How to massage a newborn yourself?

All parents have heard about the benefits of massage for babies. Even during pregnancy, many future mothers and fathers in advance acquire massage oil and baby cream to massage the baby after it is born. But the statement was left behind, and young parents are in some confusion - when you need to do a massage, how to do it, so as not to harm the baby, and whether you need to do it in the neonatal period? We will try to answer these questions in this article.

At first glance, a newborn, who is only from a few days to a few weeks old, does not need a massage at all. All he obviously needs is food, mother's presence and a healthy and long-lasting sleep, which takes up to 22 hours a day. However, this is a misconception.

If you undress a newborn and carefully look at its body, limbs, then with the naked eye, even in the complete absence of any initial medical training, you can see the consequences of his long stay in the womb - hypertonicity of the muscles. The pens of the baby are compressed into cams, which open very rarely, are slightly bent at the elbows and do not fully bend, the legs are bent at the knee joint, it is also not possible to straighten them completely.

A newborn (and a neonatal period, we recall, is considered to be from 0 to 4 weeks old) cannot hold a head, cannot turn it on sounds. Even the movement of the eyeballs is still chaotic. A stripped newborn waving his arms and legs completely arbitrarily, without controlling their movement in space.

Home massage at this age is designed to help relieve increased muscle tone, help your child to relax somewhat, better control their movements. Massage helps to improve blood circulation, strengthens the immune system, normalizes sleep and appetite, helps the little one to grow and develop more harmoniously.

Massage for newborns - a very special kind of procedure. It can, of course, be done by professional masseurs who have skills in working with newborn children. However, you should not count on a children's clinic. They usually hold massage sessions for older children, and it is undesirable to carry a newly born person with a weak immune system to crowded places, especially in the clinic, where several less healthy people gather in one square meter.

Call a specialist at home - an option for fairly wealthy couples is quite acceptable, because the sessions for such crumbs - the pleasure is expensive.

Massage belongs to the group of classic massage sessions. In essence, it is relaxing and restorative. Massage techniques are quite simple and are available for mastering to any mom and even dad, if he decides that he would like to do a baby massage himself. Dr. Komarovsky emphasizes that in the hands of a paid professional with a diploma, babies often cry.Not from pain, but from losing touch with the parent, because tactile contact is necessary for babies in a fortnight, at 1 month, it is necessary with the mother, to whom he has become accustomed for nine months of intrauterine development, which feeds him and gives him a sense of security and calm. Maternal massage, according to Komarovsky, can bring much more benefits than massage performed by the best professional masseuse.

Mom can fill the treatment and prophylactic session with love, turn it into precious moments of communication with the baby, with all the desire you can never give a stranger, no matter how famous the professional in their field.

Classic relaxing massage involves three types of techniques - stroking, rubbing and kneading. Each massage session should begin with a gentle gentle stroking and end with kneading of individual muscles and their groups. A child who is happy and easily transfers sessions can be added to the three basic techniques of the fourth - vibrating tapping with the tips of his fingers.

Many parents are interested in whether there are restrictions related to age. They are not. The only restriction that should be taken into account is the unhealed umbilical wound. It is recommended to start the massage when the clothespin from which you returned from the maternity hospital will completely disappear, and the umbilical wound will heal. In some cases, massage can be performed with the umbilical wound, but only on condition that the child has already turned 3 weeks old and has no contraindications, which we will discuss below.

Some believe that partial massage (limbs only) is possible from the first day after returning from the maternity house. There is a common sense in these statements.

