Sargent Solutions: Baby Massage Therapy

Updated: 7:48 PM Jul 28, 2010

Well all know a good massage can help relieve stress and tension in the body. But did you know it can help babies as well? A baby massage can provide newborns all kinds of physical benefits.

Posted: 3:35 PM Jul 28, 2010
Reporter: Tiffani Sargent
Email Address: tiffani.sargent@newsplex.com

Sargent Solutions: Baby Massage Therapy

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July 28, 2010

At just eight weeks old, little Paul got his first official baby massage. It seemed as though he liked the the massage, especially when mom rubbed his little feet and toes.

"His daddy will rub his head or his belly, and he eats it up. I thought maybe I'd learn how to do it properly [in this class]," said Jeanne-Marie Peterson.

So, Peterson made a appointment for herself and baby Paul at Sugar Snap Kids in Charlottesville. The seminar is taught be infant massage therapist Kate White, who says the class is important for both the parent and the baby.

"It's important to help babies orient to the outside through touch. Touch is very, very healing for humans; for babies especially," said White, who runs Belvedere Integrated Healing Arts.

In fact, infant massage has been used in other countries for centuries. In the United States, the procedure was initially done on premature babies, and research showed that the massages helped the "preemies" becomes healthier much faster. The first documented findings were published in 1976. They show an increase in a baby's blood circulation, digestion and immune system function as a result of the massage treatment.

"There's now an International Association of Infant Massage where you can go and get trained just to work with babies," said White.

White says babies actually say a lot without talking, and the baby massage helps parents bond and communicate with their new addition to the family.

"Babies communicate non-verbally through movement, through their skin tone, through how they're holding their body and through facial expression," said White.

All things Paul's mom is learning very quickly.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Priya Mahadevan Location: Earlysville on Jul 28, 2010 at 08:01 PM

I could not but smile when I saw your baby massage news segment!!! This is a practice that is centuries old in India and something I have done/still doing for all three of my children. We use warmed up coconut, sesame, olive and almond oils and give them a good massage head to toe! What never fails to amaze me, no offence meant, is how something so common, so rudimentary in other cultures is made out to be a sensational, novel news, like it has never been done before - Perhaps, your staff should research some of this stuff on line and add it to the news. I am positive that Indians are not the only ones who massage their babies! All the scientific reasoning only made my respect for my Indian ancestors greater, since most all the health "findings" that the US news media is writing about more and more, have been ancient practices by highly knowledgeable people of that time ... Just wanted to share this with you. Thanks! Priya

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