Information on Infant Massage Techniques

Babies like to be rubbed and massaged just as most adults do. It is comforting and helps the baby bond with his parents and vice versa. Massaging can also relieve colic, improve motor skills, promote better sleeping, enhance intellectual development and improve your infant's immune system. Touching your baby regularly and in a kind and gentle manner goes a long way when it comes to enhancing his development and his feeling of security.

Set the Scene

• Massage your baby when she's in a good mood. The room should not be cold and your hands should be warm before you touch your infant. Ideally, you and the baby will be in a quiet space with no distractions.

Place Your Baby

• Place your baby on a blanket on the floor and use some baby oil to massage with. Strip your baby down to her diaper and then place her on the blanket. Start talking to the baby in gentle tones and begin caressing her head and the rest of her body, including her feet and toes.

Her Hands

• Take your baby's hands in your own and open the infant's hands. Place your thumb on her palm and gently stroke. Now stroke the top of her hand and roll the baby's individual fingers between your thumb and index finger.

His Chest

• Put your hands on the infant's chest and stroke out to the sides, always remembering to be gentle. Rubbing your baby's chest helps if he has colic. In addition, massaging your child on the chest and elsewhere initiates him to the sense of touch and calms him down. When calm, he will more easily digest his food, and will have fewer outbursts.

His Scalp, Eyelids, Eyebrows and Ears

• Cradle the baby's head in both of your hands and massage the scalp using your fingertips. Hold the baby's head with your hands and gently stroke his head using both of your thumbs in a circular fashion, moving your thumbs around his crown and ears. Avoid touching the soft spot area on the baby's head. Using your thumbs, gently stroke your infant's closed eyelids and then stroke the bridge of his nose outward toward his cheeks. Massage the baby's ears using your index finger and thumb and then place your thumbs between your infant's eyebrows and stroke outward.

The Belly

• Massage the baby's belly with your fingertips, using a clockwise circular motion. Walk your fingers around her belly button. A fun thing to do is the "I love you" stroke. Trace the letter I down the baby's left side. Trace an inverted L across the baby's tummy along the base of his ribs, going from right to left and then downward. Trace an inverted U starting on the low area of the baby's right side and going upward and around the navel and down the left side, advises Parents.com. Put your hand on the baby's belly horizontally and rock your hand from side to side. Be gentle. Avoid massaging the belly if the infant's cord hasn't healed completely. A portion of the baby's umbilical cord stays attached for approximately 10 days after birth. If the cord is still attached, do not touch it. If it has recently fallen off, be very gentle when working in the navel region.

Feet and Knees

• Hold your child's feet and knees together and press gently on her knees, moving them up toward her abdomen. Rotate the infant's hips to the right a couple of times; this should help her eliminate gas.

Numerous Benefits

• Massage promotes growth substances, hormones and increases enzyme production of the cells in the vital organs. When premature babies are massaged, they purportedly grow faster. Touch benefits brain development, improves the digestive system and helps the baby establish self-esteem as well as better behavior.