It’s You and Me Baby

Humans need touch and it is especially important for young babies to be touched and held alot.  Through touch babies learn that their needs will be met.  It helps them feel safe, cared for and secure.  Infant massage is a distinct set of massage strokes performed in a certain sequence that has been a tradition in many cultures.  It is a fantastic way to bond with your baby.  The other benefits of infant massage include the following:  1) It relaxes your child and helps to decrease stress for you and your baby, 2) It relieves discomfort, 3) Helps normalize muscle tone and improve blood circulation.  4) Helps baby sleep better, 5) Stimulates brain development and improves sensory awareness.    Since it’s still being discovered in the modern world it might be hard to find an infant massage instructor or class but there are many great DVDs on the market that teach infant massage.  If you discover and learn infant massage you may also want to join the growing trend of wearing your baby.  It’s another way to bond with and be close to your baby.  Babywearing is the term that is used to describe carrying or wearing your baby in a fabric baby sling either on your front, back or hip.  Babies love being held and after a little practice at babywearing it feels so natural.  It’s much easier than carrying your baby around on your hip with one arm.  If you want to develop a strong bond with your child you should try these two wonderful experiences–infant massage and babywearing.

Bonding with your baby is a process of loving and trusting.  It depends on your actions.  A parent or caregiver is drawn by instinct to respond to a baby’s needs.  In turn, a baby responds.  At first, a newborn will respond by calming, quieting, looking and accepting the caregivers touch or nourishment.  As an infant gets older he or she will start to be more social and a reciprocal social interaction will begin.  In response to a parent’s voice and words a two month old will start to coo, smile and give eye contact.  At 4-6 months an infant is responding to a parent’s special “baby voice” by laughing, squealing and babbling.  That’s why it is so important to talk to your baby alot.  You don’t always have to be speaking close up and face-to-face.  Babies will also enjoy hearing you talk to them while you’re in the same room.  Just sing songs or narrating your activity as you go along.  Another important aspect of nurturing a bond between parent and child is by holding, rocking, carrying or wearing your baby.  Babies need to be close to their primary caregivers.  Whether it’s mom, dad, sitter, grandparent, etc. babies need to security of being held alot.  That’s why you can’t spoil a baby by holding him or her.  Wearing your baby in a baby sling is ideal.  Baby can hear and feel the rhythm of your breathing and heart beat when worn in a baby carrying sling.  It’s also very convenient for the babywearer.  Bonding with your baby is a beautiful process.  These measures can really make a difference. 

Babies need and love to be held.  It calms them and soothes.  This promotes health, development and bonding.  There is a better way of carrying your baby than using a conventional baby carrier–it’s often referred to as babywearing.  The CuddlyWrap is a baby carrier by Peapod Creations that provides a hands-free way to hug, hold, and wear your baby so he or she feels safe and secure.  The benefits of a baby sling or wrap like the popular CuddlyWrap are many.  The CuddlyWrap positions baby so his or her hips and legs are properly supported.  This prevents stress on the baby’s developing hips and spine.  In addition,  the design of the CuddlyWrap ensures that the weight of the baby is evenly distributed.  There are no stress points to cause strain on the adult’s neck, shoulders or back thus allowing one to carry a baby in comfort.

Fortunately more and more parents are discovering the wonderful way of carrying their children in a wrap or sling.  Not only is it versatile, comfortable and practical but also it promotes bonding.  Carrying your child in your arms can almost become a burden.  Once you get the child in a sling you have him or her pressed up against you.  It gives you a whole different feeling than carrying him or her on your hip with one arm.  There are so many ways to wear your child–facing in. facing out, on your chest, hip or back!  Don’t let another day go by without giving it a try. 

Too bad infant massage isn’t taught or at least mentioned in child-birth classes. It is wonderful for the bonding process. During massage children are relaxed and content. What a wonderful time to talk to your baby, smile, sing and play. With baby and caregiver in a relaxed, nurturing state they can reciprocate their joy and build that wonderful bond most parents wish for. Also, when babies are relaxed and content they are free to learn more from the environment around them because all their other needs are being met. Research confirms the importance of a secure environment and nurturing touch in the healthy growth and development of children.

Not only does infant massage promote bonding and attachment but it relaxes your child, relieves discomfort from constipation, gas and colic, improves circulation, helps baby sleep better, stimulates brain development and improves sensory awareness. Infant massage is a distinct set of massage strokes and it can be learned easily. My kids and I still make it part of our nighttime routine. As my children get older it will continue to be a great time to wind down and reconnect after a busy day. Learn infant massage for your baby.

There is so much out there these days marketed to turn your baby into a genius.  But are Baby Einstein DVDs really good for your child?  The answer is probably no.  There is no research out there that we know of that proves that any TV or computer program is actually beneficial to your child’s development.  Fortunately though there’s no research that says “screen time” is actually bad or detrimental either.  Jill Stamm, PhD, wrote a wonderful book about infant brain development.  Its called Bright from the Start.  It is a research-based, nontechnical summary of what studies have shown to stimulate infant brain growth.  There is an easy-to-remember formula referred to as the ABCs.  “A” stands for Attention.  Not just giving your baby attention but ways to help develop your child’s attention span.  “B” is for bonding.  The wonderful process of developing the attachment to your child.  “C” is for communication.  Talking and singing to your child.  Even if your baby is not coming out with words you can talk to him or her.  The studies have shown that the more words (they actually had someone counting them) spoken in a home the higher the child’s IQ.  So read to, talk to, sing to your child.  Hold or wear your child in a sling to foster a bond.  Learn infant massage and make it part of your nighttime or pre-nap routine.  It’s a wonderful time of life for you and your child.  Don’t worry that you are missing out on some key element to stimulating your child’s cognitive development.  Just do what you do naturally and know that it does make a difference! 

In many cultures throughout the world, especially Asian cultures, wearing your child on your front, hip, or back is part of every day life.  People now realize how good it is for your baby.  It sooths and builds the infant-parent bond.  Parents might not realize how important it is for a child’s development to feel safe and loved.  When a child’s needs are met, such as being held, touched, feeling the warmth of a parent’s body and the pounding of a parent’s heart, a child can trust.  This gives the child an opportunity to move on to explore his or her environment and learn about the world.  Therefore it sets the stage for life-long learning.  So wearing your baby in a sling is more than a trend or a convenience (though it is both of those) it’s a tool for bonding and development.

When your baby is about 6-9 months old he or she has good head control  and tends to be carried alot on the hip.  If an older infant is not crawling yet and many aren’t then his or her caregiver is doing alot of carrying.  Wearing your child in a sling on a hip is easy, comfortable, and convenient.  The sling distributes the child’s weight nicely across a caregiver’s back to easy the physical demands of lifting and carrying an older infant.  I had two big boys and would be exhausted by the end of the day just from all the lifting and carrying.  The bond that is built by babywearing is also priceless.

When a baby is worn in a sling attached to his mother he feels the rhythm of her breathing, the sounds of her heart beating, and the movements she’s making.  For newborns and young infants this stimulation helps them regulate their own physical responses.  For example, being held in a sling exercises a baby’s vestibular system which controls balance.  The sling is like a transitional womb for a new baby whose nervous system is learning to control his bodily functions and movements.  Research has shown that premature babies who are touched and held gain weight at a faster rate and are sent home sooner than babies who aren’t.  Mechanical swings and other holding devices do not provide the same benefits.  Wear your baby.  www.itsyouandmebaby.com