Infant Massage [6 Week Program]

Parents and caregivers learn the simple, effective massage routine of the International Association of Infant Massage and Infant Massage USA, using their own babies and dolls provided, with a certified infant massage instructor.

Ages: Birth to 12 months

Duration: Class meets once a week for 5 weeks , last week is make-up or practice day.

Wednesdays

11:00 am - 12:30 pm

February 15, 22, March 1, 8, 15, [22]

Class is baby-driven; whether baby decides to sleep, cry, or nurse, one caregiver can still practice with a doll.

Whatever mask mandates in effect will be enforced.

Fee includes 2 caregivers, massage oil, and an Infant Massage Handbook for practicing at home.

 Massage has many physical and emotional benefits for your baby. These benefits include: 

• Promoting social, emotional and cognitive development.
• Helping a baby relax and release tensions of daily stimuli.
• Decreasing irritability and excessive crying.
• Reducing gas, colic and intestinal difficulties.
• Regulating behavioral states and promoting sleep.
• Strengthening and regulating primary systems (i.e., respiratory, circulatory, nervous, musculature, digestive and endocrine).

There are also benefits for parents and the development of parenting skills. The act of massaging an infant helps:

• Promote better understanding of infant cues.
• Enhance communication and emotional ties.
• Increase confidence and handling skills.
• Provide quality one-on-one interaction.
• Encourage parents to unwind, relax, and listen to their baby.

Early development is influenced by touch and infant massage can support development in these five areas:

• Communication skills – promotes emerging speech, direct eye gaze, listening and turn taking.
• Motor skills – improves muscle tone and coordination, increases body awareness.
• Social skills – encourages infant and caregiver to engage one another.
• Self-help skills – stimulates oral motor musculature awareness, lip closure, and relaxation of tension needed for swallowing.
• Cognition – enhances overall awareness of self and body boundaries, cause and effect, and increase in attention span.

Lynna Fuller, LMT, PhD, CIMI

https://lynna-fuller.massagetherapy.com/

I have over 15 years of experience as an LMT, and am the owner of Jubilee Family Massage in the Lettered Streets Neighborhood of Bellingham, welcoming humans of all ages and walks of life to experience touch therapy. While I both teach and practice massage in both general and specialized areas, I am especially passionate about infant massage. As a Certified Infant Massage Therapist (CIMI) through Infant Massage USA and the International Association of Infant Massage, I teach parents and other caregivers how to easily massage their babies, with the benefits of greater relaxation (for all involved), better sleep, improved body awareness, better digestion, help in teething, more sensory stimulation, etc. I massaged my own beautiful autistic daughter from the day she came home, and I believe that at 10, she is calmer, happier, and more high-functioning due to this very natural "intervention." I look forward to teaching you how to offer healing touch to your own beautiful babies!