Developmental massage for premature babies

Every expectant mother knows that her “interesting situation” should last 9 months. But not all babies are born on time. For some reason, the baby may be born earlier than planned. Such babies are called premature. The development of such children will be slightly different from the average child. Therefore, its care must be special. Massage for premature babies will help the baby catch up with his peers according to their age standards.

As a rule, massage is recommended from the 1st month of a baby’s life, if the baby’s weight has reached more than 2500 grams. In the first month of life, you should limit yourself to simple stroking. From 2 months or more, more intense massage techniques can be introduced.

It should be noted that premature babies who regularly received massage and gymnastics suffered from respiratory viral infections 2-3 times less often. Also, in such children, the emotional state and muscle tone normalize faster.

Developmental massage for premature babies

Features of massage and gymnastics

Massage and gymnastics before bed are not recommended. The optimal time for exercise is 30 minutes before feeding or 1 hour after it.. For greater effectiveness, classes should be carried out daily and at the same time. The duration of the 1st procedure is 5 minutes.

The massage is carried out in a well-ventilated room, the temperature of which should be 20-24 degrees. During the first lessons, you should not completely undress your baby. If you are performing gymnastics for the legs, the upper part of the body should be left in clothes; for gymnastics of the arms, the lower part of the body can be covered with a diaper.

All the attention of the adult should be focused on the child. If possible, there should be no distracting objects or moments in the room: toys only those that are necessary for the massage, no extraneous sounds or music. conversations. All movements should be accompanied by gentle words, a smile and a calm conversation with the child.

Try to include a new technique in each session. This will accompany more effective development of visual and auditory reactions. From 3 months of age, you can add verbal commands, for example, “take the ring.” By the age of 9 months, the child will have developed the ability to independently perform some exercises.

Loads should be increased gradually throughout the course, while parents should monitor the child’s individual reaction. The load can be represented in the number of repetitions, in the duration of the exercises, in the degree of difficulty. Be sure to alternate exercises with pauses and breathing techniques.

If you notice that the child is tired, the load should be immediately reduced. You can increase the load if the child reacts positively to the exercises. A positive reaction includes the child’s well-being, good mood, pink skin color, warm limbs.

Massage should be accompanied by gentle words

Complex of massage and gymnastics for children under 1 year of age

For a child from 1 to 2 months

1. The child is placed on his back. Rhythmic light pressure is applied to the lateral and front parts of the chest, bypassing the sternum.
2. The child remains in the same position. The thumb is placed in the child's fist. With the second free hand, the mother or massage therapist begins to lightly stroke the inner and outer surface of the arm in the direction from the hand to the shoulder.
3. After stroking with the thumbs of both hands, gentle pressure is applied to the baby's palm. With this technique, the child should grab your fingers into a fist.
4. Let's move on to the legs. Passive stroking of the inner and outer surface of the leg is performed, moving in the direction from the foot to the thigh. The kneecap needs to be bypassed.
5. Foot extension. with the thumb, stroke movements are made along the outer edge of the foot to the little toe.
6. Circular stroking of the tummy. Light stroking is performed clockwise, without pressing in the liver area.
7. "Reflex walking" This technique can be used in massage for newborns in all cases. The baby is carefully taken under the arms and tilted forward slightly. This technique should trigger the step reflex in the child.
8. Laying on the stomach.
9. The baby is placed on his tummy. Light stroking with palms is performed from the head to the buttocks and back. In the opposite direction, stroking is performed with the backs of the palms.

Exercises to develop visual and auditory concentration

1. We put the baby on his back. We take a bright toy and, at a distance of 30 cm, swing the toy to the right, then to the left. The baby must follow her movement.
2. We take the baby in our arms. Slowly rock him in the “embryo” position.
3. Place the baby on his back again. We bend the arms slightly and move them apart. Then gently press them to the side of the chest.

For a child from 2 to 3 months

1. Starting position: lying on your back. We place the thumb in the baby's hand. With your free hand, we begin to stroke the inner and outer surfaces of the forearm, moving from the hand to the shoulder.
2. Then we slowly move our arms to the sides, and then press them to our chest.
3. We develop a grasping reflex: with our thumbs we press on the child’s palms. Your palms should clench into fists.
4. We take the child under the arms, facing us. The child's feet should rest on the table.
5. Performing a foot massage: Using the pad of the thumb, we stroke the back surface, moving from the base of the fingers to the shin, going around the ankles.
6. Next, we stroke the tummy clockwise, without pressing in the area of ​​the right hypochondrium.
7. The child lies on his back. We perform arbitrary turns on the right side and on the left.

