How to Easily Massage Your Baby
Baby massage has been shown to have incredible benefits to both mother and child. Baby massage is brilliant for bonding between mother and child, and it has shown to improve post partum depression. The massage itself assists in the baby's development and learning social skills, improves the bond with their mother, improves sleep patterns, relaxes and de-stresses anxious babies, and helps to develop the nerve network throughout their body as well as synapse connections in the brain.
Before you begin the massage, make sure the room is warm and you are either seated comfortably with the baby between your legs on the floor or some other firm surface. Disrobe the baby down to the nappy (you can take the nappy off too, but make sure that there are extra towels under you both). The best oil to use in baby massage is a natural, non-nut based oil. I prefer to use an oil consisting of 10%-25% extra virgin olive oil with 90%-75% grapeseed oil.
There is no particular order to do baby massage, but the following stokes are recommended.
Put a few drops of oil on your hands and rub your hands together to warm it. Begin at the baby's bellybutton and make long sweeping motion with your hands up to the baby's shoulders, then back down the sides and back to the belly button.
Bring your hands together as if you are saying a pray over the baby's chest, and then open them, stroking from medial to lateral across the chest and over the sides. Bring the hands together again and repeat. Continue this stroke over the belly.
You can now turn the baby over and repeat the first two strokes on the baby's back.
Return the baby to laying on his back. Working from the shoulder to the wrist, use your thumb and fingers to squeeze the baby's arm gently. The movement is almost like you are trying to squeeze the stuffing out of a sausage skin. Repeat on the other arm and both legs.
Using your open hands, roll the baby's arm gently as if you are trying to roll a sausage with play dough. Remember to work form the shoulder to the wrist. Repeat on the other arm and both legs.
Grasp the ankles of both legs and move them as if the baby is pedalling a bike.
Grasping the wrists, bring the baby's arms together over his chest with a wing-like movement.
Stroke the belly clockwise, starting from just under the sternum. This is a great movement for tummy irritations and stubborn bowel movements. You can apply a bit of pressure here, but not too much.
Finish the massage by spelling the letters 'I L U" on the baby's belly a number of times while saying 'I love you' out loud to the baby. Conclude with a warm kiss to the forehead.
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