There are quite strict rules that need to be followed if the decision is made to start a newborn massage. Parents should familiarize themselves with them first of all:

• Massage in the first half of the day, because a session held before evening bathing can disrupt the normal children's nighttime sleep - the increased circulation of blood acts stimulantly on the nervous system of the baby.
• The air temperature in the room where the child is massaged should not exceed 22 degrees Celsius. Parents may think it is too cold. This is not true. The skin of the child and some features of its thermoregulation, in which we will not go deep now, require just such an optimum temperature for the healthy development of the peanut.
• Massage is best combined with gymnastics, with exercise. In 1 month of life, when the neonatal period is over, you can add cool (27-30 degrees in the water) baths to this therapeutic and preventive complex as the first step to hardening and strengthening the immune system.
• In principle, it is possible to do without cream or oil, but if the skin of the mother’s hands is dry, it is best to use special baby massage oil or baby cream. It is better to refuse vaseline oil because it is a product of oil refining and leaves a rather thick film on the baby’s skin that does not allow the skin to breathe. The oil should be hypoallergenic, approved for use in children from birth. It should not smell sharp, contain dyes.

• For the session does not fit the soft surface of your bed or sofa. It is best to massage the newborn on a flat and hard surface - on the changing table, for example. If there is no such table in your apartment, you can use a regular table - kitchen, dining, having previously covered it with a thick flannel diaper, oilcloth and a thin diaper on top.Even if the baby is described in the course of the session, urine will not leak through the oilcloth layer.
• Try to equip the massage place so that in the process you do not get distracted from the baby, do not leave him alone even for a second, do not turn away to take something or put something. It is the fall of infants from the changing table that are considered the most dangerous and traumatic, since the height of the table is quite large.
• It is necessary to do massage only with clean hands, without manicure, long nails, rings and bracelets, because the skin of a child is very thin and vulnerable. Make sure your hands are warm, otherwise a massage from the first touch will give the baby discomfort and cause persistent rejection.
• Choose the time for the session correctly - immediately after eating the massage can cause abundant regurgitation, and before the next meal, the baby will be hungry and completely in no mood for any procedures or manipulations.

• Session time should be increased gradually, as well as the load. It is better to start from 3-4 minutes and gradually bring up to 10-15 minutes.
• Do not conduct a session in deathly silence. Use this time for the simultaneous development of the child, his sense organs - hearing and vision, read the verses and the rituals, talk with the crumbs, sing a song, turn on classical music.
• Everything that happens should be pleasing to the child. If something bothers him, if he starts to act up, cry during a massage, give up the session and set it aside for another day. It is not only not useful, but also very harmful to the health and development of the child, to do massage through “I do not want”, under the heart-rending childish roar.
• Massage only in those days when the child slept well, when he ate normally, when he is completely healthy and cheerful. At a temperature, diarrhea, nausea, abundant regurgitation is not worth the massage.

So, you decided to hold the first massage session for your newborn son or daughter. Prepare everything you need in advance. You will need:

• massage oil or baby cream;
• clean diaper or disposable diaper:
• wet wipes (wipe the child, if it is described, so that the urine does not irritate the delicate skin of the perineum).

Heat the oil slightly - it should be warm. Cream for a few minutes, put in warm water for the same purpose. Warm your hands. Spread the diaper, place massage products and napkins next to it. Check the air temperature in the room, close the vents to avoid drafts.

Common sense of parents and knowledge of conditions and diseases that are not combined with the procedure of massage, will help protect the child. Under no circumstances can a newborn be massaged at home and with his own hands without the knowledge of the doctor and his control in the following cases:

• viral disease, ARVI, flu;
• high or elevated temperature;
• congenital anomalies of bone structure, hip dysplasia, anomalies of other joints;
• inflammatory dermatological ailments, especially if they occur with the formation of cracks in the skin and pustular elements;
• umbilical hernia - exposure to this pathology can cause a hernia sac to become pinched;
• congenital heart and vascular defects;
• hydrocephalus;
• deep prematurity and weakness.

All exercises should be carried out with light touches, without causing the child pain and discomfort. Stroking should be gentle and neat, rubbing should not leave red marks on the child's skin, and kneading should be carried out superficially using the finger touch method. More persistent and deep movements with muscle tone will be felt quite painfully.

Start the complex with a group of exercises in the supine position, go to the posture on the stomach and at the end return to the position on the back again. So, let's begin.

