Massage For 1 Year Old Baby

2024 Author: Rachel Wainwright | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 07:39

Massage for 1 year old baby

Massage for children under one year old helps to increase the tone, contractility and plasticity of the muscles in the child, fully strengthen the entire musculoskeletal system, mobility and elasticity of the ligamentous apparatus, and also contributes to the acquisition of persistent immunity to various diseases.

When the skin, ligaments and muscles are affected by massage techniques, responses from different systems and organs arise. Massage for a 1 year old child especially strongly affects the nervous system and the peripheral network of capillaries, lymph circulation, thereby increasing the flow of blood and lymph, which creates favorable conditions for the tissues and organs of the body.

For children of the first year of life, massage must be done.

Massage for children under one year old can be done from 1.5 months of baby's life. As a rule, massage is done on a table on which a double-folded flannel blanket is placed, and on top - an oilcloth and a flip-flop diaper.

The air temperature should be at least 20-22 degrees so that the child does not freeze. It is advisable to start massage for children under one year old no earlier than 40-45 minutes after the child has eaten. Before the massage, the child must be undressed, washed and laid on the massage table. If the child is not calm, irritable, agitated, crying and refuses the upcoming procedure, massage is not performed.

Massage for a 1 year old baby should be done with clean and warm hands. One-year-old baby massage oil or cream is usually applied to the hands of the massage therapist for better gliding on the baby's skin, but not on the baby's body.

At the beginning, the legs are massaged, then the arms, abdomen, chest, back, buttocks and the back of the legs, feet.

Contraindications to massage for children under one year old

• Acute febrile illnesses;
• Skin diseases - pustular and purulent lesions;
• Osteomyelitis;
• Severe forms of malnutrition - atrophy, malnutrition;
• Bleeding tendencies;
• Acute inflammation of the lymph nodes, bones or muscles - phlegmon, lymphadenitis, emphysema;
• Congenital heart defects that occur with compensation disorder and severe cyanosis;
• Acute arthritis and tuberculosis of joints and bones;
• Acute diathesis;
• Acute hepatitis and nephritis;
• Severe disorders of the nervous system;
• Large femoral, umbilical and scrotal hernias with significant prolapse of organs from the cavities.

Massage techniques for children under one year old

The massage consists of four techniques: stroking, rubbing, kneading and vibration.

For children under three months of age, only stroking techniques are used during massage. After three months, beating and kneading are added. Massage for a one-year-old child begins with strokes, alternating with other techniques and ending with a massage. While stroking the hands of the masseur should fit snugly to the baby's skin, slide slowly, rhythmically and calmly. Stroking should be performed on the venous and lymphatic drainage.

While rubbing, the skin should be slightly pulled with your fingers. It is necessary to rub not only the skin, but also the tissues that lie under it.

Kneading is done to improve nutrition and increase blood supply to the massaged area. Kneading is used primarily for deep muscle massage. Muscles are captured by the masseur's fingers, slightly abducted and stretched.

Beating reduces the excitability of peripheral nerves, improves blood supply and nutrition to muscle tissue and deep-lying internal organs. Beating is done by lightly tapping the ends of the fingers of both hands. In very young children, this technique is performed by rhythmic tapping with the palmar surface of the fingers of individual parts of the body - the back, the back of the lower leg and thighs.

Vibration is produced in the form of rapid and uniform shaking. Most often, vibration is used in massage for a child after a year.

Massage for a child after a year consists of the same techniques, only in a more enhanced form.

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