As an occupational therapist who works with infants and toddlers, I have seen first hand how great infant massage can be! This article highlights this:
Infant massage: Understand this soothing therapy - MayoClinic.com
Seven years ago, I went through training to become a certified infant touch & massage instructor (CITMI). I did this so that I could teach parents of my clients how to massage their babies. Sometimes when a child has multiple disabilities and medical problems, there is minimal things that a parent can do to truly bond with their baby. When you teach those parents how to massage their infant and how to read the signs of their baby (respiration, state of arousal, emotion, etc), all of a sudden the parent seems to feel more competent as a parent that they could provide a source of enjoyment for this baby who has so many medical needs. Also, for some children it shows that touch doesn't have to mean pain. Medically fragile infants have been poked with needles and tubes so much that they may become aversive to touch if not exposed to a pleasurable touch as well.
For babies with development delays massage can be beneficial too. The massage can loosen tight muscles as well as stimulate floppy muscles. The massage can aid in "body in space" awareness which can then lead to the child achieving motor milestones such as rolling over to the tummy and back.
Massage can be just as important for typically developing infants, especially if they tend to have constipation or reflux. When I was going through the training, my daughter was 2 years old; she really enjoyed me practicing the various massage strokes on her arms, legs, and tummy. She would even come ly on my lap and say "saj me mama"... a great measure of bonding and success!
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I am also interested in infant massage but when I began looking at potential courses, the number (and price) was overwhelming. It seemed like all the providers were trying to have THE proprietary method, and it was hard to tell which were the best researched. What swayed you to pick this version of massage to learn?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I just chose the route I went because the course came to the city I live in. I have other co-workers who got trained with different "infant massage" companies, and I think that we all received great information from our trainings. I am sure if I had had to pay for hotel and travel, then I would have thought twice about the training. If you work frequently with infants then the training is a must! NICU, early intervention/ECI, or out-patient/clinic therapists could all benefit. When I went through the training, there were OT, PT, respiratory therapists, child life specialists, nurses, and counselors in my class, however I think that the OTs and PTs had the easiest time learning the information.
ReplyDeleteIt’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks for sharing this with others.
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It has been some time since I visited website with such high quality information. Thank you so much for providing such helpful information. This is really informative and I will for sure refer my friends the same. Thanks.
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