Strip the baby, remove the diaper and let him lie naked for a few minutes - an air bath will help to adapt to the air temperature. Start with light strokes of the whole body, make sure that they are pleasant to the child. Then proceed to massage the arms and legs. With one hand, take the handle of the baby and fix it in one position, with the other hand gently stroke it from the fingers to the shoulder and down. This must be done at least ten times, after which a second handle massage is carried out in the same way. Then go to the legs.

Take one leg in your hand and wrap it around your shin, start stroking and light rubbing with your second hand, first at the back and then at the front from the bottom up. Reception is carried out ten times, after which the second leg is massaged identically.

Hold both legs in your hands so that your baby’s feet are in your hand, with your second hand, with your palm, from heels to your fingers and back at least ten times. Complete the foot massage by gently pressing the pad of your finger under the baby's toes - reflexively, the feet “unfold”.

After the limb and foot massage is completed, go to the stomach. Massaging the tummy should be done in a circular motion, avoiding touching and getting oil or cream in the area of ​​the umbilical wound. Try to “write out” circles in a clockwise direction - such an exercise is useful not only for strengthening the abdominal muscles, which is useful later when the baby begins to roll over, but also as a preventive measure and treatment of infant intestinal colic. In total, you need to make at least 10 circular movements.

Then you should start breast massage. Thumbs synchronously make movements from the center of the sternum to the ribs with a slight pressure. Reception is held at least 10 times.

Complete a set of exercises on the back with light finger taps throughout the body.

Start with a back massage. Swipe the backs of both hands ten times from top to bottom and bottom to top. Pay attention to your shins. They are stroked and rubbed with a gentle delicate pressure, so as not to cause the lower limbs to convulsive activity. When massaging the back, avoid massaging the neck area - for this crumb is still too small. It is enough to restrict light stroking shoulders. Do not rub or massage the vertebrae. All movements of the mother should occur along the spinal column to the right and to the left of it, but not in the center.

Encourage crawling - put your palm under the baby's feet, after bending the legs at the knees, and gently push them down - the baby reflexively moves the body forward.

Complete the back massage with light pats on the buttocks and proceed to the massage of the lateral muscles. To do this, turn the child on the right side, holding the body with one hand, and stroke the other side from top to bottom. Then slide your finger along the vertebrae - the baby reflexively straighten the back. Repeat the exercise no more than 2-3 times, turn the child to the other side and do the same. Return the child to the original supine position. Stroke him, calm him down if he is agitated. Do not rush to dress the baby. Let a few more minutes be naked in the air.

If the massage was performed with fatty oil, after the massage you should bathe your baby in warm water so as not to leave a greasy film on the skin.

Moms who are determined to grasp all the subtleties of the massage of newborns, you should first familiarize yourself with the work of professionals and see how specialists do this massage.

• The massage, which we described above, is a classic and designed for healthy babies. To the question, what are the distinctive features of a massage for clubfoot, for hypoxia, for birth trauma, only a doctor can answer - in all these cases it will have its own nuances that only a specialist can take into account.
• Impatience of young mothers who want to apply as soon as possible the whole arsenal they bought for the baby is understandable, but it is not worth it for the newborn to have physical therapy sessions or train him from the first days of life on fitball. Favorable time for such studies will come.
• Watch the baby carefully after the massage. If his behavior and well-being will be worse, temporarily give up the massage and return to it only after everything is adjusted, or consult a pediatrician.
• Never start a massage if the mother herself is in a bad mood. The newborn, despite the fact that the umbilical cord was cut off while still in the maternity hospital, continues to be in an invisible subtle emotional connection with the parent. Her bad mood and anxiety will definitely be felt for him, and the massage will not be a joy.
• Do not be afraid to do the massage yourself - it is quite difficult to injure a child during a massage, if everything is done correctly. In any case, in the practice of children's traumatologists such cases are very rare.
• Do not rely on reviews on the Internet. One massage helps children grow and develop faster, other parents say that they did not feel much difference after a course of massage (from 10 to 14 days with a break of two weeks).

For information on how to massage the newborn, see the following video.