Benefits for babies:

Extensive studies and research that has been done on baby massage show the positive impact of massage on individuals and society –

• Security – positive physical contact between parent and child makes the baby feel loved, which encourages self-esteem and confidence to develop.
• General well-being – studies show that babies who are touched lovingly become ill less and cry less compared to those who are not.
• Relaxation – helps relax your baby’s muscles, and helps your baby be calm and sleep better.
• Physical benefits – massage promotes physical awareness, tones muscles, and make joints more relaxed, which can be helpful in premature babies, those with low weight and children with special needs.
• Common ailments – massage helps with general problems such as colic/gas problems, sticky eyes, teething, constipation, crying.
• Social skills – touching your baby teaches communication. Massage aids to establish non-verbal communication with your child, and enhances the early relationship you form, therefore building the child’s self-esteem and sociability.

Benefits for parents:

• Relaxation – when you massage your baby you are solely focusing on your child, and your communication with him/her. Parents report this is enjoyable and relaxing.
• Understanding – massage helps you to learn and pick up cues from your baby about how they are feeling. It also helps develop sensitivity as your baby cannot tell you if they enjoy a massage stroke or not, however from their reaction you are able to interpret accordingly over time.
• Comfort – the physical contact of massage makes parents more comfortable handling their babies.
• Non-verbal communication – developing these skills in the relationship with your baby now, will help in the future as they grow older.
• Closeness – massage can become a regular time of intimacy between a parent and their child. It is especially useful for bringing fathers more in touch with their babies, giving them the opportunity to strengthen their relationship and learn how to handle their babies with confidence.

About our classes…..

Our classes run for 4 or 5 weeks, with one class each week.

• The sessions will last approx. 60mins
• Each week we will cover techniques for each body part; legs, abdomen, chest, arms, face and back. The final session will culminate in a full body massage sequence.
• As well as covering baby massage strokes, we will also discuss the benefits of baby massage and any other topic you may want to chat about!
• Oils, cushions, and illustrated handouts are supplied, however we request you bring a towel and blanket for your baby to the sessions.
• Your baby may feed at any time during the class.
• Your baby may sleep during the class, if this happens demonstration dolls are available for you to practice on during the session.
• It is also possible your baby may cry during the session, don’t worry about this, crying is a normal part of a baby’s behaviour!

We will adapt our class accordingly so all parents/carers attending can benefit as much as possible. Most importantly our classes are relaxed and fun!

We also offer 1-to-1 training for individual parents/caregivers. In these classes we cover the same techniques as in the group classes, but if you feel you would like to focus on anything in particular then please let us know and we can do this.

The group and individual sessions can be held at our venues, or we offer a home service for those who may find it difficult to venture out.