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Infant Massage
Touch helps relieve a baby's stress, and relaxes mom and dad as well. Evidence shows that loving, touching, nurturing contact between caregiver and infant has a positive impact upon the infant's development. Infant massage is one of the easiest methods of providing early positive contact. Supporters of infant massage say that it helps to strengthen and regulate respiratory, circulatory, and gastrointestinal functions. It also enhances the loving communication between caregiver and baby, and helps parents keep "in touch" with the infant's non-verbal cues. Infant massage includes critical elements of bonding: eye-to-eye contact, skin-to-skin contact, smiling, soothing sounds and smells, cuddling, response and interaction. Enjoy this time with your little one; take heart in the fact that you are letting your baby know s/he is loved. Benefits for Parents* Better Understanding about their infant's cures of responsiveness Enhances communication and emotional ties Increases confidence and handling skills Greatly improves the bond of affectional attachment Provides a means to develop quality interaction time Helps the parents relax and listen to their baby Massage becomes a perfect avenue for conversation as the child gets older *Taken from "Loving touch right from the start. . .", The Art of Infant Massage, International Loving Touch Foundation, Inc. INFANT MASSAGE IS a language of love between parents and their children that holds more meaning than words can possibly express. In recent years, more study has been done on touch and its benefits. The researchers are commonly finding that pre-term babies that were given a 15-minute massage twice a day had gained nearly 50 percent more weight than those not massaged. The infants were also released from the hospital six days earlier than the control group. Many of the benefits of infant massage also translate to the healthy baby population. Benefits of massaging your baby: Assisting your baby in relaxation and release of accumulated stress. Strengthening the respiratory, circulatory, and gastrointestinal function. Relieves discomfort from teething, congestion, gas, colic, and emotional stress. Helps baby sleep more soundly. Enhances neurological development. Nourishes the baby emotionally. Enhances the bonding process. Improves sensory awareness. Excerpts of an article by Infant Massage Starting Life with Loving Touch, by Roxane Fogard.
Supporters of infant massage say that it helps to strengthen and regulate respiratory, circulatory, and gastrointestinal functions. It also enhances the loving communication between caregiver and baby, and helps parents keep "in touch" with the infant's non-verbal cues. Infant massage includes critical elements of bonding: eye-to-eye contact, skin-to-skin contact, smiling, soothing sounds and smells, cuddling, response and interaction. Enjoy this time with your little one; take heart in the fact that you are letting your baby know s/he is loved.
Benefits for Parents*
*Taken from "Loving touch right from the start. . .", The Art of Infant Massage, International Loving Touch Foundation, Inc.
In recent years, more study has been done on touch and its benefits. The researchers are commonly finding that pre-term babies that were given a 15-minute massage twice a day had gained nearly 50 percent more weight than those not massaged. The infants were also released from the hospital six days earlier than the control group. Many of the benefits of infant massage also translate to the healthy baby population.
Benefits of massaging your baby:
Excerpts of an article by Infant Massage Starting Life with Loving Touch, by Roxane Fogard.
Additional Articles and Resources
Note: You'll find these articles at different web sites. Use the "back" button when you're done to return to this page.
What is Infant Massage?
Baby Mini-Massage: THE TUMMY MASSAGE: How to give a child the "I Love "U" Massage.
Fact Sheet on Baby Massage