Almost always, during the compulsory monthly examination in the clinic, anyone with pediatric doctors (pediatrician, neurologist, orthopedist) advises parents to enroll their child for a course of wellness massage.
There are two types of massage: healing and tonic. If in the first case there is no way to do without specialists with the appropriate education, then in the second, parents can cope with the task themselves.
One has only to understand some of the nuances of this procedure.
How to massage a newborn: indications and contraindications
In the first year of life it is very important to carefully observe the child and his development. There are some points that are indicators of what is necessary to contact a local pediatrician and a neurologist as soon as possible for the appointment of a course of therapeutic massage:
• at the age of 1.5-2 months, the child does not hold or very poorly holds his head in a position on his stomach;
• at the age of 4-5 months, the child does not attempt to roll over from his back to his stomach and back;
• at the age of 6 months the child does not try to sit down;
• at the age of 7-7.5 months, the child does not know how to sit confidently without a support, bends the back strongly in an arc, collapses on its side;
• at the age of 8-9 months does not attempt and does not know how to crawl;
• at the age of 9 months, he does not try to get up on his own and stand at the support;
• by the age of 12 months, he cannot walk at least by the handle.
These symptoms are most commonly associated. with impaired muscle tone, as a result, the child is physically unable to acquire the necessary skills on time. After the first course of massage, everything starts to return to normal and the child further develops by age.
In addition, the indications for therapeutic massage are a variety of diagnoses: torticollis, valgus or varus foot, dysplasia, clubfoot, flat-footedness, congenital dislocations, hyper- or hypotoneus muscles, and so on.
Despite the fact that massage is very useful for a child at any age, there are some categories that massage categorically contraindicated! These include children:
• those suffering from acute respiratory diseases, especially if this is accompanied by high fever (above 37.5);
• in which the integrity of the skin is broken (rash, pustules, wounds);
• have poor blood coagulation and are prone to bleeding;
• having acute forms of diseases of the kidneys, heart and other internal organs;
• having neurological abnormalities.
In addition, any type of massage can not be carried out before and immediately after vaccinationduring strong stress of the child, in cases if after 2-3 sessions the baby began to react negatively to the massage.
If the child has no special indications or contraindications, then you can ask the pediatrician to tell and show how to properly massage the newborn, in order not only to harm the baby, but also to benefit. Or independently find information and training photos and videos on the Internet.
You can start doing massage from 4-5 weeks old. By this time, the umbilical wound usually grows, and the child finally adapts to the new conditions of the surrounding world.
How to massage a newborn: basic training
Before you start a massage, you should check the room in which it will be held. As a result, the child will receive double benefit - from the massage and from the adoption of air baths. But in no case should we forget that room temperature should not be below 22-24 degrees so that the child does not freeze.
The child should not be hungry, but at the same time massage can not be done immediately after feeding. Between meals and massage should take at least one hour.
It is better to do massage to the newborn in the first half of the day. At this time, the child has not yet had time to overfill with new emotions, his nervous system is not in an excited state and the massage will be perceived calmly, without whims and hysteria.
Before the massage, the mother must wash her hands and warm them so as not to frighten the child with cold touches.
In the hands of the mother or the person doing the massage, there should be no jewelry in the form of rings. The same goes for long nails.
Massage should be carried out on a hard surface. Ideally, this baby changing table. To make it more comfortable for your child to be, under the back you can put a few soft diapers or a blanket and a disposable diaper in case your child signs during a massage.
How to massage a newborn: a sequence of actions
For massaging the newborn, baby cream, baby powder, olive oil are used, or you can do without anything at all. The very first massage session should last no more than 5 minutes. With each subsequent time, this time increases to a maximum of 30 minutes a day. In cases where a child does not like a massage, it is necessary to teach him to gradually, dividing it into several approaches a day, each time paying attention to one or two parts of the body (handles, legs, tummy, back, neck, head). Usually, during a massage, the child is in a supine position, but if he starts to act up because he does not like it, then he can turn it over on his tummy or distract him with a toy.
Massage of the child is carried out by the principle "down up". This means that it is necessary to start the massage from the baby’s feet and gradually rise to the head. This procedure is maintained and repeated in each of the three main stages of the massage.
