How and why Baby Massage works?
♡Massage helps in a number of ways.
♡It helps to eliminate wind from baby’s body.
♡It can help to produce ‘feel good hormones’ helping baby to relax and reducing the level of stress hormones in the body.
♡It can help to mature the digestive tract and nervous systems by helping to ton the digestive tract and aid the process of myelination of nerve cells for better brain-body communication.
♡Most importantly baby massage gives you the opportunity to listen, observe and communicate with your baby. Your baby ultimately needs your trust, love and respect to make him feel secure and comfortable outside the womb. By communicating this through massage and offering your baby skin to skin, you will be able to soothe and reassure him.
Tummy Massage
The stomach can be quite a sensitive area to massage. Massaging the stomach can aid the passage of any trapped air bubbles in your baby’s tummy and intestines towards the bowel. Tummy massage can have huge benefits for babies that suffer from excessive wind and constipation. Massage supports the movement of the digestive system.
How to begin:
Make sure you and baby are comfortable on the floor. Use a little oil and warm up your hands before beginning.
Resting hand
Make contact with baby’s tummy by laying your hand flat across the soft part of the abdomen. Rest your hand here for 30 seconds or more.
Stomach paddling
Place your hand flat across the soft part of baby’s abdomen. Move your hand from the top sliding down to the bottom of the abdomen under the belly button. Repeat 6-8 times.
Elevated stomach paddling
Hold your baby’s legs by the ankles with one hand. Elevate the legs. With the other hand, repeat the paddling motion described. Repeat 6-8 times.
Side strokes
Place the pad of each thumb on either side of your baby’s tummy button. Gently apply a little pressure to the intestines as you glide your thumbs to the outside of the abdomen. Be careful not to press too hard. Use gentle but firm pressure. Repeat 6-8 times.
Full circles
Using the fingers of one of your hands, make circles in a clockwise direction on your baby’s abdomen. Always make circles in a clockwise direction following the direction of digestion. Repeat 6-8 times.
Upside down U
Using the fingers of one of your hands, draw the shape of an upside-down U from the right-hand side of your baby’s abdomen to the left-hand side. Repeat 6-8 times.
Walking fingers
Open your hand and gently walk your fingers from the right side of your baby’s abdomen to the left-hand side. Repeat 6-8 times. Make the strokes gradually lighter to signal that the tummy massage is coming to an end.
Pick up baby and give them a cuddle.
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About Blossom & Berry
Blossom & Berry offers expert training, support & resources on baby massage, yoga and parent and baby wellness for professionals & parents across the world.
Blossom & Berry training is designed to give you everything you need to succeed. It gives you a complete teaching practice and mentorship program in a box.
Our training is the most comprehensive teacher training and business package on the market with no restrictions on what you can do and no ongoing licence fees ever.
“I would love to invite you to join my network of over 1000 teachers across the world sharing the benefits of nurturing touch and connection with parents and babies.”
Gayle Berry – Master trainer and international expert on baby massage and yoga, founder of Blossom & Berry.
Your success is our success and having a transformational and nurturing experience is key.