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Home › Articles › Newborn and Infant Months › A Loving Touch

A Loving Touch

Top 20 Benefits of Infant Massage

By Kelly Camden, Certified Doula

Pages:  1  2  3  

  • Maintaining eye contact during massage is important for communication and reading your baby's cues. When you look into your baby's eyes, it shows that you are focused on her and attentive to her needs.
  • Massage is a wonderful way to reconnect with your baby after being separated from her during the day. It is a tool for fathers as well as mothers. For example, when a mother is nursing, she has lots of physical contact with the baby. Fathers who give their children massage find that it is another way to participate in hands-on baby care.
  • For parents who do not have experience with massage and would like to learn about how to tailor the treatment to their baby, infant massage classes are available. They may be offered through the childbirth education department of a hospital or through independent instructors. Some massage therapists are also infant massage instructors who will do home visits. They can teach infant massage to you in your home.

    • Sara Bergert, an instructor of infant massage in Albuquerque, N.M., believes that massage strengthens the parent-child relationship regardless of where they are when they start. "If they have a good relationship already, it will make it even better," she says.

    The more tools that parents have for soothing and caring for their baby, the better they feel about themselves as parents. They feel more confident, even during the rough times, because they know that they have tools for easing their child's stress.

    Want to Learn More?

    Here are some great books and Web sites on infant massage:


    Pages:  1  2  3  

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