The Importance of Baby Massage: Nurturing Touch for Healthy Development

What do you do when you see a tiny sapling in your garden?

You water it, nourish it, and give it the right support for it to grow into a strong tree someday.

With time, your little consistent care is reflected in its future strength.

Well, babies are similar.

Just as the sapling requires sun and water to grow and develop, babies require a warm and caring touch for their enhanced muscle, bone, neural, and mood development.

Baby massages are way beyond just a cute munchkin’s spa!

They are similar to the car engine oil, which is required for it to keep running smoothly!

What is a baby massage?

Baby massage refers to the soft, gentle strokes on their tiny bodies.

These loving strokes enhance their moods, deepen their bonding with the outside world, and support their overall development and well-being. In addition, it also helps them relax by releasing happy hormones in their bodies.

Baby massages have their origins in Ayurveda, called “nalapaka” or "abhyanga," thousands of years ago. It was believed that the art of baby massage with herbal oils promotes healthy growth and development in babies.

They have also been popular in many African and Western cultures due to their beneficiary child-rearing practices.

Why is baby massage important?

Did you know that babies are born with 300 bones, which are 94 more than in adults?

In addition, they are born with the same number of muscles as adults and, of course, billions of neurons, born-ready to communicate!

Their bones need to fuse together, muscles need to stretch, become strong and flexible, and of course, those neurons are waiting to form healthy brain neural connections to understand their environment better.

Your caring touch and communication make this all possible!

Importance of Touch

Ever noticed how a hug even from a stranger leaves you calm and relaxed?

Touch is the most important form of communication that establishes trust, security, and safety. Indeed, the most primary form of communication too!

For infants, a touch might vary from cuddling, holding, patting, kissing, and skin-to-skin contact to applying gentle strokes upon their tiny bodies.

Touch stimulates the neural connections in their brains, thus enhancing the growth and development of their bones and muscles.

Fact: Did you know that the kids who are deprived of touch experience delayed growth and development!

Benefits of Baby Massage

Studies show that infant massage can alleviate common discomforts such as colic, teething, and gas, providing immediate relief and promoting better sleep patterns, digestion, and immune system development.

Who knew such simple strokes could be a powerhouse of humans’ functional development?

Let us delve in a little deeper to understand why massage is important for babies.

1. Physical Benefits of Baby Massage

Just a 15-minute gentle body massage from head to toe or just a 5-minute heart-shaped back massage during their tummy time while diaper duty releases happy hormones in them, thus making them relaxed.

The physical importance of baby massage are:

i. Improved circulation and digestion:

Gentle strokes help relieve the blood vessels, thus promoting an efficient blood flow and nutrients in their tiny bodies.

Also, circular motions on the abdomen help in stimulating a healthy digestion. It also eases discomfort, reduces bloating and cramps, and also regulates bowel movement.

Tip: Always try to begin the massage by placing your hands on the baby's chest. This helps in establishing a trustworthy connection with them.

Baby massage also releases other growth hormones, which increases their appetite, thus encouraging weight gain in low-birth-weight babies.

ii. Relief from colic and gas:

The gentle, rhythmic strokes and exercises like bicycle legs, abdominal massage and smooth strokes from chest to feet, provides the babies with a sense of assurance.

This also helps in calming a fussy baby by reducing their stress and anxiety, thus promoting their healthy development.

iii. Enhanced muscle tone and flexibility:

It helps in strengthening muscles due to gentle, regular stretching, thus also promoting flexibility. This later helps them with efficient motor skills like holding, crawling, walking, running, etc.

Baby massage also triggers lymphatic drainage, thus helping to clear out all the toxins from the body and supporting immunity.

A rush of happy hormones is all you need for shooting your baby’s growth and development off the charts!

Fact: Babies who receive regular massages gain an average of 900 grams in a month.

2. Emotional and Psychological Benefits to Baby

Babies are exposed to only one intimate touch for nine months, which is from their mothers. Therefore, massage serves as a source of positive association to their transition from the womb to the real world.

The importance of baby massage for their emotional and psychological development includes:

i. Strengthening the parent-child bond:

A strong parent-child bond is possible due to regular skin-to-skin and eye contact, constant interaction, and understanding various babies' cues like sad, happy, sleepy, fussy, etc.This understanding is  enhanced with a consistent massage routine.

It also helps in their emotional regulation, thus enabling them to self-soothe and develop deep emotional bonds with their caregivers with time.

ii. Reduction of stress and anxiety in infants:

Ever experienced how relaxed and calm you become after a good body massage?

