Slotted in between watching a Sunday afternoon television rugby match and his weekly long-distance commute to work in the morning, is new dad Richie Lockhart’s first foray into baby massage.
This is no scented candles and piped music affair. Rather, three-month-old Gavin is cooing and kicking his heels on a towel laid out on the living-room carpet. Sandra, his mother, is on hand with fresh ones, as we enter strict no-nappy territory. All that’s required now is a blob of massage oil and a bit of peace and quiet.
Sandra Shand, a Certified Infant Massage Instructor (CIMI), shares a cup of coffee with the parents before getting started. Since qualifying as a baby masseuse in 1997, Shand has been teaching classes around Edinburgh where mums, dads, grannies and nannies have all learnt how the power of touch can benefit their baby’s wellbeing.
Having practised massage on children aged from three weeks to 10 years, Shand is convinced of its virtues. As well as encouraging bonding between infant and parent, massage relaxes the child and has been medically proven to improve health. Regular sessions promote better sleep patterns and the gentle movements boost immune systems and aid circulation, digestion, flexibility and skin condition. Clinical results published this month in Community Practitioner, a British journal used by NHS health visitors, also showed that daily massage encouraged healthy weight gain and increased activity in babies, as well as reducing crying and improving mother-infant interaction. Hospital neonatal intensive-care units and paediatric wards now regularly incorporate baby massage into a young patient’s treatment.
The baby is not the only one benefiting though. The dramatic shift in lifestyle and subsequent stress following a birth can often make parents feel overwhelmed or inadequate. Shand believes the classes help parents build confidence in their parenting skills. Studies have also shown that baby massage can be a useful tool when treating post-natal depression (PND), something traditionally associated with the mother. But now doctors recognise paternal PND, which can be brought on by feelings of rejection by their partner, fear of being a bad father and often plain exhaustion from a demanding new routine.
As Shand says: “When there’s three in bed, who ends up getting out of it? It can sometimes be very difficult for dads. They might start feeling some resentment. They want to get involved but the mother doesn’t always trust them to look after the baby properly.”
In Shand’s classes — which incorporate everyone from schoolgirl mums to thirtysomething professionals — women still make up the majority of pupils. In recent years, however, she has noted a growing number of hands-on fathers keen to learn the techniques too, hoping it will help them get more involved in caring for their child. New dads are increasingly keen to muck in, gain confidence in their parenting skills and connect with their child emotionally.
As for Lockhart, he admits that his work colleagues had “a bit of a giggle” when he told them about today’s lesson. “I’m not bothered though — it’s my son after all. I want to feel like I’m doing my fair share.” He hopes learning baby massage will mean quality time and a night-time wind-down for both him and Gavin. “I work a lot away from home so I spend less time with Gavin than Sandra. When I look after him I need to know what to do, plus I want to feel like I’m helping.”
Impressed with Lockhart’s open-minded have-a-go attitude, Shand outlines the lesson. Her passion for the technique becomes obvious, and she assures Lockhart he is about to learn “a unique and beautiful way to communicate with his son”.
Shand explains she will not be making any contact with Gavin. Instead she uses Patrick, a life-size baby doll to demonstrate basic techniques. She begins by asking Patrick for his permission to begin. This allows the parent to check the baby is in a responsive mood — an ideal state is bright and alert without being excited or fidgety — but the gesture is also supposed to establish a rapport of mutual respect. Lockhart is clearly not convinced about this and stifles a laugh when he asks Gavin if he would mind him massaging his legs. Gavin stares back at his dad, wide-eyed and intrigued, not seeming to object.
Shand starts Lockhart off with something called Indian milking, where one hand is placed on the baby’s ankle and the other glides down the leg from bottom to foot. Massaging this area helps circulation and is a good starting point; working on the lower body feels less sensitive and therefore less intrusive, so the baby is unlikely to kick up a fuss.
Next comes the hug and glide, or squeeze and twist, a two-handed technique that Lockhart struggles with at first. His wife is trying hard not to laugh as his oiled-up hands slip all over the place.
Over the next half an hour Shand leads Lockhart through the water wheel, the butterfly, the open book and the sun and moon, each technique focusing on different internal organs or pressure points. The water wheel helps relieve wind and colic, while the toe squeeze uses elements of reflexology to encourage good energy flow through the baby’s system. Shand also encourages Lockhart to sing as he is giving his massage.
“Let me massage your little arm, works well to Here we go Round the Mulberry Bush,” she suggests.
“Singing a particular song or nursery rhyme means the child then associates that sound with a feeling of calm,” says Shand. “It gives the massage a fun, playful feel too.”
It might take a few more shots before Lockhart has memorised the massage routine off by heart, but for a first attempt, both mum and dad seem impressed. They were looking for something that would keep Gavin healthy and have a calming effect on him before bed.
Although Gavin began getting restless after 20 minutes or so — and had to answer a liquid call of nature as his father was working through his abdomen routine — he seems to have benefited from his first session. He nods off half way through his night-time bottle, which his mother takes as proof of his relaxed mood.
Both Gavin’s mother and Shand are struck by Lockhart’s first experience of nurturing his young son through touch. Maybe it has something to do with sitting cross-legged on the floor singing nursery rhymes, but somehow Lockhart feels the need to remind Shand he was a keen rugby player for years. He got a lot of sports massage as part of his training, he says, with a gruff and manly clearing of his throat. But then the sensitive New Age dad returns, “I know how much massage helped me and I know how comforting it can feel. It’s nice to think that Gavin should get to enjoy it too.”
For more information contact Julie Owenson at the International Association of Infant Massage (0131 440 1406; julie@kenjul.fsnet.co.uk; www.Iaim.org.uk), or Sandra Shand (0131 441 3556) to arrange a group or individual class
