Massages for babies?
Parents may be surprised to learn about one tool that can positively impact their baby’s neurodevelopment, gastrointestinal system, immune system and sleep cycles: infant massage.
Infant massage has been widely practiced for centuries in India, Asia and South America, but it has only recently become an accepted treatment modality for parents and health care practitioners in Western cultures.
Benefits of infant massage are multifold for both the infant and the parents and include:
- Increased circulation to the gastrointestinal tract, helping to relieve gas and constipation
- Bonding between parents and child
- Enhanced social emotional development
- Increased weight gain and shorter hospital stays among NICU babies
- Greater caregiver confidence and child attachment
- Alleviation of symptoms suffered by moms with postpartum depression
This seemingly easy but powerful activity is easy for parents to learn and can be easily incorporated into daily routines.
If you would like to learn more about infant massage and how to safely do this at home, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago offers infant massage classes every Wednesday at 11 am at 3040 N. Wilton, 2nd Floor. Classes are geared toward ages birth to 18 months and are taught by a certified infant massage instructor. Contact Caroline Krawzak at (773) 296-8112 to sign up.
Caroline Krawzak is a physical therapist at the Advocate Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Developmental Center.
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Caroline Krawzak is a physical therapist at the Advocate Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Developmental Center.
