Children's Health Newborns and Toddlers

Massaging Baby's Stress Away

Summary & Participants

Massaging your baby can ease his stress and pain, and even improve his sleep patterns!

Medically Reviewed On: August 08, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ROBBIN SCHWARTZ, LMT, CIMI: I say infant massage and people are just like, you know, what stress could a baby possibly have? Imagine that every day of your life new stimulation is coming in from all sides and you have absolutely no way to process all of it nor can you communicate what you need. Just imagine what that would be like for, you know, day after day.

ANNOUNCER: Infant massage also helps babies’ developing bodies.

ROBBIN SCHWARTZ, LMT, CIMI: Babies need help. Doing the massage is actually working on their circulatory system because it's getting the blood to everywhere in the body that it needs to go.

ANNOUNCER: Massage can improve your little one’s sleep patterns, ease his pain from things like teething and gas, and help meals go down easier.

ROBBIN SCHWARTZ, LMT, CIMI: When you're doing a little massage on the tummy, it starts to help the organs. You're calming down the digestion.

ANNOUNCER: Massage can be good for premature babies, too.

ROBBIN SCHWARTZ, LMT, CIMI: When they were massaged in the hospital they were going home much sooner. It was like it was speeding up that maturation process a little bit. You can massage your baby from the moment it’s born.

ANNOUNCER: Experts say monitoring your baby’s reactions is key to a safe and happy massage.

ROBBIN SCHWARTZ, LMT, CIMI: If you’re with your baby and you’re doing a little massage and you see that it’s getting over-stimulated or it’s starting to fuss a lot, past a certain point I wouldn’t go. You want to stay in touch with what’s happening with your baby and always listen to those nonverbal cues or watch for those nonverbal cues.

ANNOUNCER: Of course, babies aren’t the only ones who enjoy the massage sessions.

MOM: He just started smiling and you don't know why he's smiling but now you're actually doing something to actually make him feel better and hopefully those smiles are real smiles instead of, you know, just gas or whatever it is.

ROBBIN SCHWARTZ, LMT, CIMI: It's so hard to get past the crying and the diapers and the feeding and what time and it's always changing and everything else. This is just like ah, that little window, that little space of time just for me and my baby. it's just about here, right here and right now.

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily!