Newborns respond positively to gentle touch and cuddling, creating a strong bond between you and your baby. This skin-to-skin contact provides comfort, especially when your baby is experiencing gas or colic. Touch is essential for a newborn’s growth and development.
While adult massage techniques are unsuitable for newborns, you can modify them by applying very light pressure. The younger the baby, the gentler the touch should be.
For the massage, place your baby on your lap or a soft, elevated surface like folded towels. If your baby cries or seems uncomfortable, stop immediately and try again later when they are more receptive.
**Massage Steps for the Front of the Body:**
* Lay your baby on their back. Gently stroke their face, starting at the center of the forehead and moving to the temples.
* Stroke the cheeks from the nose towards the ears and back down to the chin. Gently stroke around the eyes.
* Stroke the front of the body, including the arms, from shoulder to fingers. Gently massage each finger with a squeeze and rotation. Repeat on the other arm.
* Make clockwise circles around the navel with both hands. Gently perform a wringing motion across the abdomen and upwards.
* Take one leg at a time, gently squeezing up the leg and stroking down. Repeat on the other leg.
**Massage Steps for the Back of the Body:**
* Lay your baby on their stomach. Stroke up and over the back and along the arms.
* Gently knead the baby’s shoulders.
* Perform a gentle wringing stroke all over the body. Massage the rear side with gentle kneading or pinching motions.
* Slide smoothly down the spine with alternating hands, starting from the base of the neck to the base of the spine.
* Gently stroke the legs, bending the knee up and working down to the foot.
* Hold the anklebone between your fingertips and move both hands in a circular motion.
* Squeeze the heel with one hand and use the thumb of your other hand to massage the sole of the foot.
* Gently squeeze, rotate, and pull each toe. Hold the foot firmly between your hands for a few seconds. Repeat the massage on the other leg.
Finish by turning the baby over and giving a final massage in two strokes. Start from one foot, up the leg, across the lower abdomen, and down the other leg. Use light strokes from the top of the head to the feet.
**”I Love You” Technique for Gas and Digestive Problems:**
* Lay the baby on their back, either undressed or with just a diaper on.
* Use two or three fingers of your right hand to trace the letter “I” on the left side of the baby’s abdomen with gentle, firm movements.
* Next, stroke gently from left to right across the baby’s abdomen and then make a small downward stroke along the right side of the stomach, forming an upside-down “L”.
* Finally, stroke up from the right side of your baby’s hipbone, moving towards the right side of the abdomen, across the baby’s body from right to left horizontally along the stomach, and finish by stroking down the left side in the same manner, forming an upside-down “U”.