Ten Tips for Massaging Your Baby

So many parents testify to the benefits of baby massage. Commonly thought of as an effective way to settle and calm your baby, baby massage offers additional benefits such as bonding, communication and interaction between parent and child, physiological benefits and encouragement of the child’s emotional development. Massage for infants is very different to massage for adults and it is recommend to seek advice from a qualified instructor in regards to specific stroke techniques. Proven to be more effective with the use of baby massage oil, the caring touch of a parent using massage will always benefit a child.
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Benefits of Baby Massage

Far from being only a technique for bonding with your baby, baby massage is increasingly respected for the range of benefits that it brings babies and their families. Baby massage is intended to be enjoyable for both baby and parent and is unique in the way that it offers an extensive range of physical, social and emotional benefits.
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Understanding Baby Massage

Baby massage is steadily gaining popularity. Although it has been practiced by other cultures for thousands of years, western cultures are only just realising the benefits of this art. Touch is an incredibly important and powerful sense, capable of providing comfort, love and security. For this reason and others, baby massage is often a nurturing, soothing and relaxing practice for both the baby and their parent(s) or caregivers.
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Baby Anxiety–How to Raise a Resilient and Balanced Bub

At some stage or another, your baby is going to experience separation anxiety. Biologically speaking, and definitely in terms of evolution, this makes sense—as a baby with virtually no defences, the idea of being left by a parent is highly stressful and will result in very real anxiety. The key to raising resilient babies and children is to minimise this anxiety and manage it in a way that shows your baby that you will always come back, and that they will always be safe while you’re away. There are several ways to do this at all stages of the experience–from calming anxiety through baby massage and other comforting techniques, to structuring the experience so that your baby gets used to the idea you’ll never be gone forever. Here is our step by step guide to minimising anxiety and reassuring your baby.
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Hush Now–4 Techniques For Soothing Your Little One

As any new mother will tell you, soothing a crying child is never as simple as you thought it was before you became a mother! After the usual checks (hungry? tired? wet?) there are a multitude of reasons your baby could be crying and it can be difficult to find the right solution right away, especially in those first few months! Years of experience has taught women a few tips and tricks on how to soothe a crying baby, and these tips are willingly shared between mothers as they realise that one that works can be as precious as gold. We’ve compiled 4 techniques that we’ve found to work, and share them with you here in the hope that they’ll work for you. From baby massage to leg-pumps, we hope you find something in here that works as your magic soothing solution. Good luck!
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Happy Babies: 3 Things to Make Your Baby Smile

There’s little that compares to the feeling you get when your baby looks up at you and smiles for the first time. It’s as though the whole world has dropped away and nothing else matters but trying to make the smile happen again. Of course, babies being babies, what is hysterically funny one minute will bore them the next, so as mothers and fathers we often spend fruitless hours trying to recreate the situation that made our babies smile, to no avail. While getting your baby to smile is wonderful, the real goal is to create an environment in which your child is comfortable, stimulated and happy—that’s when the smiles will start coming thick and fast! Through engagement (such as playing and singing), touch (baby massage, tickling, cuddling) and stimulation (interactive books and DVDs), you can create just such an environment for your child, and raise a happy, healthy and smiley baby!
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How to Communicate with Your Baby

One of the most common concerns new mothers experience is wondering how best to communicate with their babies. Having a tiny creature so utterly dependent on you for everything can be a daunting experience, and some women worry about how they’ll interpret all of their child’s needs and communicate with them without the benefit of being able to sit them down and have a conversation! Firstly, if you’re worrying about this, don’t. So much of the communication that happens between a mother and child is instinctual, and over time you’ll learn which cries mean your baby is hungry, sleepy, wet or just looking for some extra cuddles. In turn, your baby will read all it needs to know in the tone of your voice, your touch, and the way you look at each other. These non-verbal methods can be just as effective as a conversation between the two of you, so we’ve got a few tips that can help you strengthen the channels of communication even further. Through baby massage, patient and consistent structure to your day and even baby signing, you can enhance your wonderful and communicative relationship with your baby.
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Baby Motor Skills

Parents of babies spend a good deal of time over those first few years looking out for ‘motor milestones’ as they are often referred to in parenting courses, or those indicators of development that everybody asks you about. ‘Is he walking yet?’ ‘Is he holding his spoon and feeding himself?’ ‘Can he roll over?’–these are common questions and sometimes they can cause unnecessary worry in new parents as they stress over the rate at which their baby develops compared to everyone else’s baby. While every baby develops at different rates, there are certain activities you can undertake with your baby to ensure their motor skills are coming along nicely.

Help the Head

Of course, newborns have very little neck strength, and as a result one of the primary concerns when handling a precious new baby is making sure their head is supported. After a while, your baby will develop stronger neck muscles and be able to strain this way and that at every little noise. In order to help further strengthen neck and head control once it starts to develop, place your baby face-down on the floor and entice the little one to look up, either by placing visual stimuli at eye-level or getting down on the floor with them. Repeat this throughout the day in order to build up strength, but make sure your baby doesn’t get tired or sore from straining.
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5 Activities to Help Your Baby’s Development

While parenting courses and books are incredibly valuable sources when it comes to fuelling your child’s development, many of the techniques that benefit babies the most are simple and intuitive. It’s easy to become overly obsessed with time lines–the ages at which your baby ‘should’ be walking, talking, crawling, smiling etc–but the most important thing is to do everything you can to make sure your child has a loving and supportive environment in which he or she feels able to learn and grow. Here are a few holistic tips on helping your baby’s development. Enjoy!

Interaction

As humans, we constantly model ourselves and our actions in relation to others. An infant’s list of acquaintances will primarily consist of family members for the first few months, so it’s your job to engage them as often as possible in interaction. We’re not talking here about reading complex algebra equations to your newborn or teaching them art appreciation, just about the general back-and-forth that occurs between humans. Sometimes people forget that your baby not being able to talk yet does not exclude them from being able to listen, so talking constantly to your child, letting he or she see different facial expressions and playing off different moods or expressions is a perfect way to start teaching them about relationships and engagement.
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Bringing Home Baby: A Checklist

As the countdown to your due-date begins to whiz by faster and faster, the list of things to do around the house in order to prepare for the arrival of your little bundle seems never ending. There are parenting courses, baby showers, birthing classes and shopping lists that resemble novels! Coupled with the stress of being pregnant and running around getting things ready, there’s the ever-present fear that you’ll forget something. It is something all new parents experience and in the hopes of reducing some of the stress, we’ve put together a checklist of all the elements that should be in place before baby arrives home. Good luck!

Ensuring You Are Emotionally Supported

Far more important than stocking up on the right brand of nappies or a year’s supply of wipes, it is vitally important that you have an emotional support network in place for when things become a bit overwhelming. The ability to ask for help and the confidence to know who to ask are the most important tools in a mother’s possession, so well before the need arises, make a list of trusted friends and family who you know will be willing to lend an ear, a shoulder or have a laugh with in this exciting and life changing time.
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