Berlin (ddp). In many cultures, the baby massage is an integral part of the everyday life of a newborn. As a pick-me-up, but also to relax this pamper, which takes place mostly between mother and child, both can enjoy a special form of togetherness, which is. The gentle movements of the mother of promote blood circulation of the child, stimulate the metabolism and contribute to the development of a healthy sense of body.

Already, newborns can be massaged. «Already very young babies enjoy the intense contact with the skin», says Lisa Fehrenbach, midwife in Berlin and representative of the German Association of midwives for breastfeeding and nutrition. At an ambient temperature of at least 22 degrees, mothers can caress their children with gentle movements and massage. During the ten-minute massage is the child on a ceiling or on the feet of the mother, which it also feels its body heat. «The mother should have necessarily warm hands and with some oil massage», says the midwife.

When the baby massage the entire body is massaged. «It begins at the head and works before slowly over the body back-to-toe», Fehrenbach, «taking to ensure that the entire surface of the skin of the child is touched gently.» says These pamper the sensuality of the child is trained in, positively affect the welfare of the infant. «Massage can cheerfully do, but also relax and sleep help», says the expert. Well, the baby feels during the massage can be massaged at will often. «Just in other cultures is massaged more frequently on the day.» «Often mothers massage in the morning, to start the day, and in the evening, it quietly end», Fehrenbach says.

If you would like to massage his baby, it is important that the child is healthy. «Fever and other diseases should be not massage, because diseases can be exacerbated and children feel often uncomfortable», says the midwife. Special handles can learn mother and child in a baby massage course, often offered in midwifery practices or Geburtshäusern. Many midwives, who are specially trained for the baby massage, give courses for about five to ten euro per hour.