What is Infant Massage?

Baby massage is not only a bridge for emotional communication between parents and baby, but also beneficial to the baby's health. Baby massage has the effect of helping your baby speed up metabolism and reduce muscle tension. By stimulating the baby's skin, the body produces more hormones, promotes digestion, absorption and excretion of food, and accelerates weight gain.

Baby massage

Massage is best started in the middle of two feedings, the room temperature is between 22 ~ 26 , and the room should be sunny. Before the massage, the mother should remove the decorations, including rings and watches, and her nails should be cut short. Then wash your hands with hot water.

Baby massage check up

Most of the baby's body is smooth during the massage, so it is recommended that the mother can observe the baby's physical condition during the massage. See if there is symmetry on both sides of the baby's body, how he reacts when moving the baby, or whether the head has a torticollis, and whether the hands are swinging the same. It is best to talk to the baby while massaging. You can also observe your baby's response and whether you have hearing problems.

Familiarize your baby with the names of parts of the body. When mum is helping the baby to massage, she can say the names of various parts of the body while massaging, for example: this is a small hand, this is a small foot, etc., so that the baby gradually familiar with these parts.

Baby massage preparations

Baby massage books

There is a big difference between a baby's massage and an adult's massage. First of all, the baby's massage must be light, so as not to hurt its tender blood vessels and lymphatic vessels, so the baby's massage should be accurately called "stroke". Secondly, the direction of baby's strokes is also quite different from that of adults. When massaging a baby, the masseur's hands should be stroked from the baby's head to the body, and then from the body to the limbs. This massage is the exact opposite of normal adult massage. Adult massage is to move along the limbs to the heart in the direction of body fluid return. Although the baby's massage is performed from top to bottom, most of the massage movements are stroking or gently pinching. Be careful when pinching to avoid harming your baby's delicate blood vessels. Squeeze, slide your fingers, and then squeeze again.

Keep your baby in a safe place during the massage. If you find it uncomfortable to massage on the floor, be careful when placing your baby on a bed or chair to prevent him from rolling down. Especially when the baby is 11-14 weeks old, she will turn over on her own. Prepare everything before the massage, and avoid sudden noise in advance to maintain a peaceful atmosphere.

After preparing for the activity, choose a comfortable position for yourself that can be maintained for a long time. Kneeling, especially kneeling on the heel, can damage knee ligaments. If you start with this position, it's best to change your position while helping your baby to turn over and massage his back. To keep your body in good shape, remember to bend your body from your hips and keep your back straight during the massage. Bending the waist and leaning forward can easily cause fatigue, and may cause damage to the back, especially when the waist is bent to one side, such as picking towels. Twisting your waist while bending your body can easily hurt your back. Maintaining a good posture is more beneficial to your baby's massage.

During the massage, after the position of the hand is placed, the spine is tilted forward, and the massage technique can be easily and freely controlled. This is good for babies and massagers, because using this posture massage can relieve the tension of local muscles of massagers.

For adult massage, the technique must be strong, from the limbs to the heart. In the baby's massage, gently massage down from the body, from the heart to the limbs.

Baby massage massage sequence

The following sequence of massages is suitable for both healthy babies several months old and newborn babies. It's important to keep in mind that you need to be more careful when massaging smaller babies.

For babies younger than six weeks, a massage only takes about 10 minutes. During the massage, gently stroke your baby's face, abdomen and back with your hand, and gently move the muscles under the skin of your baby's hips, thighs, calves and arms. Do not use essential oils for newborn babies.

For each massage, start with your baby's left side. On the one hand, it follows the principle of opposite poles, on the other hand, it also conforms to the Eastern concept: one side of the body is easy to receive, and the other side is stronger than exhaustion.

Baby massage precautions

1. As the newborn baby hasn't fallen off, try not to do abdominal massage.

2. When massaging, first prepare baby oil or baby lotion to reduce the friction during massage. If the baby's skin is dry, it is better to choose a moisturizing lotion. The method is to put baby oil or lotion on the palm of the hand before massaging, and then rub the hands before massaging.

Massage baby

3. When massaging, you can start from the face, let the baby see the mother clearly, and then perform the following steps, so the baby will feel more secure.

4, the intensity of the massage should be moderate, not too light like itching, nor too heavy, the baby will hurt.

5. The best time for massage is between two meals. Don't do it as soon as you are full, so that your baby will not vomit.

6.Baby's massage oil

Baby's massage can only be performed with base oil. Use of essential oils is allowed only in exceptional circumstances. The baby will sit down, and when he can easily move, he can use 20 ml of basic massage oil and add 1 drop of gentle essential oil to massage. Be careful when adding essential oils while your baby is bathing. Baby will splash when he sits up and get water in his mouth. Therefore, it is more appropriate to bathe your baby with diluted herbal essential oils such as chamomile oil.

After the baby is one year old, the body massage can use 30 ml of base oil plus 3 drops of essential oil. Do not rub the oil on his face until he is three or four years old.

When using essential oils for your baby, follow one rule: go too far.