Baby Massage: Improving Life with Touch

Baby massage can be an easy way to help your child. Here are some ways it helps, and some ideas for getting started. It can be help:

If the child has hyper-tonic, high tone, muscles, massage can help in relaxing them.
Baby massage can also help hypo-tonic, or low tone, muscles to stimulate the muscles and help them develop
It helps both children with hyper and hypo sensitivity to regulate their bodies to touch. Helping a child learn to familiarize touch can help with life long necessary skills. Getting a child’s body in-line can also help to regulate other senses.
Massage can also help fussy babies relieve tension and stress. Children who are extra susceptible to this need are drug withdrawal babies, sensitive babies, and babies that have unusual pain.
Massage can help all babies sleep longer and deeper if done as part of a nightly routine.
Baby massage can help increase social skills and increase bonding
Help with digestion- keeping babies more regular and ease gas issues
Help babies increase alert state for more personal interactions
Help with feeding issues by assisting oral-motor development
It may even help some children with weight gain- Perhaps through alertness, feeding issues, and digestive help
Baby massage can help improve body awareness, which will help gross motor, fine motor, and self-help skills

Easy ways to start:

Keep it simple
Make it a routine
Place baby or toddler on towel
Use lotion
Talk with baby

Here’s a simple video to help get you started. There are other ideas that started at legs is easier as they are less sensitive. If you need more guidance many massage therapist and even some chiropractors are happy to help get you started.