Many parents and practitioners state that Baby massage helps to ease colic, but there are many other benefits of baby massage.
Benefits of baby massage for babies include:
- Helps babies to feel loved, respected and secure
- Helps to strengthen and regulate their digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems
- Relieves symptoms of colic, gas and constipation
- Encourages a baby to sleep well
Babyem deliver a 3 hour course especially for nannies and maternity nurses, delivered by a qualified baby massage practitioner.
Our top tips:
- Put a little natural oil on your hands to help them glide over the baby's skin. We recommend olive oil, sunflower oil or grapeweed oil. Always do a skin test prior to starting to ensure the baby does not have an allergic reaction to the oil being used.
- Then give the baby slow, gentle tummy strokes, moving your hands in a clockwise direction. (Doing the strokes clockwise is important, because it follows the direction of your baby's intestines. This encourages the trapped wind and poo to move the right way.)
- You can also move the baby's legs towards his tummy to ease things. Holding the baby's knees together, gently bend his legs at the knees and push them into his tummy. Hold his legs in this position for a count of six.
- Do the tummy massage three or four times a day for two weeks. It may take this long for you to tell whether or not it's working. It's fine to carry on with the massage after two weeks.
- Laying the baby on his tummy, while massaging his back, can sometimes help to bring up wind.
- A gentle massage may help ease the baby's crying for a little while.