As parents, we constantly strive to create a nurturing and loving environment for our babies and children. The power of nurturing touch through massage is something that not only benefits your baby but also your toddler. Toddlers, children and indeed adults all do better when we have lots of positive touch in our lives.
Benefits of Toddler Massage
- Bonding and Connection: Toddler massage provides a wonderful opportunity for parents to connect with their little ones. The skin-to-skin contact releases oxytocin, often referred to as the “love hormone,” which deepens the emotional connection between parent and child. This secure attachment created during massage can enhance your child’s sense of trust and comfort.
- Improved Sleep: Massage helps your toddler relax and unwind. It can assist in reducing anxiety and promoting better sleep patterns.
- Decrease Stress: Even young children can experience stress and anxiety in response to new experiences or changes in their environment. Massage lowers the stress hormone cortisol and increases the release of feel-good neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which can help alleviate stress and create a sense of calmness.
- Relief from Common Ailments: Massage can be used as a gentle way of managing colic and constipation.
Techniques for Toddler Massage
- Choose the Right Time: Pick a time when your child is in a relaxed mood and not too hungry or full. Avoid massaging them when are feeling irritable.
- Create a Calm Environment: Find a quiet, comfortable space where you and your toddler can relax. Perhaps put on some soft music or dim lighting. Turn off your phone and minimise distractions.
- Gentle Strokes: Stokes should be gentle but firm and always follow your toddlers cues.
- Respect Boundaries: Always be sensitive to your toddler and respect their boundaries. If they do not want a particular part of their body massaged do not continue, just move to another part. If they begin to look bored, over stimulated or disengaged then stop and move onto something else. You can always massage over clothes if they are more comfortable that way.
- Practice Consistency: Incorporating toddler massage into your daily routine reinforces the sense of security and familiarity it brings. Consistency helps children recognize it as a loving ritual, making them more receptive to its benefits over time.
- Make it Playful: Massage can be relaxing and calming but can also be a sensory and playful activity. Incorporate songs and rhymes into your massage time and make it playful and engaging.
Toddler massage is a gentle and beautiful way to promote the healthy development of your child while nurturing a strong parent-child bond through touch. The physical, emotional and psychological benefits for both you and your toddler are invaluable.