So, a newborn's massage consists of several complexes, which follow each other in a clear sequence: stroking, rubbing and vibrations, gymnastics. Each of these parts should be considered separately to understand their need and fully understand how to properly massage a newborn child.
The first stage: stroking
Every massage starts and ends with them. Light strokes soothe the nervous system, improve blood circulation, warm up muscles and prepare delicate skin for massage.
The very first massage consists only of strokes. The following steps are added gradually over time.
The second stage: grinding, kneading and vibration
After light strokes need to go to more action. This is rubbing, kneading and vibration.
Rubbing helps to reduce increased muscle tone, improve blood circulation in the muscles and, consequently, improve their nutrition, strengthen the tendons and ligaments of the child.
The essence of the vibrations lies in the gentle shaking and shaking of the child’s arms and legs. Thanks to vibrations, the body's metabolism improves and the nervous system is stimulated. In addition, they have a slight tonic effect on the body and are able to reduce the pain due to antispasmodic action.
Kneading begins with the feet of the baby - internal arch of the foot and fingers. This is done with gentle movements without strong pressure. After that, you need a smooth movement to rise on the front surface of the leg to the groin, while massaging and stretching the leg muscles. The same actions and in the same order to do with the second leg.
Next comes the warm-up pens. Need to start with fingers and brushes, gradually moving to the forearm and shoulder.
Warm up hands smoothly into chest massage. It is made with very light movements, in no case are allowed pressure. Special attention should be paid to intercostal spaces, and the massage itself is carried out according to the principle “from the center to the sides”.
Next stage - tummy massage. It should be noted that this part of the massage can be used not only during the main massage, but also separately from the whole complex during an attack of intestinal colic. So, how to do a tummy massage for a newborn. The first thing you need to remember is that during pressing of the abdomen strong pressure is unacceptable, otherwise you can only aggravate the situation, causing painful sensations in the child. The tummy massage itself is carried out with the help of four fingers of the hand (without the thumb) in a circular motion clockwise, since this is the way the large intestine is located in the body.
Tummy massage
Next, you need to turn the baby on the tummy and hold the lungs rubbing priests, backrest and neck warm up.
The third stage: gymnastics
The main task of gymnastics is to stretch the joints of a child.
How to do a gymnastic massage for a newborn.
You need to start again with the legs, or to be more precise, then with the ankle joint. With one hand you need to take the thumb on the leg of the child, the second hand on the shin. After that, without sudden movements, smooth bends, bends, and twisting of the child's foot are performed in all directions. Do the same with the second leg.
The position of the hands during the massage of the ankle joint
This is followed by knee gymnastics. With one hand you need to hold the baby's shin, the second by the thigh. Twisting here will not work, so it will be enough just to bend and unbend the leg in the knee area. Repeat the procedure and the second leg.
Hand position during knee gymnastics
The next part is hip gymnastics. It is done simultaneously on two legs. To do this, you need to take the child by the lower legs and perform the exercise "bicycle", in which hip and knee joints take an active part. Next, take the child by the knees, spread the legs in different directions (both together, and then alternately), make several rotational movements in both directions.
Breeding legs
Similar actions occur during the gymnastics of the arms of a child: flexing, stretching and rotating alternately of the hands, elbows and shoulder joints, diluting the arms to the sides and crossing them on the chest.
Fourth Stage: Final
To finish the massage of the newborn must necessarily stroking to calm his nervous system and relax. Only now you need to act in reverse order starting from the head and ending legs.
Professional advice on how to properly massage the newborn
After parents are convinced of the undoubted benefits of massage, a completely logical question arises: how often to massage the newborn? If it is a therapeutic massage that is performed by a specialist, the course will last no more than 10 days, followed by a mandatory break for a period of about one month. Relaxing massage at home mother of the child can do absolutely every day.
All movements during the massage are carried out along the joints: from the periphery to the center.
Included in the daily massage gymnastics can be no earlier than 1.5 months of age of the child.
During the massage, psychological contact with the child is very important: you need to talk to him, sing songs, smile. That is why only mom knows how to make the massage like her newborn baby and bring him only pleasure.
