Baby Massage For Dummies E-Book

Joanne Bagshaw

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 313

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Explains massage for preemies, newborns, and toddlers Soothe your baby and promote well-being the all-natural way Curious about baby massage? Featuring illustrations and step-by-step instructions, this friendly guide makes it easy to use techniques that can reduce your baby's stress; ease the discomfort of colic, constipation, and teething; and create a strong attachment between the two of you. You'll also find suggestions for making massage part of your everyday routine. Discover how to: * Ease common ailments * Enhance your bond with your baby * Stimulate growth and development * Comfort a fussy baby * Massage babies with special needs

Leseprobe

Baby Massage For Dummies

by Ralph R. Roberts and Chip Cummings

Baby Massage For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2004117446

ISBN: 0-7645-7841-3

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Authors

Joanne Bagshaw is a psychotherapist, writer, and promoter of attachment parenting. She has a master’s degree in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and a post-graduate certificate in Trauma Studies from New York University. She is also in her final year of a four-year certification in Core Energetics, a body-centered psychotherapy. Her psychotherapy practice focuses on trauma treatment, and how emotional and energetic issues manifest in the body.

Her inspiration for writing this book came from her love of massage and experience as a mother caring for her newborn daughter.

Joanne lives with her husband, Tim; her daughter, Ava; and her dog-daughter, Dakota, in Brookhaven, New York. She loves yoga and skiing and grudgingly practices Pilates. She can be reached at [email protected].

Ilene S. Fox, LMT is a New York State Licensed Massage Therapist. She graduated from the New Center for Wholistic Health, Education and Research in 1998. She holds certifications as an Infant Massage Instructor and in Pre/Post Natal Massage. In addition to her private massage practice, Ilene is employed at the State University of New York at Stony Brook as a massage therapist in the Department of Pediatrics/Division of Infectious Disease. Here she teaches infant massage instruction to caretakers of HIV-exposed newborns and provides massage therapy to HIV/AIDS-infected children, adolescents, and young adults.

Ilene wanted to write this book because she believes massage therapy adds peace and calm to a world of chaos. Creating a book that teaches parents to massage their babies can only make the world a better place.

Ilene loves music, travel, yoga, and, of course, massage. She lives on Long Island and can be reached at [email protected].

Dedication

From Joanne: For Ava — this book is so much about you.

From Ilene: To all of the babies and the people who care for them.

Authors’ Acknowledgments

From Joanne: I want to thank my husband, Tim, for his never-ending support and encouragement for me to do whatever I need to be happy . . . even if that means everything else becomes “just too much” before a deadline.

To Ava, I thank you for sharing your beautiful smile in Mommy’s book.

Thank you to my subs, Ginger, Jillian, and Mariah, for giving Ava loving and nurturing care when I needed to write and she needed to squeak and play.

To my coauthor, Ilene — without your experience and knowledge, we couldn’t have written this book. It has been my pleasure to get to know you better — thank you.

To Anna Damaskos, for giving my name to Grace Freedson, thank you; and to Grace, my literary agent, thank you for your support in getting this project.

To Joan Friedman, our project editor, I want to say that I couldn’t ask for a better editor — thank you.

Thank you to Kathryn Born and Margie Pillar for the beautiful illustrations and photographs.

To my family, friends, and Core Community: Each of you, in your unique way, helps me reach for the stars.

From Ilene: Terence, I want to thank you for putting up with me for the past eight-plus years, for being my massage subject when I was still a student and didn’t know what I was doing, and for your support when I thought I couldn’t do it.

To my clients, I want to say that I appreciate you giving me the honor of working with you. Because of your receptivity and our shared wisdom, we have the opportunity to learn how we can heal ourselves through the power of touch: with compassion, care, presence and tenderness.

Thank you, Joanne, for making this possible with all your hard work and determination. To Ava, thank you for being so good-natured all the time.

