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Give your baby a massage to help them sleep better! Here’s how

Your baby needs some care too! Read about the benefits of baby massage and how it can help your infant sleep well and stay relaxed.
Know why tummy time is important for your newborn. Image courtesy: Shutterstock
Dr Prathibha Babshet Updated: 5 Dec 2022, 13:14 pm IST
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Touch is one of the elemental learning tools for babies during their early stages of development. When they feel someone’s touch, they feel relaxed, safe, loved, and nurtured. Massages, therefore, are a beautiful and loving way for parents to begin a healthy lifelong relationship with their baby. This positive and therapeutic touch relaxes your baby’s muscles, thus allowing them to sleep better. Here we will discuss the benefits of baby massage. So let’s go!

Here’s how a massage can help your baby sleep well!

As the daylight fades, the human brain responds by producing the hormone melatonin and preparing the body for sleep. Melatonin helps to slow us down and make us drowsy. Babies, however, need a little encouragement to ease themselves into the rhythm of being awake in the daytime and asleep at night. Gentle massage helps improve melatonin secretion in babies allowing them to get quality sleep.

Research suggests that massaging a baby regularly helps to get their circadian rhythms on track. Circadian rhythms are biological cycles that repeat every 24 hours and include periods of wake and sleep, activity and rest, hunger and eating, and oscillations in hormone release and body temperature. Maintaining them can help parents synchronize their child’s sleep schedules with theirs and hence get a restful night’s sleep.

Massage can soothe your baby and help them sleep better. Image Courtesy: Shutterstock

Is nighttime massage safe?

A night-time massage after a baby’s long and active day helps to decrease irritability, provides calmness and reduces excessive crying by reducing cortisol, the body’s stress hormone. With each soft stroke, the baby will feel loved and cared for. Thus, creating a bedtime routine that includes a soothing massage session helps the baby enjoy a night of restorative sleep.

Also read: Is this your baby’s first winter? 5 tips you must follow to keep the little one warm and cosy

One can use a massage oil infused with olive oil and winter cherry as it nourishes, protects, and softens baby’s skin while the rejuvenating and skin-conditioning properties, help to soothe and condition the skin. As a rule, one can choose a light and non-staining formula, free from mineral oil and lanolin.

Are there other benefits of baby massage?

Baby massage has a number of advantages for your baby, including boosting their weight, growth, immunity, and concentration, helping them sleep better, and fostering a closer tie of attachment between parents and children by increasing eye contact and enhancing communication.

In fact, baby massage may aid in stimulating the circulatory and digestive systems, according to the International Association of Infant Massage (IAIM). Some babies who experience symptoms like gas, cramps, colic, and constipation may also benefit from this in turn.

How does massage help parents bond with baby?

Being able to understand the baby’s cues helps the parents to meet the needs of their little one and reduce day-to-day agitation. Many parents have also found that massages can help their baby with moodiness, constipation, and teething discomfort, and even stimulate growth and development. A calming massage is one of the best ways to bond with the baby while helping them wind down and enjoy a restful sleep.

Massage is very beneficial for a baby. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

Note: Sometimes, the baby might be sick or not in the mood for a massage therefore it is important to respond to their cues. If they are wriggling or fussing, we should not continue with the massage and give them a warm cuddle.

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With all said and done, the amount of sleep the baby will get after a massage is truly worthwhile!

Dr Prathibha Babshet

Dr Prathibha Babshet Ayurveda Expert R and D, Himalaya Wellness ...Read More

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