Massage for young children is carried out for preventive, hygienic purposes, as well as in case of any deviations in health or physical development, disruption of normal spinal function, severe weakness of muscles and ligaments, disruption of the gastrointestinal tract and the transfer of various diseases.
Massage has a comprehensive development effect on the child’s body. The body's reaction to massage is different and depends on the techniques used and the duration of exposure. For example, stroking and rubbing relax the muscles, while tapping and patting cause muscle tone. Under the influence of massage, blood and lymph flow, metabolic processes, and the release of metabolic products are accelerated.
When exposed to massage techniques on the skin, muscles, and ligaments, responses occur from various organs and systems.
There is a close functional relationship between the muscular system and the function of internal organs and smooth muscle tone. Therefore, massage causes a positive reaction from the digestive tract, this is especially important for constipation, colic in infants; after a massage, gases pass well.
Massage stimulates the growth and development of muscle mass, helps maintain optimal tone, and is a kind of irritant to the receptors of the skin and deeper tissues. Despite the small weight of a child, his skin surface is relatively larger than that of adults. This partly explains the child's greater sensitivity to the effects of massage. The baby's skin is soft and smooth. The capillary network of the skin is highly developed and hyperemia quickly occurs after a massage. Considering the increased excitability of the nervous system and the presence of a large number of receptors in the skin, one can explain the child’s increased sensitivity to the effects of massage.
Diseases are common in early childhood, and massage is one of the important methods of complex treatment. It is simple to perform and can be mastered and performed by the child’s mother herself, having previously been trained by a masseuse.
Why give a restorative massage to a child?
Baby massage consists of rubbing, kneading and stroking his arms, legs, neck, back, and abdomen.
If you massage your child correctly, it can correct many health problems. Good massage:
- improves digestion and relieves colic;
- makes sleep longer and more restful;
- normalizes the functioning of the nervous system;
- tones muscles, develops coordination of movements;
- stimulates metabolism;
- increases immunity.
STROKING.
The essence of this technique, as the name suggests, is stroking a given area of the body, performed in a certain direction. A massage most often begins with stroking, and it usually ends with stroking.
In addition, stroking is also performed between other massage techniques.
Stroking has a significant effect on the central and peripheral nervous system, skin, blood circulation and lymph flow.
When the technique is performed slowly and gently, the excitability of the nervous system decreases, i.e., a pronounced calming effect appears. This type of stroking allows you to relieve or reduce pain in injuries and diseases of the neuromuscular system.
Quick and energetic stroking helps to slightly increase the tone of the nervous system.
Stroking cleanses the skin of dead epidermal cells, dust particles and microbes. At the same time, the ducts of the sweat and sebaceous glands open, their activity and skin respiration improve, blood circulation and skin nutrition increase (it becomes softer and more elastic), and the local temperature rises.
Stroking improves the outflow of lymph and blood (not only from the vessels subject to compression, but also from the vessels of adjacent areas), which helps reduce congestion and tissue swelling.
Varieties of techniques: planar stroking; embracing stroking.
Plane stroking.
Planar stroking, in turn, is divided into superficial stroking and pressing (with weight).
The movement of the hands occurs in various directions: longitudinal, transverse, circular, zigzag, etc.
Embracing stroking.
Embracing stroking is divided into: grasping superficial stroking; grasping deep stroking; grasping intermittent stroking.
Enveloping intermittent stroking has a stimulating effect and is used to revive local blood circulation in tissues, enhance muscle contractility, excite the vascular walls of deep vessels, as well as irritate deep nerve trunks.
The specificity of performing all types of stroking depends on the area being massaged. where it is not possible to use basic techniques, auxiliary ones are used. such as: comb-like (with the knuckles, used in places of massive muscles), ironing (with the back of the hand), rake-like stroking (with the tips of the fingers apart), pincer-like stroking (light pinching).
Trituration.
The essence of the technique is to displace or stretch tissue in different directions. When rubbing, the massaging hand should move, displace the skin, and not slide over it. In other words: rubbing is a massage of deeper tissues through the skin.
Displacement and stretching of tissues leads to increased blood circulation by dilating blood vessels and accelerating blood flow. At the same time, the skin temperature rises by 1.5 - 3 degrees. More oxygen, nutrients and biologically active substances are delivered to the tissues, metabolic products are removed faster, hardening, pathological deposits and fluid accumulations in the tissues are resolved.
This rubbing action is widely used in therapeutic and sports massage.
Vigorous rubbing increases contractile function and muscle tone, increases elasticity and tissue mobility.
There are several types of reception: rubbing with fingertips; rubbing with the base of the palm; rubbing the back surface of fingers folded into a fist; rubbing the thumb, index or middle finger separately with a pad; rubbing with the elbow edge of the hand.
Auxiliary techniques include: hatching, planing, rake-like and comb-like rubbing, sawing and crossing, pincer-like rubbing.
Kneading.
Kneading consists of grasping, lifting, squeezing and displacing tissue. This is a labor-intensive and technically complex technique that takes a lot of time in almost any type of massage.
Kneading has a stronger effect on the neuromuscular system than all other techniques.
Under the influence of kneading, lymph and blood circulation in the muscles significantly increases, redox processes are activated, tissue nutrition is improved, and the elimination of metabolic products is accelerated, which contributes to a faster restoration of muscle performance (especially tired ones). The muscles become stronger and more elastic, so kneading can be considered as a kind of passive gymnastics for the muscles and can be effectively used for preventive purposes or to eliminate atrophy of the muscular system.
