Infant Massage!

This is Asher's sweet face after a long, luxurious bath, followed by infant massage. I wanted to pass on some info to all you mom's out there so you can enjoy this awesomeness with your own little ones.

Here is the general routine that we do (for a description of terms, go here):

Legs and Feet

• Start with the left leg - milk the leg, making sure you get into all the creases, especially behind the knee, then roll the leg.

• Squeeze and twist the leg, but gently and with plenty of oil! Work your way down the leg.

• Stroke the top of the foot, going down over the top of each toe in turn.

• Do the same on the base of the foot, starting at the heel. As you reach each toe, give it a little roll between your fingers - this can be quite difficult if your fingers are slippery! If your baby has their toes curled over, try putting your thumb at the base of the toes and pushing gently and repeatedly, until they relax.

• Use your thumb to press in all over the base of the foot.

• Draw small circles around the ankle bone on the outside of the leg.

Then switch to the right leg and do the same.

• Place the palm of each hand at the top of a thigh, with the side of your index finger in the crease between thigh and stomach.

• Place one hand under each buttock and massage it, then bring your hand out along the underneath of the leg and down to the feet, pulling ever so gently. Give a little shake and then let go when you get to the feet. Try saying 'round and round and round we go - and all the way out and down to your toes!'

• Movements: lift one ankle and bend the knee so that the back of the heel of that foot touches the inside of the knee of the other leg - as if your baby was hopping. Repeat five times with each foot and then alternate left and right feet. Finally, cross legs to knees left over right and right over left, and repeat five times.

Chest and Stomach

• Open book on the baby's chest, spreading out around the baby's ribcage and under the arms.

• Open book again on the baby's chest, but this time going up to the collar bone, shoulders and tops of arms.

• Stroking neck - place your hand diagonally on the center of your baby's chest, so that your fingertips point to one shoulder. Push your hand up and over the shoulder so that your fingers go under the chin and into the crease against your baby's neck. Do the same with the other hand on the opposite shoulder.

• Arched window - place two fingers of your main hand at the very top of your baby's right thigh, and run them up, under the curve of the ribcage, and down to the same point on the left side. You should have drawn the shape of an arched window, or an upside down 'U'.

• Scooping in the sand - now place the side of your curved hand in the arch under the ribcage, and bring it down towards the groin, as if you were scooping a hole in sand. Do this five times with each hand and then again with your main hand, holding the baby's legs up with the other.

• Sunrise and sunset - hold your hand so that the palm is above, but not touching, the baby's groin and the upper half of all the fingers is resting on the point at the very top of the baby's right thigh so that your hand is diagonal to the baby's body. Turn your wrist and sweep your hand around until your fingertips touch the same point on the left thigh, keeping your palm in roughly the same place, just twisting on the spot. Your fingertips should then have drawn a low, round arch. As one hand reaches the end of this arch, start the other off on the same path, so that one hand follows the other, over and over.

• Walking your fingers - starting at the baby's right side, walk your fingers in a horizontal line just above the belly button, then slide back.

Arms and Hands

• Milk the arm, making sure you get into all the creases, especially behind the elbow.

• Roll the arm.

• Stroke the back of the hand, starting at the wrist and going down over the top of each finger in turn.

• Do the same on the palm of the hand. As you reach the tip of each finger, give it a little roll between your fingers.

• Draw small circles around the knobbly wrist bone.

• Armpit - raise your baby's arm above their head and flat onto the towel. If your baby stiffens their arm, try jiggling it gently from the elbow until they relax. With your other hand stroke down the inside of the upper arm and into the cavity of the armpit, and off. Make sure this one touch is firm so that it does not tickle.

• Movements: holding it by the wrist, take one arm down to the baby's side, then up and across to the opposite collarbone, in the style of a Roman salute. Make sure you return the arm to the baby's side afterwards and do this five times with each hand. Now take a wrist in one hand and the opposite foot in the other. Bring the two together, meeting somewhere over the baby's belly button, making sure that you return both limbs to the ground between movements and repeat five times with each side.

Face and Head

This is perhaps the section that most babies like least. If your baby doesn't want it, simply miss it out. If you baby likes it, try inserting it earlier on into the massage, when the baby is still lying on its back. *Although this says that babies often don't like it, Asher LOVES it! It always puts him to sleep!

Most of the following strokes use the tips of the first two fingers of each hand, working symmetrically on both sides of the face at the same time.

• Use the open book technique on the forehead, but just using the upper half of your fingers.

• Use your thumbs to stretch the forehead gently, pulling outwards from the center.

• Draw the tips of your forefingers down the jawbone from the front of the ear until your fingers meet on the chin.

• Draw small circles on the skin above the hinge of the jaw in front of the ears.

• Stroke from the bridge of the nose, down the sides of the nose and across the cheekbones.

• Stroke from the bridge of the nose along the eyebrows.

• Run the pads of your thumbs gently down from the center of the eyebrow and over the eyelid, closing the eyes in the process. Some parents even swear by this as a way of encouraging sleep!

• Stroke the top lip, finishing in an upward stroke, making the shape of a smile.

• Do the same with the lower lip.

• Run a fingertip around the inside of the curve of the ear, top to bottom, and then without breaking contact, round the outside of the back of the ear, again top to bottom.

• Run the flat of all your fingers from the temples, up and round the side of the head, down behind the ears and along the jawbone, so that your hands meet at the tip of the chin.

The Back

Turn your baby until they lie on their front. Some babies love this, while some hate it - it may depend on their age and upper body strength. If your baby won't lie happily on their front, try holding them to your chest with their head lying on, or over, your shoulder or, if they are old enough, sitting up, perhaps in the crook of your leg to hold them steady. *Obviously, my baby HATES this part, although it is getting better and if he is relaxed enough, he seems to enjoy it.

• Use the open book technique, down below their arms onto their ribs, and up over their shoulders.

• Lay both palms perpendicular to the baby's spine and move your hands back and forth, working your way gradually down to the small of the back.

• Use the tips of two fingers to draw small circles all over the back, working roughly from top to bottom. Try to draw the circles by shifting the skin, rather than moving your fingers over the skin.

• Use the tip of all the fingers on one hand to come down the spine, and in a curve from the outer edge of the shoulders and down the spine. If your baby is lying down you can continue these strokes over the bottom and down the legs.

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If you're interested in learning more about infant massage, go to to Loving Touch, which has tons of info on all things related to massage. Enjoy!