- Relieves discomfort from teething,
congestion, constipation, and gas
- Promotes longer and deeper sleep
- Stimulates gastrointestinal system
- Promotes deeper respiration
- Supports organization and health of the
nervous system
- Encourages midline orientation
- Helps normalize hyper / hypotonic muscles
- Helps baby to maintain a clear alert state
for longer periods
- Reduces levels of cortisol / stress
hormones in blood
- Provides opportunity for eye contact, a
factor in healthy attachment
- Facilitates close parent-child proximity, a
factor in healthy attachment
- Deepens understanding of infant
communication cues
- Increases touch stimulation threshold
- Helps infants recover more quickly from
exposure to painful stimuli
- Assists in infant smooth-state transition
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- Increases competence and confidence
- Mechanism for parents to reconnect with
their child after work or travel
- Increases ability of parent to help child
relax during times of stress
- Enhances verbal and non-verbal
communication with child
- Builds mutual respect between parent and
child
- Provides time for intimate connection
between fathers and their children
- Massage is a source of fun, relaxation,
and bonding
- Focuses parents' attention on child
- Relaxes parent / improves parent's mood
- Helps parents experiencing postpartum
depression connect with their child
- Establishes tradition of caring touch
- Models self-care may inspire parents to
address own self-care needs
- Increases familiarity with child's physical
and emotional “norms”
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