Massage for Children

Now, after years of research have validated the benefits of massage, infant massage is a recognised and respected part of child care and midwives and nurses alike are recommending that we massage our babies. Some of the benefits are immediately obvious. Massage helps build a bond between parent and baby through touch. Massage also helps soothe and relax a baby and hence leads to better sleep (for parents as well!). What isn’t known are some of the other emotional and physical benefits for both parents and babies and, importantly, the flow-on of beneficial effects that continued massage has on children as they grow into adulthood.

Massage helps to foster mutual trust and understanding between a parent and their baby. They learn to associate your touch with a soothing and relaxing experience and learn that they can fully trust you. The benefits to a baby’s health are also remarkable. Medical research has discovered, babies who have been massaged since birth develop quicker and have better immune system and neurological development than their non-massaged counterparts. Massage also helps heighten a baby’s alertness and sociability when awake. Massage also relieves wind, colic and constipation with unique soothing strokes.

For parents, massage has the added benefit of helping to build confidence in your ability to handle your baby. This is one of the reasons that learning infant massage is especially beneficial for fathers, as they often feel inadequate when handling their child. Fathers also start to develop a much stronger bond with their children when they start to massage them as infants. It is often a problem, that because newborn babies are heavily dependant on their mothers physically, fathers often feel excluded and do not feel they have a chance to develop a bond with their child until that child is more independent. By learning infant massage a father can gain some special time with their child to bond and enjoy each other’s company. It is also a very meaningful way for a father to help with the improvement of the physical and emotional wellbeing of their baby – often something that seems to be the exclusive province of mums!

In addition, massage helps alleviate and reduce any feelings of anxiety and depression that can often be experienced by mothers and fathers alike during the early months of a child’s life.

Linda Lipton-Kronich has been teaching Infant Massage classes for the past three years and says that after years of working as a psychiatric social worker her mission is now to encourage as many people as possible to massage their babies. "I really do believe that a lot of problems that occur later in life could be avoided by giving babies the love they need," she says. "I truly believe that the more babies that are massaged the better the world would be."

While this seems like a strange connection to most people, Linda has seen and done a lot of study into the effects of massage on infants and the advantages that they still get as they venture into adulthood. "Babies who have been massaged since birth are so much more confident in themselves. They are made to feel special, feel loved and as they grow older you can see how much more secure they are because of this," explains Linda.

It’s a theory that medical research is proving accurate, that giving a baby massage gives that baby a more secure foundation and hence helps them avoid many of the pitfalls of adult life. "You are feeding their skin needs," says Linda. "By doing that it means they are not growing up looking for ways to get the same effect. As teenagers they aren’t so tempted to do destructive things to feed this need for touch and attention."

Put simply, it appears that as babies, we need a certain amount of focused attention and a certain level of touch to develop properly, both physically and emotionally. Research, she says, with chimpanzees proved the desire and essential need we have for touch – one example being that the baby chimp would always choose the soft, caring mother who had cuddles to give but no food over the hard, unfeeling mother who had abundant food to offer but refused to give them cuddles and hugs.

As humans we too have that instinct. In modern life, with one or both parents busy holding down a job and trying to keep up with everything else that puts demands on our time, giving our babies the amount of attention they need can often be difficult. This is where massage comes into its own. "I often have working mothers in my classes, who don’t have an abundance of time to devote to their babies," says Linda. "Massage is a concentrated way of giving your baby the love it needs in a way that is as beneficial for the parent as for the child. For that time, whether it’s a 10 minute or 45 minute massage, you are fully focused on each other, communicating in the simplest language – touch – your love for your child. That time reassures your baby of your love. In fact, it has been shown that a small, daily amount of massage has more impact than a full day where the mother is there all day, but not completely focused on her baby. Babies do know the difference, you know!"

Another important point that Linda stresses is massage should become a permanent part of any family relationship. "I encourage people to continue to massage their children throughout their lives," she explains. "Even something as simple as a neck massage instantly gives them that feeling of reassurance. My son is a teenager now, and I have not had any of those typical teenage problems with him."