Thank you to all the babies, my parents, and my friends.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Joan Friedman

Acquisitions Editor: Tracy Boggier

Technical Editors: Laura Tucker Guzzi, Julie Bittner Miller

Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker

Editorial Supervisor: Carmen Krikorian

Editorial Assistants: Courtney Allen, Nadine Bell

Cover Photos: © Tracy Boggier/2004

Cartoons: Rich Tennant, www.the5thwave.com

Composition

Project Coordinator: Adrienne Martinez

Layout and Graphics: Andrea Dahl, Lauren Goddard, Barry Offringa, Jacque Roth, Heather Ryan

Special Art: Interior photographs by Marjorie S. Pillar; Illustrations by Kathryn Born, MA

Proofreaders: Leeann Harney, Jessica Kramer, Carl William Pierce, TECHBOOKS Production Services

Indexer: TECHBOOKS Production Services

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies

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Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Contents

Title

Introduction

About This Book

How To Use this Book

How this Book Is Organized

Icons Used in this Book

Part I : Nothing Quite Like Touch

Chapter 1: Welcoming Your Baby into the Wonderful World of Massage

Focusing on Quality, Not Quantity

Recognizing the Need for Touch

Massaging Your Baby from Head to Toe

Chapter 2: Understanding the Benefits of Baby Massage

Bonding with Your Baby: It’s a Good Thing!

Becoming a More Confident Parent

Managing Stress

Aiding with Postpartum Depression

Promoting Growth, Development, and Overall Health

Chapter 3: Getting to Know Your Baby Better

Tuning In to Your Newborn’s Needs

Getting Into a Routine (6 Weeks to 3 Months)

Changing from Caterpillar to Butterfly (3 to 6 Months)

Becoming an Individual (6 Months to 1 Year)

Chapter 4: Preparing for the Big Massage

Good Vibrations: Getting in the Mood to Massage

Finding the Right Time to Massage

Finding the Right Place for Massage

Massaging Safely

Selecting an Oil to Use

Setting the Tone

Knowing When Not to Massage

Trying Out Your First Massage

Part II : Different Strokes for Different Folks: Massaging Baby

Chapter 5: Massaging the Front Side

Soothing the Feet and Legs

Relaxing the Belly

Opening the Chest and Shoulders

Reaching for Arms and Hands

Chapter 6: Massaging the Face and Neck

Proceeding with Caution

Soothing Your Baby’s Smile

Relaxing the Eyes

Smoothing Out the Forehead

Paying the Ears, Chin, and Neck Some Attention

Chapter 7: Massaging the Back Side

Taking Advantage of Tummy Time

Massaging the Legs and Feet

Bottoms Up! Kneading Your Baby’s Bottom

Doing the Back Stroke

Relaxing the Neck and Shoulders: Long Strokes

Part III : Making Massage Part of Your Baby’s Life

Chapter 8: Preemies and Newborns

Handling an Early Arrival

Welcoming Your Newborn Bundle of Joy

Adding to Your Massage Routine

Chapter 9: Older Babies and Toddlers

Holding Still: Keeping Your Child’s Interest

Making Massage a Family Affair

Using Massage to Your Toddler’s Advantage

Chapter 10: Fitting Massage into Nap, Bath, and Diaper Time

Choosing the Right Time

Deciding Whether to Stimulate or Not

Massaging Baby Before or After Nap

Taking Baby in the Bath with You

Bringing Massage to the Changing Table

Making Daily Massage Routine

Identifying More Good Times and Places for Massage

Part IV : Easing Health Problems with Massage

Chapter 11: Massage for Common Ailments and Problems

Relieving Constipation

Recognizing and Responding to Colic

Breathing Easy: Coping with Asthma

Ouch! Helping Teething Pain

Alleviating Chest and Sinus Congestion

Helping Your Fussy Baby

Healing Your Baby’s Skin

Chapter 12: Massage for Emotional and Developmental Issues

Overcoming Attachment Issues

Coping with Developmental Delays

Handling Special Needs and Siblings

Chapter 13: Massage for High Risk Babies

Babies Born to Addiction

Babies Exposed to HIV

Additional Resources

Part V : The Part of Tens

Chapter 14: (Almost) Ten Special Techniques

Trying Massages from Other Parts of the World

Stretching

Helping Your Baby’s Posture

Bringing Baby into Your Yoga Routine

Chapter 15: Ten Great Massage Resources

Surfing the Web

Finding Massage Associations

Using Videos

Introduction

The fact that you’ve picked up this book and are reading this page tells us that, most likely, you’ve heard of baby massage. You may not know why or how to do it, but you’re curious to find out. That’s great: That’s what we’re here for!