It works like a reboot for your mind, body, and soul. It is no different for the babies.

Baby massage promotes baby soothing due to:

• Release of happy hormones due to the rush of security and warmth they experience from gentle touches.
• Soft rhythmic strokes on their bodies that sync with their heartbeat, thus making them calm and peaceful.
• The use of oils that promotes sensory stimulation in regards to their feel and smell on their skin.

Tip: Use a calm-scented massage oil, as the strong-smelling ones might lead to discomfort and overstimulation, thus troubling their sensitive bodily systems.

iii. Promotion of better sleep patterns:

Baby massages help in regulating their circadian rhythms by providing them calming signals that differentiate daytime from nighttime. This promotes establishing their natural sleep-wake cycle.

It also helps in reducing their startle reflexes by soothing their nervous system, which is the sudden movements or sounds, and releases sleep-inducing hormones, thus promoting a sense of safety and a need to rest.

This encourages the babies to sleep better, thus enabling better growth and development of their mind and body.

After all, only a calm mind triggers a healthy body.

With consistency, babies also learn to self-soothe themselves in stressful situations due to the self-awareness of their bodies.

In fact, massages open that door of wisdom and development!

Fact: Did you know that baby massage also boosts emotional intelligence, social, cognitive, communication, vocabulary, social empathy, and mental resilience skills?

Also Read: Benefits and Myths About Baby Massage

3. Developmental Benefits of Baby Massage

Baby massages are like a warm-up session to unfold all the future potential in the babies. They are like an ignition to the engine of their fully-functioning human body.

Various developmental benefits include:

• Stimulation of sensory development: Massage helps in stimulating the nerve endings in the babies, thus aiding them to establish a healthy sensory and cognitive connection. Regular massage also improves lip movement, attention span, and a calm need for swallowing in babies.
• Support for motor skills and coordination: It helps them to develop efficient hand-eye coordination and other motor skills due to their consistent stretching of arm and leg muscles, face massage, and finger stimulation. This, thus prepares them for their future independence.
• Encouragement of healthy growth patterns: Baby massage is like a tonic for the entire body to function, grow, and develop efficiently. Besides, who knows if that extra stretching and flexibility could end up making them future yoga experts!

Some techniques for a good baby massage:

• Ensure to give a tummy massage in the clockwise direction due to the movement of the food inside the body in the same direction.
• Use warm oil and massage it in your hands before applying it to their skin to provide them with a soothing sensation.
• Use soft music while massaging them. Also ensure to rhythmically stretch their arms and legs on specific beats to enhance the interaction and also their giggles.
• Focus on their feet by gentle kneading and stroking because of the presence of various nerve endings in them, thus helping them relax.
• Incorporate tummy time at least for a few minutes during their spa session to strengthen their neck and shoulder muscles, besides improving their digestion.

Precursors for Baby Massage:

As caregivers, it is essential to be mindful of certain aspects before initiating a massage:

• Ensure the baby is not tired and is alert.
• Choose a peaceful and darkly lit room. This would help them relax!
• Gently begin by touching their entire body from head to toe to make them aware of what is about to begin.
• If the baby shows any sign of discomfort, immediately stop it.
• Wait for 45 minutes after their meal before giving them a massage.
• Repeat the strokes at least three times before moving onto the next one. It allows the baby to feel the stimulation.
• Ensure to initiate the massage minimum after a month of their birth. This is because their skin is very delicate during the initial days.
• Massage is mostly conducted using oils (97%), with preferred oils including sesame oil-based proprietary traditional medicine oil, coconut oil, olive oil, and mustard oil. The oils are believed to enhance the benefits of massage and provide additional nourishment to the skin.

Also, do try R for Rabbit baby massage oils, which are exclusively made for sensitive baby skin.

Caution: Always begin by applying a little amount of any oil on their skin to check for any allergic reaction before proceeding further.

Also Read: Guide on Shishu Abhyanga: Ayurvedic Art of Baby Oil Massage

Conclusion

Baby massage benefits cannot be expressed but witnessed with time. Your regular massaging routine would always end up in a happy, satisfied, and healthy baby.

Baby massage also helps in skin hydration and nourishment. An essential requirement for their transition from the womb to the outer world.

Studies also claim that baby massages help with postpartum depression!

It would also provide you with confidence in handling your delicate munchkins, besides enhancing the bonding with your baby.

Tip: Ensure that you hold your baby as much as possible because your touch is the tool to unlock their tiny brains and body development.

Lastly, ensure that your little client leaves satisfied with their personalized spa session!