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Introduction

What is Massage for children?

Kalma Baby Massage has immense benefits for babies. We have an element of developmental techniques which are yoga inspired, and help aid your infant’s development.

Massage can help with stiffness, colic and sleeplessness, common infant ailments, floppiness and developmental delay.  Children with additional needs can also benefit massively from the therapy.  Children’s muscle tone can be influenced, circulation stimulated and relief given from the effects of acute wind and constipation.  We teach the art of communication through touch and you can learn to speak your baby’s language recognising the signs of distress and happiness.

What are the benefits?

  • Muscle strength
  • Joint flexibility develop
  • Muscle tone can be influenced
  • Circulation stimulated
  • Floppiness
  • Developmental delay
  • Motor development
  • Emotional development
  • Relieves some common infant ailments
  • Helps develop circulatory and breathing rhythms
  • Maintain hip flexibility
  • Learn to teach the correct sitting and standing postures
  • Use of correct oils and techniques to relieve birth trauma
  • Maintains balance and posture for strength
  • Improves muscular coordination
  • Suppleness
  • Aids digestion and tranquility and allows the belly to relax whilst breathing volume is maximise. Thus more oxygen circulation helps them to thrive
  • Promotes integrity and alignment of major joints and good tone in muscles groups
  • Cleanses skin exposing to light and oxygen
  • Reduce physiological flexion.

And it can help to relieve:

  • Colic
  • Sleeplessness
  • acute wind and constipation
  • stiffness
  • hidden areas of tension

 

The Sessions

Kalma Baby Massage is a 6 week course, each session is 45 minutes – 1 hour of massage and optional is giving a 15 minutes break at the end.  The first week is an introduction for parents and the skin test for oil and discuss the correct oils to use and when to use them, the next 4 weeks massage is done in turn on areas starting from the feet – so that techniques are learnt and practiced.  Week 6 sees a full body massage from what has been learnt previously.  The sessions will teach techniques which will help develop circulatory and breathing rhythms using massage sequences which include singing, and play.  Our sessions teach easy methods of introductions to ‘tummy time’ for babies whilst helping to develop muscle strength and joint flexibility.  Throughout the 6 weeks we demonstrate techniques to relieve some common infant ailments, show common sense anatomy and physiology relative to early infant motor and emotional development. We also introduce yoga techniques suitable for the babies current abilities.

Mother and child relationships are like no other and at the centre of all emotional relationships are the foundations of love and learning that can affect the rest of a child’s life.  The program is designed to promotes the bonding experience between any parent and child.

During the Kalma Baby Massage sessions tummy time is heavily promoted, as time spent on the belly helps crawling, it increases deeper breathing and strengthens the head and neck.  Lots of air bathing and skin to skin promotes the release of the love hormone oxytocin which reduces any stress hormones. Developing touch increases confidence and makes them feel protected and loved.  It strengthens the immune system by encouraging the flow of lymph whilst encouraging deeper breathing.

You will also find in this guide a section where we introduce some yoga techniques mixed with the massage to aid developmental milestones such as sitting unaided. The sessions are baby led, so look at the dates of birth for those booked and tailor the programme to them. Please carefully note the ages and abilities that are given in the guide. This is part of what makes us unique.

What is provided during a session?

  • Teachers should supply grapeseed oil in the sessions
  • A set of 12 towels and hand cloths is included in your pack, set these out on top of the cushions.

 

 

 

Creating the atmosphere

  • The environment needs to be quiet, warm and draught free. Make sure that you won’t be interrupted.  Make sure the room is set up with cushions and towels. Play low soft music and welcome parents to the class.
  • Ensure that your oil is replenished, and you’re relaxed. Have fun with it and if the babies gets upset they can be picked up given a cuddle, advising parents to try again once they are settled.
  • Encourage parents to take the techniques home would be to try at night after a bath or during the day when baby is the most relaxed. Avoid massage directly after feeding or the opposite when a feed is due! Don’t wake up babies for massage at home they won’t enjoy it.  Most of all advise being consistent with the timings each day you can practice little by little in the sequences each time.
  • Think of your posture when delivering the sessions and tell parents also.
  • Don’t do massage if your baby is ill. The exception to this is if the massage will help to elevate discomfort.  We never massage against our babies will we do it with them not to them very much like yoga!  No massage is to be given if baby has a weeping skin condition, if they have just had immunisations recently advise them to avoid the area.
  • Use time you have spare in sessions as air bathing (little ones having time with no clothes on). This is hugely beneficial to maintain health and resilience.  It allows absorption of oxygen and natural light to major components of skins production of  vitamin D this helps bone forming and makes them stronger.
  • Encourage lots of eye contact and talking to baby throughout the session and demonstrate this with your doll. Bonding is a big part of these classes.
  • Ensure the temperature is just right (consider that the babies are very young and will have no clothes on) and that you are out of direct sunlight.
  • Advise massage before and after immunization or any intervention that could upset the baby.

 

 

Oils

Always skin test the oil. Ask parents to apply a small amount to the top of baby’s arm and leave it for an hour. A reaction will look like heat rash or red blotches which will disappear. The skin test will be performed by parents towards the end of the first session and ask them to report results. If they have a reaction, offer a different oil. Store them out of sunlight in a cool, dark place.

During the first session, explain to parents why we use oils and what they could use at home.

Constant regeneration of cells keeps skin moist and smooth. Massage with the right oil will get rid of dead cells giving it a healthy glow. Oil should let hand glide give depth in massage without adding discomfort. It should not be highly perfumed, greasy or sticky, but be pure in content and organic. Babies skin fine and sensitive more nerve endings than an adult.

At Kalma Baby, we use grape seed oil. It has a high purity and is easily absorbed. At home, you can recommend to parents that they could also use olive oil, which is rich and good for dry skin, organic sunflower oil which is odourless and suitable for babies. We advise not to use aracus oil or sweet almond as they are derived from nuts and your little one may be allergic.

 

Parents could also use essential oils which are those from plant, herb or flower that possess a scent and they have therapeutic properties. They are highly potent and not recommended for babies under 8 weeks as baby’s sense of smell highly sensitive.  These can be highly effective but only if well diluted two drops of essentials oils should be added to the base oil, episodes of crying can be because of their sense of smell. A list of essential oils and their uses can be found at the back of the manual to refer to.

Finally, they could use herbal oils, fresh or dried herbs in vegetable oil are beneficial to mum and baby, arnica for healing, lime blossom-sleeping, calendula for healing and to soothe nappy rash and help dry skin.