Benefits of Infant Massage

Parents are discovering that infant massage can help their child settle, sleep better, reduce crying and relieve problems such as wind, colic, constipation, reflux and eczema. Baby massage can even help to reduce post-natal depression. Massage is more than just relaxation. Learning the right massage techniques from a Certified Infant Massage Instructor or Paediatric Massage Consultant will teach you everything you need to know.

1. Promotes relaxation and better sleep: Infant massage helps babies relax, reducing crying and improving sleep patterns. It regulates the secretion of serotonin and melatonin, which aid in sleep regulation and mood enhancement.

2. Alleviates common discomforts: Massage can relieve issues such as wind, colic, reflux, and constipation. It stimulates waste elimination, relieves abdominal wind, and aids in the natural process of the nervous system, assisting with reflux.

3. Enhances emotional well-being: Massage increases dopamine levels, improving mood and regulating anger, aggression, temperature, and appetite.

4. Aids in weight gain for pre-term and low birth-weight infants: Touch therapy and massage have been found to help these infants gain weight faster and be discharged earlier. Massage increases vagal activity and enhances gastric motility.

5. Boosts the immune system: Infant massage positively influences physiological processes and improves immune function. It increases natural killer cell count and function and reduces stress hormone levels, enhancing immune system function.

6. Reduces stress hormone levels in children and parents: Massage decreases cortisol levels, known as "the stress hormone," in both children and parents, allowing various physiological functions to return to normal.

7. Early detection of potential health issues: Regular massage allows parents to notice changes in their child's physical condition that might otherwise go unnoticed.

8. Improves symptoms of eczema: Massage, combined with appropriate oil, can help reduce cortisol levels, strengthen the immune system, and improve circulation and lymph flow for affected areas.

9. Enhances coordination and cognitive development: Infant massage improves left/right brain communication, potentially leading to improved intelligence and cognitive abilities.

10. Provides a range of benefits for children with special needs: Massage is beneficial for children with various conditions such as cerebral palsy, asthma, cystic fibrosis, and Down syndrome.

11. Reduces distress during medical procedures: Massage can help minimize distress during aversive medical procedures.

12. Enhances attachment and bonding: Massage promotes a strong emotional bond between parents and infants, fostering attachment and deepening the parent-child relationship.

13. Benefits parents and caregivers: Providing massage to infants can reduce anxiety, improve mood, decrease cortisol levels, and enhance self-esteem for adults. It can also involve fathers and improve their interaction behaviors with their infants.

Infant massage is a wonderful way to promote physical and emotional well-being for both infants and their caregivers.