The child does not sleep well after the massage: we understand the causes and eliminate them

Thematic forums on the Internet are full of requests for help and advice - young mothers who begin to massage the baby, instead of the expected great benefit, get a capricious and poorly sleeping child who behaves as if he was replaced. Can the massage worsen the quality of the baby’s sleep, why it is possible and how to eliminate such causes, we will tell in this material.

Massage, even the simplest - tonic, is a fairly strong effect on the child's body. The younger the peanut, the more pronounced the consequences of such an impact may be.

Too intense massage, even if performed by a professional masseuse, can cause pain. Discomfort in the muscles and ligaments can be observed after the session: in this case, the child does not sleep during the day or at night due to muscle pain. And this is also a fairly common cause of sleep disturbance.

The very fact that the massage is done by a stranger can cause disturbances in normal sleep and the condition of the baby. For him, any outsider, including a professional, is a threat to his physical security. So ordered nature.

That is why babies sometimes feel so painfully a massage performed by a professional masseuse. The child cries, the doctor honestly works out the money paid, and the mother stands nearby and often deep down rejoices: crying, in her understanding, is a sign that the muscle clamps and tone are successfully eliminated.

In fact, the child requires protection, and requires it from the mother. A standing and inactive mother introduces him to a state of real hysteria - security is at stake. There is nothing surprising in the fact that such shocks adversely affect the quality of sleep.

Massage, especially if it is performed by invited specialists or a massage therapist in the clinic, does not take place when the baby is fully prepared for this, but when there is a free period of time in the specialist’s schedule for the reception of your child. Thus, the daily routine, which is usual for a baby, often falls apart with the beginning of the course of massage. This is also the cause of whims, anxiety and unimportant sleep: kids do not like drastic changes in their everyday life.

In addition to getting out of the “comfort zone”, a child may show his fatigue by deterioration of his state of health and behavior - changes in the regime often lead to chronic fatigue. Here we have a vicious circle: the child cannot fall asleep, because he is tired and over-excited, and he cannot rest due to the fact that he cannot sleep.

In addition, the reasons for the deterioration of sleep may lie at all in the massage. It so happens that the treatment or prophylactic course does not start at the right time: the family has moved, the child has recently had a disease, his teeth have started to be cut, his family has a breakdown or divorce.

If your baby is crying and naughty after the first massage session, treat it with understanding, perhaps the crumbs just need time to get used to. If hysterics and sleep disorders are stretched for more than three days, it is time to take effective measures.

• If possible, do a massage yourself. In the hands of the mother, the child will not feel in danger, his psyche will not suffer. Of course, if we are talking about therapeutic massage for some diseases, you will need the help of a specialist. But there is a way out. Dr. Komarovsky recommends that such mothers ask a specialist to show the massage technique to do the massage with their own hands, even if under the supervision of a professional. It will be much more efficient and easier for the child. Restorative massage, every mother can do herself at home.
• Try to reduce the intensity of receptions. Touch more gently, do not press hard on the skin of the child. Ask the same specialist who deals with the baby. If the reason sleep disorders was in physical pain, after a couple of days after reducing the load, the child will calm down and begin to rest normally.

• Choose the right time for massage treatments. Toning massage is best done in the morning before lunch, and relaxing - in the evening before bathing and sleeping. Immediately after the massage, do not put the baby to sleep, let him soak in the bath, relax, get tired and get tired. After feeding, it should take at least an hour for the child not to regurgitate during the procedures, otherwise his sleep will be disturbed for one more reason - he will feel hunger earlier.
• Try to make a massage is not a medical procedure, but a game. Occupy the child with rhymes and songs, interesting toys. If he is naughty, it is better to stop and get a massage at another time or another day. We can not allow the crumb inconsolably crying throughout the session, and then another hour trying to calm down. With such a massage, even in an adult, sleep and appetite would be disturbed, and we are talking only about a small helpless child.
• For active and highly excitable children with a fast nervous system response Relaxing massage is suitable for any stimuli with minimal deep impact. Children with some lethargy - toning.

You will learn how to properly massage your baby before bedtime in the following video.