How Touch Nurtures Premature Babies
Touch is widely understood to be beneficial for infants and children and contemporary research emphasises the benefits of touch for babies that are born prematurely. Just as much as other babies, premature infants tend to respond well to the comforting touch of their parents and this nurturing touch is now recognised for the possibilities it holds for the stimulation of growth, increase in weight and expression of comfort.
As a child grows, whether born prematurely or not, baby massage is acknowledged as helping to strengthen parent and child bonds and foster the child’s physical, social and emotional development.
Has this always been the case?
6 Facts About Touch and Bonding
Babies are adorable, lovable and sweet not only by nature but because they need to be touched in order to thrive and achieve an optimal state of well-being. An ever-increasing body of evidence illuminates the importance of parents touching their baby and this is especially pertinent to the bonding that occurs between a mother and her newborn baby in the baby’s very first moments of life.
The bonding that occurs between a parent and their child is a process that should continue and grow in the days, weeks, months and years that see the child grow from an infant to a toddler, child, adolescent and beyond. Touch is widely understood to be fundamentally beneficial to the development and strengthening of this bond and the development of the child’s confidence and self-esteem; baby massage (taught by professionals) is one of the most significant ways for this touch to be delivered.
4 Wonderful Things to Do with Your Baby
As parents, we all want to do the best that we can for our babies and children. Many of us are acutely aware that the experiences that are had during childhood can shape their life and so we want to make sure that our children experience positivity, warmth and security.
Particularly when the enormity and significance of this responsibility is considered, numerous parents are constantly seeking things to do with their babies and children. To help all parents, we have compiled a list of four wonderful things to do with and for your baby.
1: Massage your baby
5 Commonly Asked Questions About Baby Massage
Awareness of the benefits of baby massage is growing and although most people have a general idea of what the practice entails, they are not always confident that it is right for them or their baby. It then follows that there are a number of questions that are most commonly asked about baby massage and here we present five of these questions with their answers.
1: At what age should I start to massage my baby?
There really are no rules about when to begin massaging your baby. A baby can be massaged from birth and there is an emerging body of evidence to show the positive results that can occur when children are massaged from very early in life.
It is also well understood that the power of touch and gentle massage delivers a positive effect for premature babies.
The best advice is to undertake your baby massage training when both you and your baby are ready.
5 Reasons to Learn Baby Massage
Many parents have heard of baby massage and suspect that it may be good for their baby. Almost all parents are eager to do things that benefit their baby and so it follows that baby massage is growing in popularity.
There is no shortage of valid reasons to learn baby massage. Actually investing in some credible massage education will make the experience all the more enjoyable and nurturing for both yourself and your baby.
Here we take a look at five very important reasons to learn baby massage:
1: A break from routine
8 Benefits of Touch
An increasing body of evidence is showing that touch is a vital sense and one that is pivotal to the social, emotional and physical development of children. It is well known that babies love to be held and cuddled and for good reason – there are an incredible number of benefits of touch.
In a human embryo and of the five senses, touch is the first to be developed and, when the baby is born, the most developed of the senses. Following the birth of a baby, why is touch so important?
#1: As humans, we are tactile creatures and it seems that there is a direct relationship between the amount and quality of tactile stimulation that a person receives and their development from birth.
4 Tips for Dealing with Baby Tantrums
Experiencing a tantrum from your baby can be incredibly confronting. In all likelihood, you will not be ready for the screaming, shrieking, stiffening, hitting, kicking and writhing that you may see and it is possible that you will not see this reaction coming from whatever it is that has upset your baby.
Knowing how to respond to a baby or child’s tantrum is not always easy, but here we provide you with a range of tips and strategies for dealing with this behaviour.
#1: It isn’t you
Possibly the most important thing to keep in mind when your baby is having a tantrum is that the tantrum is not necessarily a reaction to you. Just as importantly, your child’s behaviour is not necessarily an indication that they have a bad temper. Because your child is probably too young to really show a bad temper, the ways that you react when they are an infant, will be quite different to how you may react when they are older.
How to Improve Your Baby’s Rest-Activity Cycle
Along with the joy that a newborn baby brings, sleep deprivation is a reality for almost all new parents. A baby’s sleep patterns can seem entirely random and chaotic and developing any sort of routine or predictability about a newborn’s behaviour can take many months.
While there is considerable variation in the amount of time in which newborns sleep, feed and ‘play’ (as much as a newborn baby can play), there are strategies that parents can use to try to develop a pattern of rest and activity for their newborn. Particular strategies, including baby massage and close contact, have been found to be effective in helping a baby settle for sleep.
How to Relax Your Baby
Many parents will agree that there are few things that they want more than their baby drifting off to sleep without fuss or resistance.
Assisting your child to relax and prepare for sleep is rarely easy – little ones commonly protest and behave as though rest is the worst thing that could happen to them. However, it doesn’t have to be quite so difficult as there are a number of things that a parent can try to relax their baby and prepare them for sleep.
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Six Reasons to be Certified as an Infant Massage Instructor
If you have a genuine interest in baby massage and have considered becoming an infant massage instructor, there are many good reasons why you should become certified. Interest in baby massage is growing and, as people become more and more aware of its benefits, the demand for massage courses delivered by comprehensively trained instructors is sure to grow.
#1: When you choose to complete a baby massage instructor training program that is credible, respected and endorsed, your own credibility will be strengthened amongst health professionals and parents who are seeking to learn high quality, effective and correct baby massage techniques.
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