Our friends in the Babies Facebook space and more have asked us when is the best time to massage our babies, following the post about failed attempts to massage the baby and that it becomes a relaxing activity. We will try to explain it from these pages.
We will begin by saying that each child is a world, and will depend on their preferences. But if we had to point the optimal moments, these would be those associated with greater relaxation, which will also vary in each baby and child. In general, when are the little ones calmer?
- After the bath
- Before sleep.
- Upon waking up
The kids will be more receptive if these moments are pleasant. Which does not happen with all children, or every day. Let's put a negative example with each of the previous situations, a priori the most suitable for massage.
- If my daughter's bath time makes her nervous, she probably isn't in the best conditions to be massaged (nor are we, surely, because of the stress that comes with bath time). Neither before nor after the bath.
- If the kids don't want to go to sleep and get angry, we will hardly make them relax. Something similar happens if they are too tired: massage probably bothers them. Nor will we want to wake up a baby who is falling asleep.
- If our children wake up too active, to jump out of bed, or hungry, we can't "hold them" either. Besides, it wouldn't make any sense.
It would not make sense to force any of the above situations. We must remember that the ultimate function of massage is to communicate with the body and emotional world of the child through touch, look, voice ... and if we are or are altered or nervous the benefits of massage dissipate.
Of course, not everything is black or white, and what has been a bad bath or a bad day to go to bed today, on another occasion it can be great. By this I mean that we must not dismiss any time for the realization of infant massage, and we must be patient and try other days that seem more propitious.
In addition, since massage has relaxation and normalization of sleep among its benefits, we can continue trying at that time, after bathing and before sleeping, because, like the fish that bites its tail, the child could end up enjoying of massage, bath and sleep. Do not throw in the towel at the first exchange.
Another point to consider is that of look for different moments for the massage We may discover that for our children the best time is after eating or after using the bathroom, to give two examples that we have not contemplated above because they do not correspond to "the majority".
You also have to look when we are relaxed, that, as with babies, we can have better and worse days, better and worse moments. Today at the time of the bath of the child we can be exhausted and wanting to finish quickly and another day we will want to delight. Maybe on a Sunday morning when we wake up we will be more willing and spread that tranquility to our children to enjoy a real moment of relaxation.
Even so, it is possible for the massage to become a very relaxed moment, so we will have to have patience, continuity and try different moments and massage modalities. A very good alternative to massage are caresses, tickles and scratching gently. If we love it… how can babies not like it? In the end, we will find what are the best moments to massage the baby or child.
