Abdominal massage for babies: technique

Massage the abdomen of the newborn is a good and safe way to reduce colic. Abdominal pain due to intestinal colic starts to disturb the baby from the first weeks of life. Usually, colic stops at 3 months, but can and will be delayed. Do not have to be a professional to perform the massage of the abdomen to the baby. It is important to know some principles for its implementation. As a result, increases intestinal peristalsis, start to move the jeep, is constipation.

Preliminary preparations for the massage

To massage the stomach baby need on an empty stomach, before meals. Before the massage, the better to warm his belly. This can be done using a saline pad or diaper, folded in several layers and pressed with an iron. If you use a heating pad, be sure to wrap it in a diaper. You can then proceed directly to the massage.

Warm own hands. It is unlikely that the baby will be a nice touch of your cold hands. The room also should not be cold to the baby feel comfortable naked.

Correct massage technique

Remember that you begin a massage, always with light pressure, gradually increasing them. After each pressing need to do soothing light stroking. Thus, you constantly alternate feel and a light touch. The whole massage is best done within 5 minutes.

The intestine of the baby is positioned in such a way that all massage movements are necessary to carry out left-to-right or clockwise. Not worth much to put pressure in the right upper quadrant of the child's liver. This organ in newborns very gentle, so massaging it is not necessary. But the area to the left abdomen of the baby can be massaged with a large enough force: there is the colon, the pressure you make it work.

To start, fold the hand "house" (the inner part of the palm should look at the navel of the baby) and her stroking clockwise the belly of the baby. Start in circular movements around the navel, gradually increasing the diameter and covering the entire surface of the abdomen. First touch needs to be light, then with increasing pressure. Light stroking of the complete inner side of the palm, and pressing easier to do the edge of his hand. The stronger is the pressure, the greater the relaxing effect it gives on the muscles. Start and finish in a circular massaging motion with a soft touch.

The next movement – stroking from top to bottom. Start them with two hands from the edges and keep hands to the groin area. Then run counter-stroking, one hand moves down and the other up.

A very useful U-shaped massage movements. They are that first you put a hand on the left side of baby's belly and stroked from top to bottom, gradually increasing the pressure. Then lengthen the stroke starting from the right hypochondrium to the left, and then down. Then you start to "draw" a massage movement of the letter P: begin the right lower abdomen, carry the hand up, then right and then down.

After the massage

After the massage the bowel increases, respectively, gases depart easier. To help this child, can be pressed against the child's knees to the stomach and a little to hold them in this state. Then perform the exercise "Bicycle" the legs of a newborn, alternately clutching his stomach then one knee, then the other. Alternate "Bicycle" and the exercise with knees pressed until you hear that gases depart. If the child suffers from colic, he often inflated tummy. After the massage, and flexion of the legs, the swelling decreases markedly, and the baby calms down.

Put baby. It is not worth much "to coddle", so it does not overheat. Then give him a little rest, laying out for a few minutes on your stomach.