Baby massage

here's nothing nicer than setting aside a little time each day to massage your baby. Not only will he love it, but it will allow you a bit of zen time to chill out with him, relax and take a few deep cleansing breaths yourself.
Baby massage can:

• Improve the quality of your baby's sleep by soothing an overstimulated nervous system. 
• Tone the digestive system - there are special massage techniques that can help relieve wind, constipation and colic. 
• Through relaxation, it can strengthen the immune system - stress weakens the immune system. 
• Improve the circulatory and lymphatic systems through stimulation. 
• Teach your baby to handle sensory input. 
• Create a conditioned relaxation response, which is hugely beneficial if you have an anxious child. 
• Reduce muscle tension. 
• Help develop co-ordination and flexibility.

Bonding through baby massage:

• Touch is a very powerful element in human bonding as are communication, both verbal and non-verbal, and prolonged eye contact. Baby massage encompasses all these aspects of bonding. 
• Baby massage is a wonderful way to spend quiet time together focussing on one another. 
• For parents who have delayed bonding due to birth complications, adoption or post natal depression, baby massage offers a way to create a bonding situation that is relaxed and focussed on a physical care activity that will encourage a connectedness. 
• Baby massage offers dads a way of connecting with their newborn, beyond changing nappies.