 Ensure before you massage that it is a good time for both you and your baby. Do not massage infants under 5 months of age in conjunction with bath time. This is over-stimulating. For young infants, massage and bath time need to be separated by a nap or night- time sleep as they are both quite stimulating. Never watch the clock while massaging your infant. Simply go by what your child is indicating they want. If your baby wants more massage, and you are happy to continue, keep going. If you can see that your child has had enough – stop, regardless of how much massage you managed to get through.
Always begin with massaging the legs. This is the least intrusive way to begin a massage as the legs are touched constantly while changing nappies. To place your hands directly on the infant’s chest or abdomen to begin massaging can be intrusive, and unacceptable to many infants.
Use long firm strokes. Light, feathery massage irritates infants, as it does most adults.
Never massage your baby while he/she is crying. (The only exception for this should be with colic, and painful gas).
Any arm movements going in and out from the chest indicate that you should stop the massage.
If massaging Babies abdomen while he/she is lying down in front of you, massage from your left to your right ie: Babies right to left. It is important that you refrain from placing any pressure on the diaphragm.
Use pure cold pressed vegetable, nut, seed or fruit oil that is pesticide free. These are easily absorbed by the skin and provide additional benefits to your child during and after the massage. As the skin absorbs these oils so easily there will be no oily residue remaining. This means you will not have to wash the oil off afterwards. Do not use olive oil for infant massage, it’s texture is to thick and cannot be absorbed sufficiently by the skin.
Source from : http://www.infantmassage-imis.com.au/tips/index.html |
