In Your Loving Hands
the benefits of infant massage
|by Venetia Moore
Touch is a baby’s most powerful sense; the
skin is the first organ to develop, and even in
the womb there is a sense of touch. For a crying baby, there’s no greater comfort than to be
lovingly touched and held. Touch is like food
for babies – they need it! Baby massage is an
ancient art, rooted deeply in Indian, Tibetan,
Malaysian, Chinese and African cultures. In
the animal kingdom, this expression of love
can surely not be missed: almost all species
touch in some way to communicate, bond,
form groups and colonies, and to help to promote natural growth and well-being.
When babies cry,
when you give your we intuitively hold
baby a massage them; when children
hurt themselves, we
it’s a wonderful
The skin is the human body’s largest organ,
say “Let’s kiss or rub
opportunity to
containing millions of receptors that send
it better.” If we hurt
nurture and nourish ourselves, we immessages through nerve fibers to the brain.
your baby
Studies have shown that loving touch helps to
mediately put our
increase brain levels of endorphins, a natural
hand to the injured
painkiller, and oxytocin, a powerful bonding
site. It’s a natural reaction to stroke it, and by
‘feel good, in love’ hormone. These help to
doing this we’re encouraging the natural r W