Massaging the abdomen of a newborn is a good and safe way to relieve intestinal colic. Abdominal pain due to intestinal colic begins to bother the baby from the first weeks of life. Usually, colic goes away by 3 months, but it can be prolonged. You don't have to be a professional to massage a baby's belly. It is important to know some principles for its implementation. And as a result, intestinal peristalsis increases, gasses begin to leave, constipation disappears.
Preliminary preparations for the massage
It is necessary to massage the abdomen for the baby on an empty stomach, before eating. It is better to warm his belly before the massage. This can be done using a saline heating pad or a diaper folded in several layers and ironed with an iron. If you are using a heating pad, be sure to wrap it in a diaper. After that, you can proceed directly to the massage.
Warm your own hands. It is unlikely that the baby will be pleasant to the touch of your cold hands. The room should also not be cold so that the baby feels comfortable naked.
Correct massage technique
Remember that you always start the massage with light pressure, gradually increasing them. After each pressure, soothing light strokes should be done. Thus, you constantly alternate between pressure movements and light touches. The entire massage is best done within 5 minutes.
The baby's intestines are located in such a way that all massage movements must be carried out from left to right or clockwise. Do not press hard in the area of the child's right hypochondrium: the liver is located there. This organ in newborns is very delicate, so there is no need to massage it. But the area on the lower left of the baby's abdomen can be massaged with quite a lot of effort: the large intestine is there, by pressing you will improve its work.
To begin with, fold your hand into a "house" (the inner part of the palm should look at the baby's navel) and stroke the baby's belly clockwise with it. Begin in a circular motion around the navel area, gradually increasing in diameter and covering the entire surface of the abdomen. At first, the touch should be light, then with more and more pressure. Perform light strokes with the inner side of the palm, and it is more convenient to press with the edge of the palm. The harder the pressure is applied, the greater the relaxing effect it has on the muscles. Begin and end the circular massage movements with light touches.
The next movement is stroking from top to bottom. Start them with both hands from the ribs and bring your hands to the groin area. Then do the opposite strokes: one hand moves down, the other up.
U-shaped massage movements are very useful. They consist in the fact that first you put your hand on the left side of the child's abdomen and stroke from top to bottom, gradually increasing the pressure. Then lengthen the movement, starting from the right hypochondrium to the left, and then down. After that, you begin to "draw" the letter P with a massage movement: you start on the right in the lower abdomen, move your hand up, then to the right and then down.
After massage
After the massage, the work of the intestines intensifies, respectively, gases escape easier. To help the child with this, you can press the child's knees to the stomach and hold them in this state for a while. After that, perform the exercise "bicycle" with the feet of the newborn, alternately pressing one knee to his stomach, then the other. Alternate between "bike" and knee-down exercise until you hear gas escaping. If a child suffers from colic, his tummy is often inflated. After massage and flexion of the legs, bloating is noticeably reduced, and the baby calms down.
Dress your child. It is not necessary to "wrap it up" too much so that it does not overheat. Then let him rest a little, laying it on his stomach for a few minutes.
