Hi moms and dads, I'm so glad you're here. I can't wait to share my course with you and join you on this journey. Again, my name is Jackie decided seltzer and I'm the owner of piano infant massage. Viana actually means through breath, which is fitting because the energy of Ghana extends from baby's lungs and heart to the limbs nourishing the whole body and strengthening and developing the muscle. And joining me on this journey is baby ask me, US me as my trusted companion as I work alongside parents and caregivers, teaching them how to massage their babies for optimal health. Ask me means I exist which is so appropriate for every baby being born into this world full of love and wisdom.

One of the most powerful results of daily massage is improved bonding, and bonding actually starts in the womb. In fact, maternal attachment depends both On the interaction between mother and child as well as the physical contact, babies need physical touch to feel safe and secure, to regulate their hormones, their temperature and to really understand the world around them. And the first years of a child's life, their brain produces more than 1 million neural connections a second, that's 1 million neural connections and massage can have a positive impact on those connections made. For fathers massage can be especially helpful because it helps facilitate the bonding process. those first few months. The child is so dependent on the mother for everything and it's hard really for the father to bond.

In fact, a recent study out of the touch Research Institute of Miami found the fathers of massage their babies experienced greater self esteem as parents and their babies had more direct eye contact, smiling and nonverbal communications when interacting with our fathers. Now Before we get started, I want to talk a little bit about self care. We hear about self care all the time, but we really take the time to understand what it means, especially after we become a parent. Self Care is not about necessarily bubbles and candles. It really is about taking care of your physical, emotional, and mental needs before taking care of your partner, your co workers, your friends, your children, your colleagues. It's about making sure that you're spiritually mentally, emotionally and physically healthy.

And the way you practice self care is really up to you. Our recommendation is that you practice at least 15 minutes a day, and whether that's taking 15 minutes out of your day to take a walk, to prepare a healthy meal for yourself to meditate or do some exercise, whatever it is take at least 15 minutes a day to make sure that you're giving from a place of abundance and not of deficiency. Mom or Dad is giving from a place where they are barely surviving, the quality of character baby is affected, and they're not getting the best version of mom or dad. Now let's go over some basic questions and some basic information about baby massage. So we've already mentioned self care, but stress is really something that affects baby because they are so vulnerable to all the emotions and the feelings surrounding them. So before you give massage to Baby, you want to make sure that you've taken some time to slow down your own breath.

Maybe you do some affirmations, some guided meditation or visualization. It doesn't have to be very long, but you just want to make sure that whatever stress and anxiety and energy you've had over the day is not passed on to baby during massage. It's like if you went to get a massage and massage surface was really frazzled. That wouldn't give you a very quality massage. How early Can I start and how old is too old? You can start massaging babies from just a few days old, once the umbilical cord falls off, you can start massaging baby.

And you can massage a baby until they're adults because no one gets too old to receive loving touch from their mother. Now the way you massage a baby might change, you can give them toys to play with, you can ask baby to participate in the oil. So when you have a toddler, you might ask them to decide which oil they want to use, or if they want their arms massage or their legs. You can also incorporate nursery rhymes and make it really fun. And so with their growing child, you just have to be a little bit more creative on how you entertain them while you give them a massage. But you can definitely massage your baby well into adulthood.

Who can massage baby? So moms or dads should be massaging baby because it's such a physical and intimate experience. We would say moms, dads or grandparents can massage baby massage positions. So there are several ways You can massage baby. If you're not comfortable sitting cross legged on the floor for a long period of time. You can sit in heroes pose for those of you who practice yoga and have a baby on your lap like so.

Or you can stretch out your legs and have a baby on your thighs. Now if there are accessibility issues, you can have baby on the bed or on the sofa next to you and massage them before they're mobile and they're able to roll over. When can you massage baby how often how long. So baby's mood is the most important thing to think about when you're giving a massage. If baby's still in the sort of two hour lifecycle, you want to make sure you're getting massage about 30 to 45 minutes since the last feeding and make sure that they're well rested. A cranky baby is not going to be open to a massage.

And the state that that's it is quiet alert so they are open and curious and inquisitive and really in the state of Taking in everything around them. Babies are often in this period of inquisitiveness, as soon as they're born. For time of day, some parents like to massage babies first thing in the morning. Some parents like to do it before bath time or after bath time right before bed. So it really depends on you and your schedule and what's best for baby. Mom can decide to massage baby first thing in the morning and then dad could have his time when he gets home from work.

