Dropping some truth bombs!
Baby massage and sleep.
I think it’s important to be honest about this. There is no research study that says that baby massage will get your baby to sleep.There are some studies on toddler sleep patterns being improved, but newborns are another thing.
In fact small babies are designed to sleep lightly and wake regularly to feed when they need to. Their sleep cycles are very different to ours and they take a while to adjust to night and day, light and dark. Small babies who sleep through the night are more of the exception to the rule. Most babies take time to adjust and to learn how to self soothe. Babies are also not all the same so just like us have different sleep patterns, styles and times.
Baby massage does have a brilliant effect on the body however. We can confidently say that baby massage releases hormones which activate the body’s relaxation responses and improve digestion and this in turn can encourage sleep, rest and relaxation. A study by the University of Warwick in 2006 suggested that baby massage may make seem infants cry less and sleep more due to massage. Ask yourself how you feel after a massage? Pretty relaxed and ready for a nap most likely!
BUT
There is no magic wand.
We can’t say baby masage will get your baby to sleep, but I can say that what you will get as a result of baby massage a beautiful bond with your baby and the chance to communicate to him/her how much he/she is loved. You get the opportunity to respond to his/her needs and make him/her feel secure. You get the chance to fall in love with each other.
To me that is priceless and worth more than a few extra hours sleep for a few weeks (easy for me to say I know but I have been there-I had three children under 3.5 years)
The reason to learn baby massage? To teach love xxxx