Follow our guided 10-minute introductory massage for your baby.
You may wish to begin with a small 10 minute routine of light massage while lying together on a soft towel. This massage can be done daily after bathing or integrated into a full baby massage. It is good routine for a newborn that is unable to stay still for long.
Angle your baby slightly on its side, and with well-oiled hands, gently stroke around the shoulders and down the side of your baby’s body. Try to make your strokes as continuous and long as possible. It is likely that your baby will wriggle at first. Making small clicking sounds with your tongue can sometimes centre their attention and often stop them from launching into a full-scale cry. Baby’s love rhythm.
Still tilted, use slow and sweeping circular movements down one side of the back to its buttocks.
Massage the back of your baby’s hips, lower spine and buttocks with slow outward circles.
Turn your baby to the other side and repeat the three movements.
Curving around your baby’s buttocks pull both hands simultaneously down the legs to end at the toes.
Sitting up, gently centre your baby on its back. Place both hands at the base of your baby’s lower spine. Using firm and deliberate movements, curve round your baby’s buttocks and pull both hands simultaneously down the legs, gently straightening and stretching the leg as you go, with your thumbs gliding easily over the front of the legs, encompassing as much of the flesh as possible. You need a generous amount of oil on your hands to do this well. Vary each stroke by turning your wrists slightly, to cover as much of your baby’s inner and outer leg area as possible.
Beginning with both hands on your baby’s chest, smooth up and around your baby’s shoulders and out horizontally along its arms to the fingertips. Again, use all of your hand’s surface area and vary the angle on each stroke to cover as much flesh as possible.
Placing one hand flat on your baby’s tummy and hold for ten seconds. Then, supporting your baby’s side with the other hand, slowly and gently circle your baby’s tummy. This can be a sensitive area. If your baby resists, hold your hand still for a moment, before slowly resuming the circles.
Placing your baby on its tummy, skin to skin on your stomach, slowly stroke down your baby’s back with alternate strokes, gently over the spine. The downward movement has a calming effect on your baby’s nervous system. Then separate your hands slightly so one hand strokes one side of the back and the other strokes the other side, on alternate strokes. Keep the rhythm regular and continuous, all the time communicating with your baby.
Finish with a kiss on your baby’s forehead.