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!
