14 DAY TRIAL // The infant receives information about temperature, texture and the nature (hostile or caring) of the environment, through the skin. The touch turns all around it real. The parents can enter in contact with the fetus even from the fourth month of life inside the womb, by applying slight pushes on the mother's womb. The skin massages are the first information received by the brain of the infant.
The infant tactilely explores the world using its mouth, not its hands. The child feels the need to be held in the arms, caressed and cradled. The contact with the mother's body and her warmth are strong stimulations, enough to make the infant stop crying. An infant sharply perceives the gentleness or abruptness of the movements. Gentle and affective gestures of the mother are called "tonic dialogue", being an extremely important stimulant for the infant's vital functions.
Many adults have behavioral disorders later in life because of the lack of physical contact with the parents early in life. Researches showed that this is required even by animals, like kittens, puppies, tiger cubes or monkey offspring. Animal offspring need to be touched by the mother, licked, cared for, and the lack of all these things harms their physical development.
Massage made even from the first days of life calm down the newborn and stimulate its motor development. Some infants cry just because they need caresses and physical exercise. Massage favors relaxation and causes an intense "feel good" mood to the baby, stimulating blood and lymph circulation, easing some pains and favoring intestinal transit. The massage also prepares the newborn for passing from crouched intrauterine position to seated and then vertical position.
Before making the massage, both the mother and the baby must be relaxed: a good moment for this would be after bathing. The room must be at a temperature of about 26 degrees C, and the mother has to adopt a comfortable position. A body part must be massaged just for a few minutes. Get the child used with the massage gradually, if it is reticent at the beginning. With each passing day, the child will appreciate it more.
If the infant is ill, irritated or in a bad mood, or if the mother is too tired, the session should be canceled. There is not a special technique with the massage; all that it counts is the tenderness of the touch and the pleasure felt by doing this, feelings perceived by the child, more than you could imagine.
Mother's gestures must not be mechanical, but guided by the child's movements and reactions. Behave naturally: croon a song, talk to the baby, laugh or play with it: all these offer pleasant sensations to the child. For the massage, use body milk or oil, previously warmed in your hands. The child can be massaged with light touches of the hand, with the thumb on the shoulders and back, then on the chest and abdomen. The arms and the legs are massaged through pushes and pulls between the thumb and index finger, paying attention to the fingers and toes.
The face and head massage is made through circular movements with the fingers, on the forehead, temples, nose base, and is ended with a soft massage of the neck.
By 9-12 months, the infant loses patience with the massage: now, it will rather move and explore the world. But in moments of tiresome and tension, a massage of the head, feet and back will be appreciated by your child.
At the same time, it must be signaled that mothers experience the highest amount of stress of all social categories, both physical and mental. They are more than twice more likely to experience tension, stomach aches, anxiety, insomnia.