Exercises for back muscles

1. We put the baby on his back. We begin stroking the intercostal spaces in the direction from the center of the chest to the lateral surfaces without pressing on the chest.
2. We take a large ball, place the child’s tummy on the ball and begin to slowly rock it from side to side.

For a child from 3 to 4 months

1. The child lies on his back. We start by stroking the hands. We place the thumb in the baby’s palm, and with our free hand we stroke the arm in the direction from the hand to the shoulder.
2. Let's complicate this technique a little. We perform ring rubbing. We place the thumb in the baby's palm, with the thumb and forefinger of the other hand we clasp the baby's hand and rub it, moving from the hand to the shoulder.
3. Then perform a simple stroking, moving in the same direction.
4. We take the baby's hands, move them to the sides, then press them to the chest.
5. We develop the grasping function of the hand. We place a toy in the child’s palm, using our own hand to place the baby’s hand, thereby encouraging him to grab the toy.
6. We perform foot massage. We grab the child’s foot with our index and middle fingers, and with our thumbs we press on the sole at the base of the toes.
7. Then we rub the outer thigh muscles with the pads of our fingers.
8. We finish the massage with light stroking.
9. We turn the baby onto his tummy. We begin stroking the buttocks and back, then rubbing with fingertips, and then stroking again.
10. We place the child on the ball (on his back, on his stomach) and begin to rotate him in arbitrary directions.

For a child from 4 to 5 months

1. We start with a hand massage. We perform ring rubbing. The technique is described above.
2. The child lies on his back. We place our thumbs in the baby’s hands and hold his hands with the rest. As you inhale, move your arms to the sides, and as you exhale, cross them over your chest.
3. We begin to massage the legs in the following order: stroking, circular rubbing, kneading. Afterwards you need to perform a forceps-like kneading, moving towards the thigh.
4. We bend and unbend the legs. To do this, you need to grab the lower part of the shin and bend the legs, slightly pressing them towards the stomach. Then straighten.
5. The child lies on his back. We turn him from his back to his stomach in all directions.
6. We massage the abdomen clockwise: stroking, rubbing, kneading.
7. We put the baby on his stomach. We encourage the baby to grab the toy, first with one, then with both hands. We do the same from a position lying on his back.
8. We bend and unbend the arms. We place our thumbs in the baby’s palms so that he grasps them in his fist. Holding his hands, we begin to alternately bend and straighten the baby’s arms.
9. We put the child on the ball and rock it in all directions.

For a child from 5 to 6 months

1. The massage begins with stroking and rubbing the arms, moving from the hand to the shoulder.
2. We place our thumbs in the baby’s palms and cross them over the chest.
3. Let's move on to the legs: stroking, rubbing, kneading the legs.
4. We grasp the child’s lower leg and perform flexion and extension of the legs. We perform the movements slowly and carefully.
5. We put the child on his back. We perform turns from back to stomach.
6. We put the baby on his stomach. We put a bright toy not far from it. The child should try to get up and take the toy.
7. The child is lying on his stomach. We massage the back and buttocks. Stroking, rubbing, kneading is carried out in the direction from the buttocks up and back.
8. We put the child on his back. The child should clasp your index fingers. You tell him to “sit down” and lightly pull your hands towards you, encouraging the child to sit down. If at the same time the child’s head is thrown back, then he is not ready for this exercise.
9. Exercise "Boxing".

For a child from 6 to 9 months

1. We clasp the baby's palms and cross our arms over our chest.
2. We put the child on his back. We show him the toy so that he focuses his attention on it. Then you need to put the toy on the left at arm's length and encourage the child to take the toy so that he turns on his stomach. We do the same on the right side.
3. Then we put the baby on his stomach, and in front of him is a toy. You need to tell the child “take the toy”, stimulating him to crawl. The baby's half-bent legs should rest on the adult's palms.
4. At the age of 7 months, the following exercise is performed: the baby is placed on his feet on the table, facing the adult. By supporting the armpits, you need to encourage the child to step over.

For a child from 9 to 12 months

1. The child takes a sitting position. It should wrap around the adult's thumbs. We smoothly move the baby’s arms to the sides, up to the head, in front of us and down.
2. The child remains in the same position. At the height of the baby's raised hands, an adult holds a toy, the child must reach it.
3. The child is placed on his back. At the request of an adult, the child must turn from his back to his stomach.
4. Crawling on all fours.
5. The child takes a sitting position. At the request of an adult, he must stand up independently, then sit down.
6. With the help of an adult, the child can walk around a little.

This set of exercises and massage techniques is designed to improve the emotional and physical development of the baby. Before performing any exercises, be sure to consult your doctor.