If, on the other hand, you picked up this book because you had some time to kill browsing in the bookstore and never realized that such a thing as baby massage existed, that’s fine, too. We’re an equal opportunity informer, and we welcome you to our pages.

In case you need convincing that this book is worth taking home, consider this: Baby massage is a practice that has been around for centuries, and recent research indicates that it provides both emotional and physical benefits for your little one (and a wonderful opportunity to increase the bond between the two of you).

We save the details for the chapters that follow, but before we get to the meat and potatoes of baby massage, we need to explain a bit about how we put this book together.

About This Book

Our goal with this book is to enhance a wonderful longstanding tradition with contemporary knowledge — essentially, to fuse the past and the present. (How’s that for a tall order?) We want to help you, as a parent or caregiver, realize that you have the ability to positively influence your baby’s health and that the steps to accomplishing that aren’t very complicated. Our hope is that we can encourage you to make massage part of your everyday relationship with your baby so you can reap the many benefits.

You’ll notice that throughout the book, we tie together the technical aspects of massage — the specific hand positions and strokes you use — with both medical and philosophical reasons for doing them. But don’t let a little philosophy make you nervous; we don’t expect you to automatically feel comfortable with every idea we present. Our purpose is to offer a holistic approach to massage so you can decide what works for you and your baby.

How To Use this Book

Like every For Dummies book, this is a reference book. No, that doesn’t mean it’s like an encyclopedia; it means that we don’t expect you to read it from cover to cover. (Of course, if you find it so compelling that you can’t miss a single word, we won’t complain!) This book is designed so you can pick and choose which chapters you really want to focus on, and within each chapter you can find all the information you need to understand that particular subject.

You’ll notice that we include lots of artwork in this book. That’s because we realize you may have an easier time understanding what we’re saying if you can see examples. But while the photos and illustrations are a great complement to the text, they can’t substitute for the step-by-step instructions for each massage technique. We encourage you to use the words and images together to perfect each technique.

How this Book Is Organized

This book is divided into the following five parts.

Part I: Nothing Quite Like Touch

In this part, we share with you all the wonderful reasons to massage your baby. We detail the benefits for you, the parent or caregiver, as well as for your baby. You discover how your baby’s development is influenced by touch, as well as the steps you can take to prepare for giving your first massage.

Part II: Different Strokes for Different Folks: Massaging Baby

In this section, we show you the actual techniques for massaging your baby. We cover all parts of your little one’s body, from head to toe, front to back. What works for some babies won’t work for others, so we offer a smorgasbord from which to choose so you can find out what techniques work best for you and your baby.

Part III: Making Massage Part of Your Baby’s Life

Babies change so dramatically during their first years that we can’t simply assume that the massage your baby enjoys at 3 months will still satisfy her at 2 years. And babies who are born early have special needs and limitations. In this part, you find in-depth information about massaging your preterm baby, as well as your older baby or toddler. We also discuss how you can work massage into your everyday life.

Part IV: Easing Health Problems with Massage

One of the great benefits of baby massage is that it can help alleviate many common health problems, from constipation to teething pain. It can also have positive effects on emotional issues and reduce stress and encourage development in babies with high-risk issues, such as fetal alcohol syndrome and drug addiction. We cover each of these topics in this part.

Part V: The Part of Tens

Each For Dummies book has a Part of Tens, and this is no exception. This last part offers you quick information on different massage and stretch techniques to add to your repertoire, as well as massage resources, including Web sites, national organizations, and videos.

Icons Used in this Book

As you read, you’ll notice little circular works of art in the margins. These are the book’s icons, and here is what they mean:

We get a little philosophical from time to time. This icon lets you know that a bit of wisdom from Eastern philosophies or energy medicine — a belief that your body is made up of different systems of energy that need to be balanced to promote health — is nearby.