How long so 15 to 20 minutes, there's going to be a whole course on every part of the body over 50 strokes but don't feel like every time you sit down to massage your baby, you have to go through all of those you can choose a certain body part that you enjoy or baby enjoys. But we recommend that you massage baby for at least 15 to 20 minutes a day and just 10 minutes will reduce crying by 50%. According to research done by the University of Miami permission permission is really important. So we believe that asking permission Mission before massage really sets them up for a lifetime of understanding that they have control of their bodies and who touches them. So we always ask permission to give baby massage before we start. And how do you know that they're saying yes, so unless they're crying or wincing or riding, it's a positive answer, and you can proceed with the massage.

The only exception to that rule is if you are performing guest colic routine on baby, they're going to be in too much pain to give you permission and you actually want to proceed with the massage so that they get relief, massage just multisensory. So baby is obviously going to see you you're their favorite person in the world, they're going to hear you rubbing your hands with the oil, you might have a song on that is always what you put on with massage so that they understand those cues. They're, of course going to feel your physical touch, they're going to smell the oils that are on your hand. So it really is a very multi sensory and stimulating experience. So it makes Hence why it's not just a physical benefit, but it's a physiological benefit. setting the scene, the environment is important.

It's not critical. So if you are traveling and you don't have all the wonderful things that you have in your home, you can still get baby and massage. If you're able to set the scene, make sure that it's a comfortable, relaxing, staying just for you and for your baby to have a beautiful bonding experience. And so you want to eliminate any overhead lights, you might have some dim lights on maybe a light lamp, you could have some soft music on. You want to keep any noises and loud distractions to a minimum so that you really focused on baby baby's cues. Baby is leading the class this is really their course it's their class is their baby massage experience.

So if they need to take a break to cuddle, or to feed or to have a diaper changed, that's okay. Don't feel like you have to just get through the course or get through Massage with baby, you really want to let them lead and if they need to take breaks, that's totally fine. It's their, it's their time. Massage also helps language development in babies. So if you're lucky enough to speak another language or to incorporate them songs in a different language, this is the time to do that. So again baby is going to be bonding to relax and baby is going to be learning a new language and new songs with mom or dad oils.

So we like to use oils as opposed to lotion for baby massage. As you know babies put their hands on their mouth so it's better to do something that's safe and natural than a lotion where you may not know what the contents include. And in the course we'll be talking about some olive oil, coconut oil, we have hobo bot oil, some castor oil, sunflower oil, and almond oil. We also like to use the baby massage oil from Himalaya which is great You can also incorporate essential oils so you only need one or two drops because they're so concentrated. But you can choose to incorporate, say a fennel during tummy massage or a lavender when you really want baby to relax. So the oils are great, you just want to make sure that they're organic, cold pressed and as natural as possible.

Safety. We talked about a mobile baby potentially rolling off a sofa or a bed so that's the number one thing you want to make sure his baby is in a safe environment. But you also want to make sure especially for my mom's to have your nails cut so the long beautiful nails can be a rather unpleasant experience for baby during massage. I experienced that myself getting a massage and absolutely did not enjoy it because I kept failing the nails so it's something that to keep in mind. And then any kind of heavy jewelry so heavy bracelets or rings or watches that could harm baby during massage you would want to remove if there is a medical condition. So if baby has a medical condition, please come Consult a pediatrician before proceeding with massage.

Now we often get the question about pressure. A lot of new parents are very nervous about massage, baby breaking baby hurting baby. I know because we went through it ourselves. And the pressure really depends on you. so gentle pressure is good. Obviously, you are not doing deep tissue, you're doing long, gliding strokes, but you don't want it to be too light or it could be misinterpreted as a tickle to Baby, you really want them to feel the impact.

And so just as if you were squeezing your own hand, a little bit of pressure or the kind of pressure that you might feel if someone was giving your foot massage is what you would want to use with baby. What can you expect after massage so baby is going to be hungry and thirsty. A lot of babies tend to fall asleep during massage or even right after, but on the other hand, some babies get stimulated and they get really excited because you've now through this multi sensory experience stimulated all of their senses and that's okay too. But You'll really find over time as they understand what's happening and not a massage is coming, which is why those cues are so important that they'll learn to relax. As soon as you start massage, we are going to be covering over 50 strokes that cover the legs, the tummy, the chest, and the arms, the face, the head, which is unique to Ark worse, the back and some gentle movements.

We'll also be talking to experts about sleep coaching, acupuncture, reiki, and so much more. And if you're looking for additional instruction that's in person, I recommend that you go to the International Association of infant massage calm, or if you're in the DC area. I'd love to meet you. You can find us at Deanna in fit, massage calm, and we provide both groups and private instruction now. Let's get started.