Massage Therapy for Infants
Whether your baby is a newborn or several months old, massage can bring immediate and lasting results:
- Help with deeper and more sound sleep
- Promote relaxation and help babies self-regulate and calm
- Enhance neurological development
- Relieve the discomfort of gas, teething, colic and congestion
- Stimulate all of the physiological systems
Pediatric Massage
Touch is a sense that is one of the first to develop in humans and probably all forms of life. It is said that touch can convey more than a thousand words, and children are known to thrive with the right amount of physical contact. A massage is a form of touch therapy that has been prevalent for centuries worldwide. Massage conveys to the child a sense of security and trust that is essential for the newcomer into the world. Ancient Indian, East Asian, and African cultures first introduced the practice of daily infant massage, practiced soon after babies are born, to promote weight gain, coordination, bonding, and increase the infants’ ability to thrive.
Massage Therapy for Children
Massage can be helpful for children who experience a wide range of symptoms – from musculoskeletal pain caused by sports injuries to help with neurological conditions or anxiety.
Massage can help:
- Decrease levels of cortisol (The Stress Hormone) and blood glucose levels. The reduction in stress in children boosts the immune system and its ability to resist diseases
- Reduce musculoskeletal pain and improve healing
- Increase body awareness and neurological development
- Stimulate motor development
- Stimulate cognitive development – increased alertness and well, speed and accuracy
Massage as therapy seems to work for children. Whether they are infants, pre-schoolers, or teens, making massage a routine in the child’s life can help them grow into balanced and healthy adults (Boomerang Health – Power by SickKids).