WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO MASSAGE YOUR NEWBORN?

Massaging a newborn is a way to enjoy quality time with your baby, and it also helps parents bond with their child. Before newborns can understand language, they often communicate and feel cared for through touch, such as feeling more secure when being held, cuddled, or stroked by their parents. Accordingly, massaging a newborn at home is a natural part of forming this bond.

1. What is newborn massage?

Newborn massage involves using your hands to gently and rhythmically stroke the baby's body. Parents can also move the baby’s ankle, wrist, and finger joints while massaging. During the process, talking, humming, or singing to the baby can create a calming and reassuring atmosphere.

Although not new, newborn massage has historically been used to support the development of premature babies in neonatal intensive care units. Studies have shown that premature newborns who are massaged tend to have shorter stays in incubators, score slightly higher on developmental tests, and experience fewer complications compared to those who aren’t massaged.

Today, newborn massage at home has become a popular addition to daily baby care routines, such as feeding, sleeping, and hygiene. Massaging newborns can increase parental awareness of their baby's needs and foster early bonding. Furthermore, newborn massage has shown benefits in improving maternal mental health, such as alleviating postpartum depression or other mental health challenges.

Key benefits of newborn massage include:

• Boosting parents’ confidence in caring for their baby and recognizing the baby’s needs.
• Enhancing positive interaction with the baby.
• Providing a simple yet effective way for family members and caregivers to bond with the baby.
• Improving the baby’s sleep quality.

2. When is the best time to massage your newborn?

There are no strict guidelines about when to start massaging your newborn. However, some experts recommend waiting 10 days to two weeks before starting to use oil or baby lotion during massage sessions.

While newborns thrive on loving touch and skin-to-skin contact, some newborns might not yet enjoy massage therapy involving oil during their earliest days. In many families, daily newborn massage begins as a tradition as soon as the baby comes home. However, the baby’s skin barrier is still developing, making it prone to dryness or reactions to applied substances during massage sessions.

Thus, it is best to wait a few days before starting a massage routine. This also allows time for the baby’s umbilical cord stump to dry and fall off, which typically takes 5 to 15 days. Any residual oil on the stump after a massage could increase the risk of infection. Ideally, wait until the cord has fallen off before performing a full-body massage.

If your baby was born prematurely, consult your doctor about when and how to incorporate massage as a daily practice. If you wish to use oil, ask your pediatrician whether the baby’s skin is ready and what type of oil is suitable.

3. How to massage your newborn at home

3.1 Getting started

Researchers have found that massage can promote better sleep, alleviate colic, and potentially boost the immune system, motor skills, and cognitive development in newborns. Here are some tips and techniques for beginning newborn massage:

Start when your baby is calm but awake, not immediately after feeding or when the baby is sleepy. Begin with gentle strokes across the baby’s skin from head to toe. If the baby stiffens, cries, or seems irritated, switch to another body part or end the session for the day. If the baby responds well, gradually apply firmer strokes to each part of the body.

3.2 Massaging the abdomen

Place your fingers together so the edge of your pinky finger moves like a paddle across the baby’s abdomen. Start at the sides of the rib cage and stroke downward alternately with each hand. Use your fingertips to massage the abdomen in a clockwise circular motion.

Perform the "I Love U" strokes: Trace an "I" from top to bottom along the left side of the baby’s abdomen. Next, trace an upside-down "L" across the abdomen and down the left side. Finally, draw an upside-down "U," starting on the lower right side, around the belly button, and down to the left side. Move your fingers around the baby's navel in a clockwise direction.

Hold the baby's knees and feet together and gently press the knees toward the baby's abdomen. Rotate the baby's hips a few times to the right. (This often helps release trapped gas in the intestines.) Place your hands horizontally on the baby's abdomen and gently rock them from side to side a few times. Note: Avoid massaging the abdominal area if the umbilical cord stump has not completely healed.

3.3 Massaging the head and face

Cradle the baby’s head in your hands and use your fingertips to massage the scalp gently, as if shampooing. (Avoid the soft spot on the top of the head).

Massage the ears between your thumb and index finger. Draw a heart shape on the baby’s face by bringing your hands together at the chin. Place your thumbs between the baby’s eyebrows and stroke outward. Then, stroke from the bridge of the nose out toward the cheeks. Use circular motions to massage the jawline.

3.4 Massaging the chest

Place both hands on the baby’s chest and stroke downward from the sternum to the shoulders. Starting at the sternum, trace a heart shape by moving your hands upward toward the shoulders, then down and back to the center. Use crisscross strokes, moving from one side of the hip diagonally across the chest to the opposite shoulder.

3.5 Massaging the arms

Hold the baby's wrist with one hand and relax the baby's upper arm by lightly tapping or stroking it. Hold the baby's wrist with one hand and shape the other hand into a "C" around the baby's upper arm, stroking from the shoulder down to the wrist. Use both hands to hold the baby's arm, one hand positioned just above the other, and stroke from the shoulder to the wrist with both hands rotating in opposite directions.

Massage the palm by moving your thumb across it from the base to the fingers. Stroke along the back of the hand from the wrist to the fingertips. Gently squeeze and pull each finger. Massage the wrist by moving your fingers in small circular motions.

3.6 Massaging the back

Place the baby on their stomach horizontally in front of you or between your legs in a seated position. Place both hands on the baby’s back and move them back and forth (keeping them going in opposite directions) from the baby’s neck to their buttocks.

Hold the baby’s buttocks with one hand and massage their back with the other hand by stroking downward from the neck to the buttocks. Use your fingertips to massage in small circular motions down one side of the baby’s spine and up the other side. Avoid pressing directly on the spine. Massage the shoulders in small circular motions. Massage the buttocks in larger circular motions. Shape your fingers like a rake and gently stroke down the baby’s back.

3.7 Massaging the legs

Lift one leg and relax it by gently tapping on the upper thigh. Hold the baby’s ankle with one hand and use the other hand in a C-shape, with the thumb pointing downward, around the baby’s upper thigh. Stroke from the thigh down to the foot. Place both hands on the baby’s thigh, one above the other, and stroke from the hip to the foot while rotating your hands in opposite directions.  

Use your thumbs to massage from the heel to the toes. Stroke the sole of the foot, gently squeeze and pull each toe. Massage around the ankle using small circular motions. Roll the baby’s foot between your hands.

4. Notes on massaging newborns

Use gentle but firm strokes that won’t tickle the baby. Gradually deepen the pressure without causing discomfort. Establish a consistent massage routine and comply with it.

Follow the baby's responsiveness to the massage. The entire process of massaging your newborn at home can last from 10 minutes to 30 minutes, depending on your baby's mood.

In short, by massaging your newborn at home, parents can increase their awareness of how their baby communicates and understand their needs in the first months of life. The timing of newborn massage can depend on each baby's situation, whenever parents feel their baby is ready. The first few newborn massages may be short, then extended, creating a relaxing time for both mother and baby, bringing great benefits in helping the newborn develop comprehensively every day.

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