How to massage a baby for 6-8 months?

Semi-annual baby develops rapidly. Every single day brings something new. This concerns not only emotional and mental development, but also physical. New motor skills and abilities toddler aged 6-8 months demonstrates with enviable regularity.

The answer to the question of whether a child needs a massage at this age is quite obvious: the immature musculoskeletal system of the baby needs support and development. We will tell about how to make a child’s general strengthening massage for a child at the age of 6-8 months in this material.

6-month-old baby is all interesting. As a rule, after six months, a period of crawling begins, an active cognition of the surrounding world. The kid needs communication, development of understanding of the native language. Many kids start to sit. Crawling is considered the most favorable and correct transition from a horizontal position (in which the baby was up to this age) to a vertical one.

With the adoption of a new position of the body increases the load on the limbs, joints, spine. In order for the musculoskeletal system to develop properly, it is imperative to maintain the muscles and ligaments in an active and developed state. Massage helps to cope with this task. He also contributes to the development of speech, because the mother actively communicates with the baby during the session. The baby can quite well respond to it with a cheerful walk, with separate sounds and syllables.

Massage effect is based on improving blood circulation, strengthening muscles, which will allow joints and vertebrae to be in the anatomically correct position, even with increasing load.

Active children with the help of massage become calmer, and sluggish and inactive babies liven up. This is due to the irritation of the skin receptors that occurs when massaged. Nerve endings send intense signals to the brain, whose activity is noticeably stimulated, the state of the nervous system becomes more balanced.

Massage for a healthy child is called preventive. His mom may well spend at home.

After six months, the baby sleeps much less, and is more awake. Waking periods are a great time for physical and mental development. They definitely need to use. For a child after 6 months, a classic massage can pursue two goals at once - a general strengthening massage and a soothing relaxation procedure.

At the age of 6-7 months, the duration of a massage session is increased from 15 to 20 minutes. For a child aged 7-8 months, the duration of the manipulations can be increased to 30 minutes. The massage now contains both active and passive techniques. In the first case, the kid performs the elements of gymnastics simultaneously with or after massaging, in the second, only massage techniques occur.

The techniques themselves are used more complex than before. The impact becomes more tangible, the loads increase. To the already familiar techniques - stroking, rubbing, kneading - are added plucked and percussion techniques. We tell about them below. However, the basis of the session - a classic massage, as before.

Mom should be ready for a massage session in the best possible way.

• From the hands you need to remove the rings, bracelets, watches.
• Short nails and a remote manicure will help make the massage safer.
• In advance, you should prepare and massage place. It is quite possible that the changing table on which the sessions were held earlier is no longer suitable for these purposes: the child has grown noticeably, he needs a place for coups, “crawling” movements. A small table, which should be used as a dressing area, no longer meets all the requirements of the massage table. It is best to choose a wider dining table, and if the apartment has a cold floor, procedures can even be done on it.
• For the child should prepare a gymnastic mat of PPU - "foam", it does not let the cold.
• Also, a diaper and a pack of wet wipes will be useful in case the child decides to deal with the natural need right at the height of the massage session.
• Next to the massage place, you should put massage oil or baby cream, put a dry towel or paper napkins for mom's hands, as well as bright and eye-catching toddler toys.
• Take fitball if available.
• Put rings and several large objects, for example, large blocks-cubes. For what they are useful, we describe below.

The air temperature in the room should not exceed 21 degrees Celsius. Make sure that there are no open drafts, especially if you perform a massage on the floor.

Mom should undress the child and start massaging it only with clean and warm hands. Pre-warm the palms and fingers, do not forget to lubricate them with a thin layer of baby cream.

General recommendations for parents of children of the specified age category are quite simple: you need to perform a massage, as before, by increasing the load. In other words, at the first stage, the mother easily strokes the whole body of the crumbs, then proceeds to massage the arms and legs. When massaging the limbs, it is important that the trajectory of movement of the masseur's hands be upwards. Start by kneading each finger and gradually rise higher.

After grinding, you can make several tingling movements with your fingertips. Make sure that the child does not hurt and unpleasant. Then spend the kneading movements of the main muscles and complete the massage of each handle or leg with soft and soothing strokes.

