*disclaimer…I am not a physical therapist nor a doctor, just a mom, with 6 kids and a desire to help my child with designer genes in any way that I can.
Hypotonia, one of those first diagnostic, medically assimilated jargon words that we hear with the diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome. Basically, our babies are a bit more “floppy” (I kinda don’t like that term) than other babies.
What that means to me is that they are just better snugglers, but it also means that as they grow, sometimes they are like holding a melting puddle.
Many of us will dive into the world of early intervention and seek out physical therapists to help with our baby’s low muscle tone. We will youtube videos, ask other moms, and try to emulate what we see the well paid physical therapists doing to encourage our little ones to assert more physical strength so that they can reach their milestones with gross and fine motor skills.
Some of us will be on waiting lists of will have to be the squeaky wheel when we don’t feel that our little ones are actively getting the services that they should. In the meantime, however, there are things that we can be doing for our little ones at home.
One of these things is infant massage.
According to the Foundation for healthy living:
“For babies with special needs… benefits can include improved eye contact and socialization, acceptance of positive touch, a decrease in gas and general gastrointestinal distress, less constipation and discomfort, relaxation of tight muscles (hypertonia) or normalization of muscle tone for babies with weak/floppy muscle tone (hypotonia), more awareness of overall body/limbs (i.e., more hand play in mid-line), enhancement of self-regulation (baby more able to maintain an alert and interactive state), sensory system normalization (baby better able to tolerate various textures and stimuli without becoming overwhelmed), emotional state normalization (baby is able to release pain and tension from trauma/treatment incidents, and to connect with family in a healthier dynamic), and overall normalization of posture and postural control abilities.”
All from simply massaging your baby.
Sounds good, right? The best part is that you don’t need any fancy equipment, just a desire to help your baby and a good natural oil like grapeseed, avocado (my favorite), coconut or olive oil.
I start by using about a teaspoon of oil in my palm and rubbing my hands together to warm the oil before starting. I also lay a soft towel down and remove clothing down to the diaper before starting a massage (do make sure the room is not terribly cold for your little one, especially if they are a new babe).
When I begin a massage for my baby I start at the hip and work down both legs to the feet. I usually sing to my son while doing this, luckily he doesn’t mind my horrible cat in heat squeal of a song. I talk to him about his legs, knees, ankles, feet, and toes. We wiggle each little piggy and count them as we go.
I will then move up to his chest and work my way down each arm to his fingers proceeding much the way I did with the legs, singing and talking to him the whole time. I also find that my child really likes his little ears rubbed gently and we talk about ears, I often will kiss his ears and tell him how good they are for hearing so he can hear the dog barking, the birds singing, and all the other sounds I can think of.
I have found that this process truly does help my son maintain eye contact and he seems to really enjoy the physical touch, singsong talk and interaction during our massage time.
I am a busy gal, I have 6 children that I homeschool, but this is so worth the 10 minutes that it takes, literally 10 minutes and that includes undressing and redressing my little one as well. His skin is smoother, his temperament softer, and all around this seems to be great at helping him become more self-aware.
Are you practicing infant massage as well? What tips do you have to share?
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I used massage with our girl when she was a baby. We used essential oils, too.
If it was a morning, invigorating massage, I would use oils that help stimulate brain function.
In the middle of the day, I would use oils for digestion.
Then at night, I would use calming oils.
It was a great routine and Dianna did not have much trouble with constipation, until she switched to cows milk. That is a whole other story! She’s 5 and still drinks goat’s milk.
Wow. Thank you so much for this post!
We were just diagnosed with PKS. Pallister-Killian Syndrome.
I know there is truth in what you say because I have massaged my baby since birth. I have never massed my other kids but it was almost Innate with this baby. My heart just felt like she needed massage. I had no knowledge of it helping only that I had a inner need to massage. Now she’s almost 5 months and when I do massage I have seen better eye contact and more eager social interaction I knew I wasn’t crazy. Lol thanks again. I would love to talkcto you more.
That is awesome! I believe that our mama hearts sometimes really do know what is best, we just have to trust ourselves.