Some bits of information are worth tucking into your mental file cabinet for future reference. The job of this icon is to alert you that such useful information is nearby.

We try not to get too technical in this book, but we also realize that some people like to know details about why something works, as well as how. If we’re going to throw clinical jargon or heavy ideas your way, this icon warns you that they’re coming.

When you see this icon, you’ll know that the paragraph it accompanies contains ideas that can make massaging your baby as easy as possible.

Every once in a while, we need to alert you to reasons why you shouldn’t perform a certain massage technique or the potential for causing your baby harm. That’s the job of this icon.

Part I

Nothing Quite Like Touch

In this part . . .

Massaging your baby involves so much more than just technique. In this part, we show you what baby massage is all about. There are plenty of wonderful reasons to massage and touch your baby. We make sure you are versed in the benefits of baby massage for both you and your baby.

You also get an idea of how you can incorporate touch into your baby’s growing emotional and developmental needs. Plus, we show you everything you need to get started with baby massage, from oils and music to timing, good posture, proper breathing, and right intention. And we give you an easy practice massage to try. You’re well on your way!

Chapter 1

Welcoming Your Baby into the Wonderful World of Massage

In This Chapter

Realizing the importance of attachment

Getting a brief introduction to massage technique

Anticipating the benefits of massaging your baby

Y ou have so many good reasons to massage your baby, and this chapter introduces you to the biggies. We discuss how and why you can use massage as a tool to foster and enhance your attachment with your baby. We also touch on the physical benefits of baby massage — including how you can use massage to help treat and prevent certain illnesses.

Along the way, we introduce you to the basics of Swedish massage — the foundation of the techniques we demonstrate in later chapters. And we explain how you can adapt your massage routine to accommodate the needs of babies at different ages and stages of development.

Focusing on Quality, Not Quantity

If you recently became a parent, you may have spent the last nine months preparing for birth and connecting emotionally with your baby. Or maybe your pregnancy was unplanned and your experience has been laced with anxiety and self-doubt. Perhaps infertility plagued your attempts to get pregnant, and now your dreams of parenthood are finally realized, either through birth or adoption.

Regardless of how your baby came into your life, or what your parenting circumstances are, baby massage is a great way to create a relationship with your little one. Spending even five minutes massaging your baby each day creates a space for bonding and relaxation for both of you that can stay in your baby’s memory for a lifetime.

We have all heard that the quality of time we spend with our children — not the quantity — makes a difference. There is no greater manifestation of this truth, no better example or opportunity, than to give love to your child through massage. Time spent massaging your baby involves genuine, undivided attention that is experienced as love and pleasure. Intend your massage as a gift, and it will be received as such.

Recognizing the Need for Touch

In other cultures — which some people might label primitive — mothers typically carry their babies with them all the time. These mothers are very attuned to their babies’ needs and respond to them quickly and naturally with ease. This bonding approach to parenting breeds intuition and compassion, and it begins with touch.

Considering our changing values

Before the inventions of anesthesia and baby formula, all mothers felt the birth of their children and the sensation of their children suckling on the breast. Since these inventions, values have changed in our culture, as have conventional wisdoms.

The choices many parents now make when giving birth are based on cost- and time-effectiveness — if not for the parents themselves, at least for the hospital and its staff. Nature’s primal callings have been minimized by a healthcare profession that has to manage huge demands on its time. Epidurals (a form of anesthesia delivered through the spine) are the norm, and Caesarean deliveries are performed in as many as a quarter of all pregnancies. During much of the twentieth century, formula was touted as the best option for mother and baby; breastfeeding was considered an inferior feeding method and an inconvenience.

We certainly understand that sometimes Caesareans and epidurals are medically necessary, and some of the changes that have occurred have resulted in greater health for mothers and babies. However, we also recognize another result of our changing values: Opportunities for touch and bonding between parent and child have been reduced.

