What is Baby Massage?
Infant Massage has extensive research found to:
- Relax mother/carer and baby
- Enhance bonding and attachment
- Attune mums/carers to baby’s ‘cues’
- Reduce stress hormone levels in both carer and child
- Facilitate body awareness
- Enhance cognitive, social and motor development
- Improve settling and sleep patterns
- Reduce crying time
- Improve mood and emotion regulation
- Help with postnatal depression or anxiety
- Prevent and relieves colic, constipation and wind
- Boost immune system function
- Increase carer confidence in handling baby
It is important to learn safe and effective massage techniques and principles from a qualified instructor.
Discover the benefits of touch, for both you and your baby, with
Infant Massage classes or private lessons with Nurture Baby Massage & Yoga.
Group Classes or Private Lessons are perfect for new parents with newborns and older infants, or pregnant mums- and dads-to-be, or grandparents and other regular caregivers. For the most benefits, it is ideal to learn Infant Massage in the first six months (or before birth!). However massage can be easily adapted for mobile babies, toddlers and older children.
Note: Massage techniques are taught to carers, who practise them on their babies themselves (or on a doll if prenatal). The Instructor does not massage your baby.
You will learn:
- How to give your baby a full-body massage, including different ways to massage each area
- About appropriate oils to use (and to avoid)
- The best times to massage
- How to understand your baby’s ‘cues’ (non-verbal communication)
- The benefits of infant massage
- Tips and tricks for massaging babies who are fussy, colicky or mobile!
- Specific techniques for common problems (eg. colic, reflux, constipation, wind)
- Principles & techniques for massaging infants with special needs or conditions, if relevant (including hip dysplasia, torticollis, talipes, neurological conditions or other musculoskeletal conditions)
You will also learn ideas for:
- Settling
- Managing colic & crying
- ‘Tummy time’
- Playtime in general
Full Workshops – choose a format that suits:
- Group Classes – 4 x 1-hour classes
- Private Lessons – 2 x 1.5 -hour sessions
- Private Group Booking – Mum’s group / Playgroup etc
For these full workshops, organic massage oil is provided for use during lessons, and you receive a handout listing the massage strokes covered.
There is time for review of all techniques, as well as questions and discussion.
A selection of infant massage products and resources is available for sale at each class, including manuals, DVDs and recommended oils.
Introductory Group Session – single 1-hour class only.
You will learn a basic stroke routine, plus how to recognise your baby’s signals in regards to when they do and don’t want massage, and about appropriate oils to use. (If you then decide you would like further tuition to cover more strokes and more of the information above, another 1-3 classes can be arranged.)
In-Services For Health & Child Care Sectors – As a Paediatric Massage Consultant, Vicki has extra qualifications beyond those of a Certified Infant Massage Instructor. These enable her to provide in-services on personalised topics for any health or child care service, clinic, or organisation. Please contact Vicki for details or to discuss your requirements.
Massage for Kids Workshops – Vicki provides one-hour (or longer) workshops to teach parents / carers how to do massage with their children, aged 1-12 years. These can be group or private (including in-home) sessions. Whether or not you have learnt infant massage, you will discover that massage with older children needs to be tailored to their age and developmental stage. It also needs to be fun! As children grow, touch remains a vital element in our relationships. Massage and touch can help your connection, reduce stress (for both child and parent!) and improve communication (kids talk when they’re massaged!). It also educates kids about body awareness and safe touch, and helps with behaviour, emotional regulation and relaxation.