With a slow kneading pace, but strong and prolonged, excitability and muscle tone usually decrease (relaxing effect), and vice versa, with a faster pace, superficial and short-term kneading, an increase in excitatory processes and muscle tone occurs (tonic effect).
Varieties of reception: transverse kneading and longitudinal.
Auxiliary kneading techniques include: felting, rolling, sliding, stretching, pressing, tong-like kneading, pinching, squeezing.
Vibration.
Vibration is characterized by the use of rapid oscillatory and jerking movements that cause tissue shaking.
Due to the elasticity of tissues, mechanical vibrations that arise on the surface propagate in the form of waves. Moreover, depending on the strength and power of vibrations, waves can pass not only through superficial tissues and muscles, but can penetrate deeper and cause vibration of internal organs, deep-lying vessels and nerves.
A slight shaking of tissues has a calming effect on the nervous system, and an intense one has a stimulating effect. Tissue shaking has an analgesic effect, which is used for various injuries and diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
Vibration in combination with other massage techniques promotes better outflow of lymph, interstitial fluid and venous blood, and increases muscle contractility. The intake has a stimulating effect on the function of the adrenal cortex, activates tissue restoration and reduces the time required for the formation of callus.
Concussions caused by vibration have a stimulating effect on the function of internal organs (increased intestinal motility, secretory function of the stomach, liver, bronchi.
There are point and continuous vibrations
Auxiliary techniques of continuous vibration include: shaking, shaking, shaking, pushing.
Impact techniques.
When performing percussion techniques, body tissues are subjected to rhythmic and frequent blows performed by various parts of the massage therapist’s hand and fingers.
When performed energetically and quickly, percussive techniques have a tonic effect on the central nervous system and neuromuscular system and are often used only for this purpose. In various pathological processes, they help reduce and even stop pain, and therefore can be used as a “distracting” agent when massaging tissues located next to painful areas.
Types of reception: puncturing; effleurage; pat; chopping; quilting.
Combined techniques.
Very often combinations of massage techniques are used, which are called combined, for example:
- kneading and shaking;
- sliding and pressing;
- compression and stretching;
- stretching and vibration;
- pressure and vibration;
- pressing and rubbing;
- stroking and shaking.
The combination of individual techniques, summing up the effects produced by individual massage techniques, has great physiological significance. In addition, by combining various techniques and changing their sequence, you can change the working muscles of your hands and thus make the massage easier.
Author: Irina Krasikova. Children's massage. From three to seven years.
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How often should I do it?
Pediatricians recommend giving your child massage in courses of ten procedures at three, six, nine and 12 months. The best time for massage is the first half of the day, an hour after feeding or an hour before it. Massage can be started from two to three weeks of age if the child is healthy and in a good mood. The room should have a comfortable temperature - 22-26°C.
If a mother gives a massage to a child, the baby calms down and tunes into a positive mood. How to give a massage to a three-month-old child so that he quickly begins to roll over onto his stomach and then sit down, how to massage the legs of a 12-month-old child so that he can walk faster - we will tell you more about this in this article.
Complex 4. From 6 to 9 months. Improving coordination of movements
At the age of 6–9 months, the baby must be taught to crawl correctly, coordinating the movements of the arms and legs for this purpose. In gymnastics and massage, the focus of attention from the arms and legs moves to the chest, back and abdomen, and the massage of these areas becomes more energetic.
- Crossing arms (6 – 8 times).
- Exercises for legs: simultaneous extension and bending of legs (4 – 6 times); alternate extension and bending of the legs (4 – 6 times with each leg).
- Turns on your stomach.
- Massage of the buttocks and back.
- Crawling on all fours.
- Abdominal massage.
- Squats with spine bending (1 – 2 times).
- Circular movements with your arms (4 – 6 times).
- Foot massage.
- Raising straight legs (6 – 8 times).
- Lifting from a prone position (1 – 2 times).
- Breast massage.
- Squat with support from bent arms (1 – 2 times).
- Boxing exercise (5-6 times with each hand).
- Exercise "wheelbarrow".
How to massage a newborn baby?
Newborn babies are tender and fragile, so many mothers are worried about how to massage their infant so as not to harm him. Touching the baby's body should be light and gentle. Before the massage, it is important to warm your hands, trim your nails or at least round them, and remove jewelry so as not to accidentally injure the baby’s thin skin. You can use baby cosmetic oil to glide your hands over the skin.
The rules on how to massage a one-month-old baby, as well as a child weighing up to 5 kg, are universal. Stroke your baby's legs, back, tummy and chest with light movements, returning to each part of the body three to four times. Stroke the tummy clockwise, do the “bicycle” exercise with the baby, pressing his legs to his chest. The total duration of the massage for children of this age is about five minutes.
Permissible age of the baby
Many parents are interested in whether there are age restrictions. There are practically none; if necessary, you can perform massage for a month-old baby. The only limitation is the unhealed umbilical wound (usually it heals 2-3 weeks after birth).
Some experts recommend partial massage from the first day after returning from the hospital. However, it is important to understand that during this period the procedure has a number of limitations and should only be performed by a professional.
How to massage a child's head and neck?
This type of massage is not recommended for children in the first months of life, and even when the child grows up, it is better to have a head massage performed by a specialist. If you want to do this massage yourself, massage your baby's head and neck with very gentle movements, as if you were lathering them with shampoo.
There are different methods of studying techniques for giving massage to children: video lessons, observing the work of a massage therapist, viewing diagrams and drawings in brochures on the development of a baby in the first year of life. But if, after studying the issue, you still have doubts about how to massage your child’s feet or how to massage his back, and also if your baby requires a course of professional corrective massage, you need to seek help from specialists.