Another factor that impedes the bond between parent and child is a detached approach to parenting, which nurtures laziness or apathy. Parents are only human, and the demands of everyday life, particularly with an infant or young child, are enormous. Detachmentparenting is an invitation to do and care less. We all have within us the capacity to be lazy or believe we deserve a break. That’s why it’s important to consciously make a commitment to attachment-focused nurturing and bonding. If you invest energy today, you will reap rewards throughout your life.

Choosing attachment parenting

So what exactly does the term attachment parenting mean? Attachment parenting is a philosophy of parenting that emphasizes creating a secure attachment with your baby. Just about all the advice we give in this book is aimed at encouraging attachment parenting. This parenting style is about being sensitive to your children, getting to know them and their needs, and relying on your own intuition as a parent.

Using the right tools

While there aren’t any specific rules or guidelines to follow to practice attachment parenting, here are some tools you can use that make a secure attachment with your child more likely:

Massage your baby.

Breastfeed.

Avoid separations.

Co-sleep (see Chapter 3).

Wear your baby in a sling (see the sidebar “The art of baby wearing” later in this chapter).

Bond with your baby immediately after birth (see Chapter 3).

Respond to your baby’s cries.

Feed your baby on cue, not on a schedule.

Not all these tools will work for you, your baby, or your family. That’s why relying on your intuition is so important. You can formula-feed your baby and sleep in separate rooms and still be practicing attachment parenting.

Seeing the benefits

To many people, the term attachment parenting probably sounds scary. After all, we want our children to grow up and be independent, not attached to our hips for the rest of our lives, right?

A better term to describe this parenting style would probably be healthy interdependent promoting parenting. But that’s just too much of a mouthful.

Whatever you want to name it, this approach to parenting has many benefits:

Your baby learns to trust you.

Your baby grows into a sensitive and empathic child and adult.

Your baby learns interdependence: how to care about and connect with others in a compassionate and cooperative way.

Because attachment-parented babies spend less time crying than others, their energy goes into growing and learning. Attachment-parented babies also tend to be more alert and focused.

Attachment-parented babies are more confident.

You become more sensitive.

A deep attachment between you and your baby is formed.

You have a happy baby whose needs are met and feelings are respected.

Spoiling your baby?

New parents sometimes hear advice from older generations — and child development experts — about not spoiling their children by giving them too much attention and responding immediately to their needs. Theories about child development have changed radically through the years. Not long ago, new parents were advised to ignore their babies’ cries to be fed in order to create a strict feeding schedule. And recently, sleep trainers have become popular, helping new parents get their babies onto a sleep schedule as early as possible.

While these practices serve a purpose — creating predictable routines early in an infant’s life — they can contribute to a sense of separation between parent and child. This is just one more reason to make a conscious choice to devote time to bonding through touch and massage.

In Vimala McClure’s book Infant Massage, she writes, “As with fruit, neglect rather than attention spoils a child.” You are the center of your baby’s world (and she is the center of yours!). Your baby relies on you for everything: food, love, safety, nurturing. We believe that if spoiling refers to giving your baby lots of love and attention and responding to her needs, then by all means, you should spoil away!

Bringing infant massage to the Western world

The founder of the International Association of Infant Massage, Vimala McClure, discovered infant massage during her travels in India in the early 1970s. In Indian culture, the mother massages everyone in the family and passes the tradition down through her daughters. McClure found that massaging babies was a wonderful way to soothe and communicate nonverbally with them. When McClure contracted malaria, all the local women massaged and sang to her. The feeling in her body resulting from the massage stayed in her memory.

What McClure experienced in India simply didn’t exist in Western culture at the time. She wrote Infant Massage in 1979 to remind us that love, security, and compassion are a type of wealth. She created the International Association of Infant Massage to offer opportunities for this type of touch to anyone. Infant massage instruction now takes place all over the world. We want to acknowledge and thank Vimala McClure for bringing infant massage to our attention. Her work reminded us of what we once knew but learned to forget.

Massaging Your Baby from Head to Toe

The techniques we show you in this book fit under the category of Swedish massage. They have been adapted to be useful for babies and toddlers.

