Baby Not Sleeping Well? Try A Massage
I have heard of this before. A couple years ago Regis and Kelly did a full segment on the proper procedures of baby massage. The babies were loving it! I tried it with my son, but he was too wiggly. I think it is something they have to get used to
Researchers are saying that parents who want to unsure themselves a good night sleep should try giving their baby an massage.
It can be as good as rocking at lowering stress levels in infants, helping them sleep better and cry less.
It can also promote and strengthen the bonds between parents and their new baby.
They concluded that massage could be a useful technique for parents who want to find ways to improve their babies' sleep and ability to relax.
The technique starts with gently touching the baby's body, from the head right down to the toes, while looking tenderly into the child's eyes. You should only use gentle pressure and range from simple touching through to gentle movement of the muscles under the surface of the skin.
Angela Underdown, The Institute of Education at the University of Warwick, led the research, looked at nine different studies covering 598 babies all under one year old.
Each parent giving the massage had been trained by health workers. The research showed infants benefited from massage as they tended to cry less, sleep better and had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol compared to those who did not receive massages.
When comparing massage to rocking and it found no significant difference between the two methods of soothing infants.
"There are indications that infants who were massaged were more relaxed, probably due to lower levels of stress hormones such as cortisol compare to infants who did not receive massage," she said.Related Sites:
Postnatal Stimulation Baby Massage
Baby Massage:Why/Benefits
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