Guide to Giving Babies a Massage

Step by Step Guide

• Lay the baby on his or her back and then begin work on the face. With light and gentle strokes, massage the forehead with your fingers going outward to the temples. Afterward, proceed from the nose to the ears, and then from the cheeks down to chin.
  
  
• Place your hands on the baby’s chest and rub your hands upward and then going outward to the arms.
  
  
• Stroke the baby’s belly, around the navel in particular, in a clockwise direction. After that, gently wring the baby’s belly and work your way upward.
  
  
• Raise the baby’s arm and stroke it with both hands from the shoulder to the wrist. Squeeze the baby’s hand and rub the palm with your thumb. Remember to rub and rotate each other.
  
  
• Wring the baby’s legs, one at a time, and then squeeze each leg starting from the ankle, make the return stroke as feather-light as possible.
  
  
• Gently lay the baby on his or her stomach and begin stroking the back. As with the chest, move your hands upward and then out towards the arms. Knead the shoulders lightly.
  
  
• Massage the baby’s buttocks by pinching or kneading.
  
  
• Lightly rub your hand along the spine of the baby, starting from the neck to the tailbone.
  
  
• Glide your fingers along the legs. To massage the baby’s feet, bend the leg at the knee and clasp the ankles. Slowly rotate the foot, and then rotate and pull at the toes. Squeeze the baby’s heel and then rub your thumb along the arch and sole. Repeat these with the other foot.
  
  
• End the massage by letting your fingers glide from the baby’s head, down to the toes.