Using Swedish massage techniques

The origins of Swedish massage can be traced to Per Henrik Ling (1776–1839), the “Father of Massage,” who cured himself of rheumatism with a brand of massage that he called medical gymnastics. Today, a Swedish massage performed on an adult consists of specific strokes done in the following order:

1.Effleurage. These gliding strokes can be deep or superficial and help to warm the superficial muscles.

2.Petrissage. These strokes reach the deeper layers of muscle tissue by lifting the muscle.

3.Friction. By working with the fibers of the muscle, friction releases any scar tissue that may restrict movement.

4.Tapotement. These strokes include tapping or hacking the muscles and can either stimulate or sedate depending upon the rhythm and pressure used.

5.Vibration. This technique involves shaking or rocking the muscles to induce either a stimulating or sedating effect on the body.

6.Joint motion. Putting a joint through its complete range of motion helps alleviate any restrictions in movement.

With babies, you don’t need to use all the strokes of Swedish massage, and you may move the order of the strokes around. Slow, rhythmic strokes are the most soothing to a baby. For a very young infant, holding and rocking (a form of vibration) may be enough. Being present and aware of your baby’s responses and needs will guide you in your choice of strokes.

Some strokes, if performed too vigorously, can be harmful to a baby; for example, you never want to use deep friction or heavy tapotement on an infant.

Any kind of contact with your infant — even just having him near your body — is the basis for beginning to massage your infant. As your baby gets older and more used to massage, he can tolerate more strokes, and you will be able to massage your baby from head to toe.

Researching the benefits of touch

The Touch Research Institute (TRI), located at the University of Miami School of Medicine, was founded in 1992 by Tiffany Field, Ph.D. TRI conducts research on the effects of touch and works to apply these findings to science and medicine.

Here are some of TRI’s findings:

Newborns who are exposed to cocaine in utero gain weight faster and show less signs of stress if they are massaged.

Fathers who massage their babies for 15 minutes daily experience more favorable interactions with their infants.

Depressed mothers touch their babies differently than mothers who aren’t depressed, which can negatively affect growth patterns in newborns. Research studies show that if depressed mothers massage their infants, the babies gain weight more quickly, have more organized sleep/wake behaviors, are less fussy, are more sociable and easily soothed, have better interaction behaviors, and have lower levels of stress hormones.

Premature babies receive the most significant benefits from massage. These infants gain more weight, sleep better, and are discharged from the hospital sooner if they receive massage.

Newborns exposed to HIV gain more weight if they receive massage.

Acing Massage 101

The goal of Swedish massage is to increase the circulation of blood and lymph fluids in the body. The fluids are pushed out of the muscle tissue, back into the circulatory system, and out of the body through the elimination process.

Toxic material (in the form of lactic acid) accumulates in our bodies — specifically in our muscle tissues — as a result of poor diet, overmedication, exercise, illness, or dehydration. This toxic material results in knots, trigger points (tender, painful spots located on a very tight muscle), adhesions (areas where muscle and fascia — which we define in a moment — adhere to one another), and scar tissue. These problems cause pain, discomfort, and restriction of movement. Injury and poor posture can put muscle tissue into spasm to protect the area from further harm, causing patterns of pain.

Massage therapy works the soft tissues of the body so they can function optimally. Massage therapy is the only form of bodywork that addresses the soft tissue specifically, putting the body back into homeostasis (balance).

Consider this analogy: Think of the body as a sweater. If you pull one corner of the sweater, it changes the shape of the entire sweater. Massage puts the soft tissue — your sweater — back into its proper shape.

The body is lined with fascia, which is like a netting that holds everything in place. Keeping the integrity of the fascia is one of the main goals of massage therapy. Injury, adhesions, scar tissue, illness, disease, and spasms all pull on the fascia, resulting in stretching the sweater out of shape.

Prenatal massage

Pregnant women experience extreme changes in their bodies. Prenatal massage is a great way to alleviate some of the discomforts caused by pregnancy, such as sciatica, joint pain, fatigue, hormonal imbalances, edema, leg cramps, and constipation.

