While the benefits of massage for adults and children with muscle handicaps have long been recognized, it is only in the last 20 years in the United States that massage has been seen as appropriate for infants. Now parents across the country are using massage techniques with their babies, some as young as three weeks old. Parents find that massage helps them bond with their babies, relaxes the infants, and may ward off digestive problems. Massage is a dynamic and specialized form of touch, and touch is increasingly recognized as critical to early human development. The benefits of Infant Massage for deaf babies with hearing parents may be particularly important.
Touch is communication that transcends ears, eyes, and culture.
Using simple strategies, parents learn to be sensitive to their babies. They must look to the infants for cues to begin, continue, and cease massaging. With massage, these natural activities, which cross linguistic and cultural barriers, become structured and stylized. How To Place a hand on the baby's stomach and make eye contact. Start with the legs, use long outward strokes that begin at the hip.