Baby Massage - connecting through love
Baby Massage is such a relaxing and loving thing to do with your baby. Through Baby Massage you learn how to interact, communicate and bond more with your baby through positive nurturing touch. It’s different to adult massage, we focus on touch, physical contact and skin-to-skin bonding. We concentrate totally on a baby-led practice, so we are always watching baby's cues to make sure they are happy with the massage and going at their pace.
Studies have shown it can help your baby feel more relaxed, improve sleep and offer relief from health problems such as colic, wind and constipation. It's also really beneficial for parents too - it's a great way to socialise with your baby and meet other new parents, and to build a bond together through one-to-one interaction.
My baby massage classes in York are open to both mums and dads (or other carers), or you can teach your partner the strokes you learn each week when you practice at home - so the whole family can benefit from the bonding experience.
What happens at a baby massage class?
I'll talk through the benefits of baby massage, and teach you practical massage techniques (I always use a special demonstration doll to show you the massage techniques). We finish with tea and homemade treats, and a chance to chat with the other parents on the group in a relaxed and friendly environment. The idea is that you join in and practice the massage with your baby (which can be either through their baby-gro or on their bare skin with the organic massage oil provided - it’s your and baby’s choice, you can try both ways). But don’t worry if baby decides they'd prefer to sleep, feed or cuddle, that's fine too! You'll learn by watching, and can practice at home between classes. Once you've completed the course, you'll have learnt all the strokes for different parts of the body, and will be able to practice at home with the help of your illustrated handout to jog your memory and an little online video too.
Babies can take a while to adjust to the experience of massage, and may not participate in the full practice every week. Please don’t worry about that! We'll go over all the strokes each week, so you won’’t miss out and you get your handout booklet and video too to remind you. Everyone will understand if your baby has an unexpected nap or suddenly needs to feed, or decides to be very vocal - all the other parents are in the same situation, we all completely understand.
The most important thing in the class is staying is touch with your baby emotionally, your baby will tell you exactly what they like and what they don't. You should both really enjoy baby massage together. If you aren't enjoying it you and your baby just won't get the benefits either! That’s why you’ll learn simple relaxation, stress relieving and breathing techniques too.
About my York Baby Massage Courses
My baby massage course’s in York are 5 weeks long - this gives you the chance to build up your knowledge of the strokes gradually, reinforce what you have learned, and allows your baby to get used to the experience. By the end of the course, you'll feel confident and calm in massaging and handling your baby, connecting with and baby and be enjoying this lovely way to connect and relax together.
But I feel the main benefit of baby massage is connecting with your baby. Whilst a class is a great way to expand on your skills, increase your confidence and meet some other mums, it shouldn’t become a barrier to your touching your baby. The last thing I want you to feel is like you need to get it right. The only right is what’s right for you and your baby.
You should be empowered to tune into your baby and touch them and hold them and massage them in whatever way works for the two of you.
5 Benefits of Baby Massage:
1) Interaction - Baby Massage is one of the first parent-and-baby classes you can enjoy with your child. You'll learn how to interact with each other and how you can communicate with touch and speech, even though your baby is in a pre-language stage. You'll learn how to form a physical and emotional bond with your baby, and build a relationship of trust, helping your baby understand that you're their primary caregiver.
2) Stimulation - Baby Massage has shown to stimulate the circulatory, digestive, immune, nervous and respiratory systems.
3) Relaxation - Your baby will learn to relax, just like adults do with an adult massage! Baby Massage helps to promote relaxation for both mum and baby, and this, in turn, helps to promote sleep - a must-have for the whole family!
4) Relief - Baby Massage has been shown to help with a variety of ailments, including colic, gas, constipation, teething, mucus and other skin conditions. I’ll talk you through the various benefits of baby massage at the first session of your course.
5) Development. My Baby Massage courses can help you learn the stages of physical development that you baby will take from lying, through tummy time, to sitting to standing. You will learn how you can support your baby in this too.
It really is a very special class to come along to. Connecting through loving touch and being present with your baby with so wonderful. And I also teach you some relaxation techniques for tired parents, and you’ll get to practice a few nice gentle seated yoga stretches to ease your shoulders, upper back and arms too. So both you and your baby will benefit and get some lovely nurturing time. So not only do we have relaxed babies, but also relaxed and more confident mums and parents at the end of it.
To find out more about my Baby Massage courses in York just visit here. And you can also set up a baby massage class with friends at your home - just contact me for more details via email susan@formodernmothers.com
Susan xx.