Baby massage is truly a gift at our fingertips and massaging our babies regularly provides a range of benefits. We have put together the MamaBabyBliss A-Z of what a difference baby massage can make to you and your baby.

A is for Ailments. Baby massage can naturally alleviate a range of common ailments from colic, wind, constipation, sinus congestion and much more!

B is for Bonding with our babies. Through the release of hormones such as the ‘love’ and ‘cuddle’ hormone oxytocin, baby massage helps us connect and bond with our babies.

C is for Communication. Because babies can’t understand language, their earliest form of communication, even in the womb, is touch. Baby massage enables us to communicate our love to our babies through our fingertips.

D is for Daddy time. Dads often don’t get to spend a lot of one-to-one time with their babies. Research has shown that baby massage helps dads to communicate and bond with their babies

E is for Eye Contact. Babies love gazing into your eyes and vice versa. Baby massage enables us to come up, close and personal to our little ones and fall in love with them time and time again.

F is for Fun. Babies love to be massaged and you’ll love the smiles and giggles that you both will enjoy together.

G is for Growth. Babies who are massaged regularly feed better and put on more weight than babies who are not.

H is for Holistic. Baby massage benefits us and our babies on so many levels: physically, mentally and emotionally.

I is for the Immune system. Massaging our babies helps strengthen their immune system from birth and so can help keep away colds and other infections.

J is for Joy. Baby massage quite simply makes us happy. It keeps our baby happy and as they say, a happy baby is a happy mummy!

K is for Kindness. Baby massage is one of the most gentle and loving gifts that we can give to ourselves and our babies.

L is for the Lymphatic system. During baby massage, we boost the lymphatic system, which is responsible for removing toxins and strengthening the body’s natural defences.

M is for Mummy. As well as baby massage relaxing our babies, it also relaxes us. When we massage our babies, oxytocin is released in us as well, which helps reduce our own stress levels.

N is for the Neural system. When we massage our babies we are working on their nervous system. Lots of messages are sent to their brain, which helps with their neural or brain development.

O is for Oxytocin. Oxytocin is the ‘love’ or ‘cuddle’ home that is stimulated every time we massage our babies. This helps us to bond and connect with our babies

P is for Prolactin. When we massage our babies, the hormone prolactin is stimulated which helps with milk production and breast-feeding.

Q is for Quiet Time. Massaging our babies enables us to enjoy some un-distracted one-to-one quiet-time with our baby

R is for Relaxation. Baby massage helps reduce cortisol, which is the stress hormone. Baby massage helps relax both the baby and the person giving the massage so it is win-win all around!

S is for Soothing. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, baby massage can help quickly settle and soothe our babies.

T is for Touch. Who doesn’t love a hug or a cuddle. Baby massage provides vital skin-to-skin touch, which our babies love and need to thrive, develop and grow.

W is for Wind. Massaging our babies from birth helps strengthen their digestive system and can help alleviate wind, constipation and other tummy upsets.

X is for Extraordinary. Baby massage is quite simply magic at your fingertips. You don’t need anything else other than you, a natural oil and your baby.

Y is for Yes. Because you don’t need any fancy equipment, you can practice baby massage anywhere and at any time.

Z is for Zzzzz. Baby massage helps encourage sleep in our babies and who doesn’t want that 🙂