The Benefits of Infant Massage

Deepening the bond with your baby.

Kelly Walden

"My baby began to coo and smile as I massaged him gently. I felt a deep connection between us."
New mom, Cathy

Touch is a baby’s lifeline. Through it, parents communicate love and attachment and offer the necessary stimulation for physical and emotional growth and development. Touch just naturally happens when we care for a baby. It seems impossible not to stroke and touch while feeding, bathing, changing and playing.
But as Cathy discovered, infant massage can take day-to-day caring touch to a new level.

Incredible benefits

An ancient art, infant massage is practised every day all around the world. Since hitting North America around 1970, infant massage has been studied extensively and its value extolled. The benefits to both parties are significant.

For the baby, the benefits may include:
appropriate weight gain
better sleeping patterns
improved muscle tone
enhanced neurological development
relief of discomfort, such as gas and constipation
improved communication with the parent

For parents, the benefits may include:
improved ability to soothe the baby and meet needs
improved ability to read baby’s cues
increased confidence in parenting abilities
enhanced bonding and attachment

Infant massage even benefits society. That’s because children who are shown love and respect grow to be loving, respectful adults who know how to communicate caring and appropriate touch to the rest of the world. Studies show that children who are touched appropriately grow up to be less violent, creating a more peaceful society.

Learning how

Parents learn the strokes and routines of infant massage through Certified Infant Massage Instructors (CIMI). These instructors are very different from Registered Massage Therapists (RMT) who actually provide the massage therapy to the client. CIMIs don’t provide message, they simply teach parents the massage techniques. The reason is that infant massage is most beneficial when carried out by the parent or primary caregiver, as attachment is a crucial component.

A massage course teaches parents massage strokes according to body part. For instance, in the courses I teach, we always start with the legs and feet since infants use them to reach out to the world and they tend to be the least vulnerable areas of their body.

In the next class, parents would learn the strokes for the tummy, which can be particularly helpful for those babies with gas, constipation or colic. Week three covers the strokes for the arms, hands and chest. And in the final week, parents are taught strokes for the face and back.

Most infant massage courses also offer ample time for parent discussion and a social time. Infants are massaged with an edible oil, such as grapeseed or olive, and are in a warm room with space for baby and parent on the floor.

Build your relationship

Infant massage is more than just strokes. It’s a tool to be used in the important task of building a relationship with your baby. The more you learn about one another, the better your relationship
will be.

Kelly Walden is a registered nurse and certified infant massage instructor with the Peterborough Family Resource Centre.