As the largest organ of the human body, the skin provides an important buffer against the insults and injuries of everyday life. The skin also plays a big role in our heath and well-being. Touch is important at every stage of life, from infancy to old age. Many nursing homes, for example, use massage to induce a sense of security in patients. Likewise, touch is crucial to infants as a way to comfort, calm and support the newborn as he or she begins to develop and to take in sensory information from the environment.
Importance of Touch
Touch is very important at every phase of life---especially in infancy as the child first encounters the world. Children who are touched, caressed and held lovingly by their parents tend to develop into healthier and happier adults. Massage for infants helps them to gain weight faster, develop motor skills, relax muscles and reduce spasms and pain.
Touch Therapy for Babies
Tiffany Field, PhD, director of the Touch Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine, said studies underline the fact that touch is as important to infants and children as eating and sleeping. She said touch therapy, including massage, stimulates nerves in the brain that improve absorption of food and improve rapid weight gain. This therapy also lowers stress levels that improves immune system functions.
In addition, touch therapy can help children with skin disorders such as eczema, and can foster improved parent-infant interactions, according to Lawrence Schachner, MD, professor of pediatrics, dermatology and cutaneous surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine.
What Is Pediatric Massage?
Pediatric massage, also known as touch therapy, for infants is administered by a parent or other caregiver on three areas of the baby's body---the face, neck, shoulders and head; the hands and arms; and the back of the legs and feet. For infants, the touch includes gentle stroking and kneading, but it can also include flexing and extension of the legs and arms. Parents can learn the simple methods of touch therapy from their pediatrician, obstetrician or other health care provider.
Dr. Field and others have observed that touch therapy promotes wellness of the newborn, enhances bonding between infant and parent, soothes teething discomfort, speeds recovery from birth trauma and improves growth and development---especially for premature babies or those born with critical illness.
A study of cocaine-exposed premature infants, for example, found that those who received massage gained more weight with the same caloric intake as non-massaged cocaine-exposed babies, experienced significantly fewer postnatal complications and stress behaviors, and developed more mature motor (coordination) behaviors.
Benefits of Massage for Baby
Evidence shows that babies who are regularly touched and massaged are happier and calmer, and appear more likely to grow up to be adults with warm, satisfying human relationships. According to Tiffany Field, PhD, director of the University of Miami Touch Therapy Institute, all babies benefit from touch therapy. Research at the center found that babies who got daily massage gained almost 50 percent more weight and were discharged from the hospital one week earlier than those not massaged, which resulted in a $10,000 cost savings per infant. Massaged infants also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol than babies that were not massaged.
Other Benefits of Massage
Some of the other benefits of infant massage include:
• Lowered anxiety and improved behavior in asthmatic and diabetic children, premature infants and children with sleep problems.
• Improved pulmonary (lung) function and peak air flow, especially in children with asthma.
• Better motor and sensory development than non-massaged infants.
• A decrease of average blood glucose levels from 159 to 118 among massaged infants. Normal range is 70 to 120.
The best way to massage baby is with oil on the hands, but care must be taken to wipe away the oil before handling baby.
