STI: For crying out loud, give baby a rub

Nov 8, 2004
For crying out loud, give baby a rub
by Teo Cheng Wee

HANDS up, those parents not getting enough sleep because of wailing babies.

Now, bring down those hands and massage your baby.

This can reduce the number of times the baby wakes up at night by 33 per cent, according to a recent study conducted at Brown University in the United States.

Each massage takes about 15 minutes and is done all over the body.

The babies in the study were massaged before being put to bed, but the rubdown can also be done at other times with the same benefits.

Mrs Jacqueline Tan, 31, found out the hard way after enduring a few difficult weeks when her daughter Odelia was two weeks old.

'Odelia kept crying and nothing we did would make her stop. It was depressing,' says Mrs Tan, an information systems executive and first-time mother.

She sought help at Thomson Medical Centre, where Odelia was born, and was advised to sign up for a $30, hour-long infant massage class.

Since she started giving her child daily massages, Mrs Tan says the four-month-old now sleeps through the night and is less irritable during the day.

Says Dr Judy Owens who handled the study at Brown: 'Massage reduces stress hormones and relaxes the body, making it easier for the babies to sleep well.'

The study, conducted on 45 babies, was initiated this year and is still ongoing.

'Massage can start at any age and be done up to the age of eight,' adds Dr Owens, who is also an associate professor of paediatrics at Brown Medical School.

She was in town the last few days for the Regional Sleep Alliance, a discussion with fellow paediatricians on topics like baby massage and sleep problems in Asian babies.

Babies spend more than half the day sleeping and sleep trouble has been linked to developmental and behavioural problems.

By the age of four months, they should be able to fall asleep without assistance (such as rocking or sucking on a pacifier) and sleep continuously through the night.

While there is no one pioneer of massage, Dr Tiffany Field from the US was the first to drive research related to its clinical benefits.

The Touch Research Institute was set up under her guidance at the University of Miami in 1992.

It was the first centre in the world devoted to the study of touch and massage and its application to the well-being of babies or children.

Still, Dr Owens doesn't think that many parents practise it regularly in the US.

Here, baby massage is taught in all nine maternity hospitals.

Exact figures are unavailable but Associate Professor Daniel Goh, a senior consultant at the Children's Medical Institute of National University Hospital, does not think it is commonly practised.

But as the doctors are now working towards a set of Asian Sleep Guidelines to promote good practices for Asian babies, young parents can look forward to kissing sleepless nights rock-a-bye-bye.

Hands-on training

Step 1: Legs

Rub your hands till they are warm

'Pull' from the thighs down to the feet, like you're milking them

Rub the soles

Gently pull the toes one by one

Step 2: Arms

'Pull' from the shoulders down to the hands

Rub the palms

Gently pull the fingers one by one

Step 3: Stomach

Using your palms, gently rub the stomach in circular motions

Step 4: Back

Using your palms, stroke from the top to the bottom

Cup your palms slightly and tap the baby's back

Step 5: Face

Using your thumbs, stroke the eyebrows from the inside to the outside

Move on to stroke the cheeklines around the nose

Continue to the jaw, stroking from the chin to the ears