How I did it: ...wonderfully, wonderfully bonding. Every night after his bath, I would give my son a gentle massage. Not very long at all, five minutes tops as he would start to get fussy after longer than that. I took him to a baby massage workshop when he was one month old, but he cried through the whole thing and I had to hold him and watch the others. Still, I learned a few techniques and I also bought two books to help me. There is a beautiful photo book called Loving Hands: The Traditional Art of Baby Massage by obsetrician Frederick Leboyer, which explores the ancient art of baby massage and has wonderful photos, I highly recommend it.
I loved buying yummy massage oils to use, my favorites were Weleda baby massage oil and Burts Bees Baby Bee Apricot kernel oil. Like I said I massaged my son every night, but also once a week or so I would turn on some Indian music, lay him diaper-less on a diaper mat and give him a longer massage. I think that not only is baby massage calming for the baby, it is supposed to have health benefits for the mother too.
I don’t massage my baby anymore, only because now that he is a toddler he is very wiggly and impatient after his bath, but I”m looking for ways to incorporate massage into our lives, as I think that it is a lifelong beneficial practice

Lessons & tips: Listen to your baby and respect his/her wishes. If (s)he fusses it may just not be the right moment. Try again later. Don't feel you have to go for an hour long full body massage. Maybe just a few calming strokes on the head or sweeps from the shoulders to the toes are enough. Again, it's important to respect your baby's wishes.

Resources: Loving Hands: The Traditional Art of Baby Massage by obsetrician Frederick Leboyer, beautiful full-page photos of mothers and babies in India.

Massage oils: Weleda baby massage oil, Burts Bees Baby Bee Apricot kernel oil, also Earth Mama Angel Baby makes a good one. Or you can just use plain sweet almond oil.

Do a search in your area for baby massage workshops, they are invaluable for helping you develop confidence in massaging your baby.

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Oct 23, 2010, 12:27AM PDT | 0 comments | 1 cheer