Did you know it can take up to 1 year for all of your baby’s 5 senses to fully develop? When first born, your baby’s sense of taste and smell are their strongest, whereas their hearing takes up to a month to develop, their sight will up to a year to fully develop.
Touch is the 5 sense and the one newborns rely on others for. While in the womb your baby would have been able to explore their surroundings in a space that felt safe and secure. This is different for a baby once they are born, their new world is vast and its difficult for them to find those feelings of containment without the help of others.
What sparked my desire to become an infant massage instructor was working with premature babies. Due to the integrity of their skin, premature babies are not able to be held as often as babies who are full term. This is where skin to skin and containment holds are amazing, not only do they help with bonding, they also help to regulate a baby’s body temperature and breathing.
While you cannot massage a premature baby you can place your hands on them in the form of containment holds that allows them to feel safe and secure.
At the start of each baby massage session we start off with a containment hold called resting hands which allows your baby to relax. Baby massage isn’t just about teaching parents massage strokes that can help with their baby’s digestion, circulation, body awareness and sleep, but also allows me to meet up with parents, grandparents, caregivers and babies in a warm and relaxed environment.