Go to the massage of the chest and abdomen. This is done in a circular motion around the navel. After 6 months, slack plucking movements around the navel can be added to the already familiar strokings to strengthen the abdominal muscles. The chest is massaged with light strokes: tweaks and bumps in the ribs are strictly prohibited.

In the prone position, the child is massaged for the back. Plumping effects of longitudinal long muscles, as well as weak strokes of the palms of the palms along the spine, add to the already familiar rubbing for six-month-old children. You can not massage the vertebrae themselves.

Pinchings and pats can stimulate the buttocks. All this is passive exercise. Active for each of their ages. Consider them in more detail.

After massage pens add exercise "Boxer". Give your child a firm grip on your index fingers or thumbs and make his boxing movements with his hands. Try to do this often.Such an exercise is very useful for hypotoneus, which replaces the increased muscle tone after 6 months of life.

After the massage of the legs, the exercise “Skier” should also be introduced. Take the baby, lying on his back, behind the legs and make legs sliding movements, as if the crumb goes on skis. This exercise perfectly develops the ankle that you will need in the future to master walking.

Mandatory at this age are the bending and unbending of the legs, arms. After the massage of the backrest, ask the baby to get the toy, turning to her and reaching for it from the position on the back, on the stomach.

Stimulate crawling, coups. You can try at the end of the massage to pull up by the handles, as well as sit down. You should be extremely careful when sitting down: if the child does not yet show independent attempts to sit down, this exercise is not necessary - an excessive load on the spine will only harm the crumbs.

For such children, the complex is complicated by some active exercises. The massage itself is done according to the scheme described above, nothing new should be introduced into it. However, the complex of active techniques is expanding. As a rule, children already crawl tolerably well, and therefore, after massaging and techniques for strengthening the back, add an exercise for crawling with obstacles. That's what we need and our large soft cubes-blocks, as well as rolls of towels. Teach your child to crawl obstacles, go around them, look for new trajectories of movement.

Practice after massaging your arms: hold the toy high above the child, let him try his best to reach for it. After the foot massage, circular movements are added to the legs - be careful with the knee and hip joints!

You can sit down while sipping a child both with both handles from a supine position, or with one handle, provided that he is already trying to sit on his own.

With 8 full months, you can add sitting exercises, for example, “box” with pens from this starting position. Also add active techniques for the development of the vestibular apparatus: flying a "plane" on the stomach around the room in the hands of the father (avoid throwing up the child - they can negatively affect the development of his spine).

From 8 months you can begin to do the exercise "Wheelbarrow" - it is adored by all tots. The child should walk on the arms until the mother keeps her legs raised.

The following tips will help improve the effectiveness of the massage and not harm the baby.

• Do not massage if your child is teething or the temperature has risen; you should also refuse to take classes on the days of vaccination.
• Consult on the possibility of massage and gymnastics for your baby with a pediatrician.
• Accompany all your manipulations with fairy tales, rhymes, rushes and songs. For the child, the session should not be burdensome and boring. For him, it must be an exciting game. Do not forget to call out loud the names of body parts, your actions, this will help the baby to remember and reproduce them faster.
• If the child is not in the mood and cries during the massage, give up the lesson and transfer it to a later time or another day. Only a massage that gives the baby pleasure, whether it is a relaxing or restorative session, will be most beneficial.
• Do not try to fit into the complex all the exercises that you have planned. Focus on the state and mood of the baby. Any number in your list can be donated if the child is not too complacent about the massage as a whole.
• When the temperature rises after a massage session, when a child's state of health changes, be sure to consult a doctor.

According to parents, massage for children from 6 to 8 months is quite simple and easy to learn.There is absolutely no need to spend family money to pay for the services of an expensive specialist, if there is no medical evidence for this. In addition, according to mothers, children very often cry in the hands of a stranger who gives them a massage.

Many mothers claim that it was the massage that helped their tots to sit and crawl faster, and then go. Pediatricians warn parents against trying jumpers and walkers at this age.

In the next video you will find a training course for children’s massage for parents and massage therapists.