It is no surprise that infant massage, nurturing touch used on babies by parents or caregivers, is known to encourage a stronger bond between the pair. But it can also provide myriad other benefits for a baby’s well-being, said Lori Tomaro, director of St. Francis Community Center’s Family Support Services and one of nine professionals in the department who is trained in the practice.
“We want for babies to understand that their needs are going to be met, so this is a time where we focus on them. It’s a quieter setting,” she explained.
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| Photo via St. Francis Community Center Amy Mackenzie (left) of St. Francis practices the nurturing touch on a doll while Veronica Lozano massages her daughter. |
Benefits of the skin-on-skin contact range from better sleep and digestion as well as improved circulation to reducing colic and gas symptoms and stress. Tomaro saw these issues relieved in babies who participated with their parents in a training course hosted by St. Francis and conducted by Infant Massage USA, the U.S. chapter of the International Association of Infant Massage founded in Sweden in 2005.
“Even with one of those babies, who had some elimination concerns (she was constipated), we got to see a difference within those three days,” Tomaro said. “Mom was reporting sleeping being better. Sleeping was getting longer; there was less waking up in the middle of the night. Over three days, waking up during the middle of the night went from four or five times to one time.”
The training program, held at St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Church in Beach Haven in September, was funded by a research study for home visitation programs through the federal government.
“We had read about the benefits of infant massage prior to attending the training, which is what made it such a gift to be able to do this,” said Tomaro. “But once we completed the training, what we saw and the information that we heard, we wanted to share it with everybody. We kind of felt like it was a gift that everybody should have because it’s not something just stay-at-home moms can do. A mom who’s working full time can do this before bath. Dads can do this in a way to make sure they get their special time with their baby. So we see the importance. We want to make sure everyone has the information and opportunity.”
To spread awareness of the process, members from St. Francis have started a five-week infant massage course, aimed at teaching others how to properly engage in the practice.
“There are specific, deliberate massage strokes for different parts of the body,” said Tomaro. “There’s little songs, nursery rhymes, that go along with different ones.”
During the center’s first five-week program, held from October through November, a 6-week-old colicky baby “was relaxed, comfortable and not fussy for many hours, when in the beginning it was only one hour of peace, during the massage,” Tomaro said.
“That’s huge for a mom who’s home all day with her baby who’s crying all day. It gives them another avenue to pursue if baby’s fussy,” she added.
An entire massage, used on the legs, arms, face and belly, takes about 45 minutes. Of course, it does not need to be done all at once, said Tomaro. The massage, which uses edible oils such as vegetable or coconut oils “because babies put their hands in the mouth,” can be done throughout the day. It can also be used for bedtime relaxation, “to help them have a nice, sound, restful sleep.”
Before beginning, parents are instructed to engage in some of their own relaxation techniques, to help ground them for the process.
“It is a special time created by the parents with their baby,” said Tomaro. “We live in a world that’s very rushed. Parents are working eight hours a day. Babies are maybe in childcare. This is a special time,” she emphasized.
The technique is a great complement to St. Francis’ Parents as Teachers program in which trained professionals work specifically with expectant mothers up until the children are 5 years old, to provide in-home services and to make sure the babies are reaching their milestones – that they are walking, crawling and learning to talk at appropriate time frames so they are ready to start school.
“It kind of fits in with the services we provide in strengthening families,” said Tomaro. “We teach parenting, we teach anger management, in-home parenting. We have a program for Spanish-speaking, in-home therapy. So it’s all about creating a better environment for children and their families.”
The Parents as Teachers program also provides activities or referrals to other community agencies if children are “lagging behind a bit.”
“We work with some parents who are busy with everyday life situations and maybe don’t understand that they can strengthen that bond,” Tomaro said. “A lot of people could almost be insulted by (someone) saying (infant massage) ‘is going to increase your bonding and attachment.’ They’re like, ‘I’m bonded.’ But this strengthens and deepens it to a deeper level.
“Every baby doesn’t have the benefit of having a parent that is always bonded,” she added. “It could be because of medical issues, where babies don’t get to be on their mom right away. You see in movies where they take that baby and they put it right on top of their mom (after birth). Sometimes that doesn’t get to happen. Bonding happens within the first few days of the baby’s life. Attachment is over a much longer period of time. So we’re strengthening that, and what that does is it gives that message to the baby that all their needs are being met. This increases their confidence and overall well-being.”
A five-week program, which began Nov. 22, is being conducted by St. Francis at the Stafford branch of the Ocean County Library on Saturdays, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Instructors are also hoping to begin a Tuesday morning class for interested participants. To register, or for more information, call 609-494-8861.
— Kelley Anne Essinger
This article was published in The SandPaper.
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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