Baby massage for spirited babies

[IheartR]

Has anyone successfully done baby massage with a spirited baby? Had first session today but ds wasn't very keen and cried almost all the way through!! The instructor said it was fine and that some babies can take a while to get used to it, but I have to say I was a bit disappointed as I was really looking forward to it! I think he was overstimulated by the combination of noise and the massage as he was fine when we stopped.

I hope that if I persevere then he'll start to enjoy it. Would be great to hear of anyone's experiences with this- either to hear that it has worked or not!

Thanks

xxx

[Rileysmum]

I did (and still do) baby massage with our LO, starting at around 3 months old (he is now 18.5mo). In our class, we were told that we were not to massage a baby when they were sleeping, or when they were crying, as that was their way of telling you it was a bit too much for them right now. Do they have a doll that you can practice on in your class if your LO isn't in a good frame of mind to receive a massage then? That way you can still learn the techniques while your LO relaxes.

With our LO, I had to really pay attention to when I massaged him, making sure he was relaxed and alert (but not OS) before I started. It also took me a couple of massages to realize that there were certain areas of his body that he didn't like massaged, so I just stopped doing those areas. Could you maybe try different times of day to see when works better for him? I have heard that for some babies it is better to massage in the morning, but others like it later in the day. For our DS, after his bath was the ideal time.

HTH! 

[IheartR]

Thank you! I think I will have to do the same and try different times of day to see when he is most receptive. I've just tried a few of the massage strokes with him to get him used to them and he didn't cry so that's a good start! Hopefully he'll get used to it over time and I'll bear in mind that there may be certain parts of the body he doesn't like being massaged, that's a good tip. I might try tonight after his bath too. Yes we were told not to massage if they were crying so I gave him a cuddle when it got too much, let him look around the room to see what was happening and I watched the instructor for the strokes.

Next class is on Friday so will see how he is then!

Thanks again, good to hear it can be done without them getting OS!

Xxx

[Rileysmum]

That's great! I hope the massage works out for both of you! One thing that I have read a few times is that massage right before bedtime can get some children too worked up to sleep, so for babies like that it is best to try in the morning. Good luck! 

[Fiver]

It took DS a while to get used to massage, but once he had, he loved it!  Found it a really nice way to bond with him and help him relax before going to bed, but not all LOs are the same.  I would've loved to have continued with it for longer, but once he got mobile there was no way he was going to lie still for it.  Too much to see!

[deb]

We did massage on Josie as a baby but she was so Touchy it was a while before she could handle it. As she got older we learned that she needed a different kind of stroke/touch/pressure and once we started giving joint compressions along with massage (she was maybe 3 when we learned about this), she began really loving her massages. Now both girls still get them nightly at 8-1/2 and 5YO!

Hmmm, where's MY nightly massage?