Infant massage is a lovely way to gently nurture and spend time with your little ones. Research has found that infant massage can have various health benefits and can even reduce stress hormone levels in babies and even the parents, who are doing the massaging! In addition, special infant massage techniques can relieve colic, wind and constipation. Let’s dive in and learn some simple infant massaging tips!

To learn more about infant massage and learn a few tips, I have interviewed Yasmin Tang, who is a Mum-of-two and an Infant Massage Instructor. For the past 4 years she has been teaching new parents how to gently massage their bubs in order to get them to relax and also to help them with issues such as colic, wind and constipation. Yasmin has personally been using the infant massage techniques on her own little ones, who are absolutely loving it! She also believes that the bond between her and the kids has improved a lot since starting the massaging.

Infant massage with Yasmin Tang.
Yasmin Tang is an Infant Massage Instructor.

During the interview, Yasmin taught me two different and simple infant massage techniques – one great for relaxation and one that can help relieving colic, wind and constipation:

RELAXATION TECHNIQUE

Back massage is one of my favourite relaxation massage techniques, especially because you can do it whenever you want to and it’s a great way to get your bub to relax.

HOW TO DO IT:

  1. Pop them on your shoulder.
  2. Start doing a few nice long strokes down their backs.
  3. Then do some circles all the way down their back – on either side of their spine (only use soft pressure – not too firm).
  4. Finish off with some nice long strokes down their backs again.

COLIC, WIND & CONSTIPATION RELIEVING TECHNIQUE

This technique is great for bubs that are “backed up” or bloated, as it will help things move through their digestive system.

HOW TO DO IT:

  1. Get a nice firm hold of their ankles.
  2. Slowly bring their knees up to their chest – try to make sure their knees are together. If their bellies are a bit tight, the bubs often prefer to do it with the legs open, which is ok.

You can use this technique in two different ways – one where bub is lying down (for example during nappy change), or where bub is lying on your shoulder, which is my favourite position as it’s very cuddly (see photo below). When bub is on your shoulder, you can still bring their knees up and hold them against your body. Their knees are basically between theirs and your chest, creating a nice pressure on their belly. This technique can be used several times a day and can be used as a preventor of issues with colic , wind and constipation.

Please remember to keep the nappy on – as you don’t want any surprises coming along while doing this exercise.

Also, don’t do this technique straight after feeds – wait 1 to 2 hours.

Yasmin is demostrating how to hold the baby while massaging. On the second photo she shows how to bent the baby’s knees up to its chest.

I hope you will find these tips helpful!

By the way – we have actually recorded this interview, so if you want to watch how to do the techniques – watch the video here.

Until next time!

xx Charlie

P.S. want to learn few settling & soothing techniques from a nervous system perspective? Check out this blog post.

P.P.S. The illustration was made by Sarah from Little Harlequin Studio.