The infant massage course includes 5 weekly meetings; every meeting is divided into three parts: for starters, some theory about baby reflexes, behavioural responses, crying, massage oils, etc.; the main part includes learning new massage techniques for one part of the body. At each meeting, we learn new techniques for only one part of the body. The last part is conversational, when parents exchange views on a particular topic that is exposed. This part of the meetings is very important for the parents as they exchange a lot of ideas and problems. The meeting lasts one hour in total. Each baby is massaged by their parents, meanwhile, I show massage techniques on my baby doll. The child should always be massaged by their parents or guardians and never by a foreign person.
I accept up to 7 moms with a baby in a group. The recommended age of infants is between 6 weeks to the beginning of crawling. An infant younger than 6 weeks of age is still very scared when exposing the body and massage is performed from skin to skin. However, we do not want to scare a baby because the release of cortisol and adrenaline produces the opposite effect.
Baby massage is suitable for all babies, but especially those who have abdominal cramps, were born prematurely or by C-section, have suffered birth trauma (yes, children also suffer trauma through their own birth and not just mothers who give birth), or have any health problem.
The dates of new groups are regularly updated on my FB page.
Prices:
– 20 EUR per meeting = 100 EUR
You receive an instruction manual and a symbolic amount of an oil suitable for massage. I provide massage pads and towels, parents just come with their babies and personal belongings. The course takes place at the Lila centre at 12 Kogovškova Street in Ljubljana, always in the morning
I accept applications by email: simone@roditiznasmehom.com
What is IAIM Infant Massage?
The founder of the massage described below is Vimala McClure. She included the basics of Swedish massage, Indian massage, reflexotherapy and yoga into her massage technique. IAIM Infant Massage is an internationally recognized method approved and recommended by the World Health Organisation and by the World Pediatric Society. The massage soothes and calms babies and through the feelings of calm heals and boosts development. The physiological development is enhanced, for example the brain development is boosted in the first 6 months of life. Babies develop optimally as well from emotional aspect, since they strengthen their feelings by interaction with their surroundings.
The goal of infant massage according to the method and code of IAIM is to encourage a healing touch and to strengthen the bond between the parents and the baby. Through lessons, conversation and discovery they both learn to give love, understanding and respect for basic human needs, among which the need for touch is the first.
Feeling for touch is developed in the womb, sometime between 6th and 9th week of pregnancy. We feel it until our last breath. As the renowned anthropologist Ahely Montagu, PhD said: “Humans cannot survive without touch, it’s a basic need.” Without touch, a baby would almost certainly die. Meanwhile, when touched lovingly, the baby not only survives, their development is enhanced.
By learning to massage their baby, parents learn to recognize the child’s non-verbal communication, their responses, their non-verbal messages to the stimulus, the parent’s touch. This way, parents raise their confidence and confidence in handling their baby. Who doesn’t rejoice when a child’s response to touch and attention is joyful, full of laughter and winging with their feet and hands? It encourages the parents to work harder and enjoy the massage, while enhancing the child’s self-awareness. For the time being, the self-awareness it built only at the subconscious level, however, bodily memory is saved and sustained for a lifetime.
The benefits of massage for an infant are expressed in their relationship with the world, stimulation of the cardiovascular system, relaxation, alleviation of physical and emotional problems and others.
Parent benefit through relaxing and better paying attention while spending quality time with their baby. Massage helps with lactation, self-esteem and confidence in parenting abilities. It helps with establishing a secure and solid relationship and helps to improve parenting skills.
Benefits for the Family: Massage encourages family involvement in caring for the baby, encourages a relaxed home environment, respect and connection.
Benefits for society: Imagine a world where only positively-minded people, with no inclination to violence, with minimal health problems, would live. A world where there would be no child abuse, behavioural problems of adolescents, etc.
The benefit to society is a little utopian, but changes do start with the individual. And a calm individual can further spread the calm. An aggressive individual does not.
When Vimala McClure founded IAIM, her goal was to change the world, baby after baby.
You can read more about baby massage in my blog post here (in Slovene).