSHIP
The very first sense to develop in babies is touch, and long after sight and hearing fade in old age, the sense of touch is still very much alive. Babies and young children learn much about the world, especially in their first year – from touch. They explore the world through putting things in their mouth, touching everything within reach and learning about shape, softness, texture, elasticity, temperature and much more. Children learn about what is not safe, such as a hot stove or a thorny rose bush; and they learn about the different kinds of human touch – secure and safe, firm or punishing, or gentle and soothing.
So we know that touch is critical for growth and development, for learning about the world in many ways, but even more important is the fact that early emotional bonds are built from physical contact. When those early lessons are not learned due to the lack of vital, loving touch, the emotional bonds so essential for developing future relationships and empathy for other humans – simply do not form. Once we have lost the opportunity to instill trust, comfort, reassurance and self-esteem, presented during the first three or four years of a child’s life, it is rarely recovered.
The neural pathways necessary for forming bonds with other human beings, are laid down like the essential thoroughfares of a city, during the earliest years; when these primary neural pathways are not built early on due to a lack of consistent, loving touch, the prospect for future emotional bonding and relating to other humans is at serious risk.
We know that touch is critical for infant-mother bonding, never more so than during the newborn period, although bonding actually begins before birth. Numerous studies have confirmed that keeping newborns together with their mother in the hours immediately following birth, especially skin-to-skin, has many crucial benefits: mothers are less depressed, they are more satisfied with their infants, spend more time looking into their baby’s face, more time interacting with them, they have more successful breastfeeding experiences, make more milk and have fewer postpartum hemorrhages. Newborns spontaneously breastfeed sooner, resulting in more successful and longer breastfeeding experiences; they cry less, are less stressed, regulate their heart rates, respiration, oxygenation and temperature in sync with their mothers and have been proven to grow and gain weight much better when they spend more time skin-to-skin with mothers – and fathers!
As a strategy to increase and improve loving, vital touch to babies, infant massage is second only to breastfeeding itself, although bottle-fed babies should be held close when being fed just as with breastfeeding, and they receive all the same, crucial benefits of massage.
The list of the benefits of massage for babies, all proven beyond doubt by innumerable studies, is astounding:
• Increases self esteem for child and parent
• Promotes bonding and attachment
• Increases sense of love, acceptance, respect and trust
• For baby, improves body awareness
• Improves relaxation and release of stress
• Stimulates circulation
• Strengthens digestive, circulatory and gastrointestinal systems, which can lead to better weight gain
• Reduces discomfort due to teething, colic, gas, congestion
• Increases elimination, circulation and respiration
• Improves hormonal activity
• Improves synchrony between child and care giver
• For parents, it improves their ability to react to infant cues
• Increases confidence in parenting skills
• Provides opportunity to share quality time together
• Improves sense of well-being for parent, reduces stress and blood pressure and improves overall health
Below are some general tips for massaging your baby:
• Pay attention to your baby’s cues – choose a time when baby is content (after bathing or during a diaper-free playtime perhaps) and is in a calm and alert state. Don’t attempt to massage if baby is tired, fretful or hungry at first; later on, once baby is accustomed to massage, it may actually be comforting and calm them down.
• Baby’s are sensitive to your mood, so make sure you aren’t tired or in a rush
• Gather supplies before getting started: towel, massage oil, a clean diaper and clothes
• Make sure the room is warm enough so that baby is comfortable in their birthday suit
• Remove your jewelry and trim your nails short to avoid scratching your baby
• Limit massage time to about ten minutes so baby doesn’t get bored – watch for cues that baby is disengaging
• If baby doesn’t seem to enjoy the massage, stop right away and try again another time don’t give up as some babies may take a few times to get used to being massaged
• Maintain eye contact with your baby whenever they are facing you; smile, talk, play finger games and nursery rhymes – let your baby know that this is something to feel happy about
• The safest place to massage your baby is sitting on the floor with your legs outstretched place a large towel over your lap and lay your baby on the towel. If this position is physically difficult for you, use a towel in the middle of the bed, but never leave a baby of any age unattended on a bed
• Take your phone off the hook, turn off the TV, and resist interruptions during your special time with your baby
• Try playing some calming “baby music” or quiet classical music such as Mozart; your baby will learn to associate your special music with their massage time
• You don’t need to be a professional masseuse to give your baby a massage – just do what feels good to you and to your baby; massage gently and lovingly with a good rhythm and movements toward the heart
• Dress your baby or wrap them in the towel before picking them up following the massage – oily babies are slippery!
• Always use a good quality carrier oil such as almond oil, apricot kernel oil or jojoba oil – never use mineral oil as it tends to clog pores (most “baby oils” are made of mineral oil)
If you are convinced by now and want to get started with infant massage, I highly recommend the following books:
• “Baby’s First Touch” – Booklets and Videos from International Loving Touch Foundation (see our Link)
• Baby Massage: The Calming Power of Touch by Alan Heath & Nicki Bainbridge
• Baby Massage – Amelia Auckett
• Baby Massage – Peter Walker
• Baby Massage: Expert Know-How At Your Fingertips – Bo Lundberg & Gayle Berry
• Loving Hands – Frederick LeBoyer
Recommended reading on related topics:
• Touch – Tiffany Field
• The Vital Touch – Sharon Heller, Ph.D.
• Aromatherapy and Massage for Mother and Baby – Allison England
Compiled by Linda Whitlow, CIMI -
Linda is a Certified Infant Massage Instructor with the International Loving Touch Foundation and a Lactation Educator
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