Make sure that your massage therapist has training in prenatal massage, because she needs to be aware of some things to avoid. For example, it is not safe to massage the belly during the first trimester. In addition, some points in AMMA (an Asian type of massage) can trigger a miscarriage. As long as your massage therapist is properly trained, massage during pregnancy is perfectly safe.

An added bonus of prenatal massage is being able to lie on your belly. Some massage therapists use a special type of cushion (placed on top of the massage table), which can allow you to safely lie on your belly even in the third trimester!

Your coauthor Joanne highly recommends receiving regular prenatal massages: During my recent pregnancy, I had weekly massages and found that the more I relaxed, the more relaxed my baby became. After Ava was born, I used a stroke on her belly that was similar to the stroke used on my abdomen. She loved the stroke, and I believe it was familiar to her. She melted like butter on the changing table!

Benefiting all ages: Preemies to toddlers

Baby massage is a wonderful form of touch for babies of all ages. Even babies in utero can benefit from massage (see the sidebar on “Prenatal massage”).

Preparing yourself mentally

No matter how old your baby is, be genuine, present, and attentive with him. Massaging your baby without intention is, frankly, a waste of time. Intention is simple, but it requires sincerity, focus, and presence. You can establish intention by saying something like, “I am here for you my little one, to love you, to care for you, to make you feel comfort and love.” Be sure you are fully present as you say the words; infuse them with feeling and sincerity.

Most of us don’t realize how often we detach ourselves from the world. While we sit in the presence of others, we spend a lot of time drifting off or becoming distracted. This is so common it is regarded as normal. Unfortunately, our interaction with others suffers silently; our connections are compromised.

You will find this to be true when you are challenged to stay 100 percent present with your baby during massage. Breathe deeply, powerfully, and steadily, and project love toward and into your baby as you massage her. Keep your entire attention focused on your presence and interaction with your baby. This is a challenge, but it is completely within your capability. With practice, you will quickly become more aware, more regular in your breathing, and more focused.

The art of baby wearing

You have probably seen other moms and dads carrying their babies around in slings. Wearing your baby in a sling offers a feeling of comfort and safety similar to what is experienced in the womb.

Let’s be blunt: Being born is stressful. Labor can be difficult, everything is new, and babies have to learn how to get their needs met. Wearing your baby provides her the comfort of motion and close contact with you. It also strengthens bonding. You can begin to use a sling with your newborn right away. It’s an easy and convenient way to nurture your baby while you do errands or just move about your house. (Your coauthor Joanne wrote many pages of this book wearing her baby in a sling!) Wearing your baby is also an easy way to be sure that your baby has all the touch and contact she needs as a newborn. Baby wearing can be likened to a hands-free massage!

Working with a premature baby

A study conducted by Touch Research Institute in 1986 showed that premature infants who receive some kind of touch in the hospital gain up to 47 percent more weight than those who don’t. The sooner premature babies gain weight, the sooner they are able to come home.

If you have a premature baby, all you need to do to bring massage into his life is to touch him with your finger. Believe it or not, just the touch of your finger stimulates his growth and development.

Being touched increases circulation in any area on your baby’s body. Increased circulation is physically stimulating, as well as encouraging to overall growth and good health. Gentle massage is a basic and loving method to help your preemie along. It is also a great way to bring physical connection into your baby’s world. Watch your baby react in wonder and pleasure, and you’ll know you’re on the right track.

Massaging newborns and infants

Holding, rocking, and gently stroking are usually enough to create an attachment and calm and soothe your newborn baby. If your baby is crying, remember to maintain a deep, self-nurturing, steady breathing. This prevents you from becoming stressed and overwhelmed, which makes it easier for your baby to relax.

As your baby grows older and is able to tolerate more touch and stimulation, you will be able to use the massage techniques we show you later in the book (see Chapters 5, 6, and 7). Even if you have just started to massage your infant, have fun, and don’t be afraid to experiment!

Touching your toddler

When your baby is no longer a baby, you can add more strokes to your repertoire depending on your baby’s attention and tolerance level. If you have been massaging your toddler since infancy, you will know her needs for touch very well by this point. You can increase the length and frequency of your sessions. Don’t be surprised when she begins to ask you for a massage!