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December 19, 2005

My Personal Experience With Baby Massage

I met the newest member of our family this past weekend. At nine weeks old, she's a sweet baby, just learning how to smile and laugh.

I don't get a lot of babies in my practice, so it's a treat to show new moms some techniques they can use for massaging their babies. For example, my niece is hard to burp, so she gets an occasional gas bubble which can be quite painful. I showed my sister-in-law a technique for massaging baby's abdomen to encourage peristalsis.

I also took the opportunity to demonstrate other helpful massage techniques for when the baby begins to crawl. Neck, shoulder and chest muscle start to get a workout and can be sore. They baby responded to this attention by being very alert and maintaining good eye contact. I was encouraged to show her mom some other massage techniques for the back, legs and arms. I could tell she was enjoying the massage by the look on her face.

It was a fun time and I think both of them got a lot out of it.

Posted by linda at December 19, 2005 11:48 AM