Musings from a baby & toddler massage teacher, birth doula, eco-friendly obsessive and magpie for all things lovely-looking. mum of two curly haired kids and wife to one beardy husband. Expect pregnancy, birth and beyond with some design and fashion along the way.
Today marks one week without Facebook and boy oh boy has it been a relaxing week! Totally going to ditch The Book long term as I keep in touch with the friends I need to and it only serves to make me irritated by the ones I don't (sorry!) and #aintnobodygottimeforthat. Still loving #insta and #snapchat though (@shortstopsocial)! Also still feeling better even though yesterday was pain patch change day so it meant I woke up at 2am and only had about 40mins sleep between that and this morning! #matchsticksneeded #spoonie #spooniemum #chronicillness #stillsdisease #hereditaryangioedema #dermatomyositis #bighairdontcare #mamabyrachaelkellett #mamatribe #mumuniform #socialmedia #facebook #quittingfacebook #relaxation #selfcare #instagram #instamum #instablog #instafashion http://ift.tt/2akZNFp
This month sees the start of regular Toddler Massage Workshops here at a mama's touch. These workshops are designed to introduce the basic principles of massaging a more mobile and distracted toddler.
During the 90-minute session we learn some basic strokes which can be used to calm your child at toddler bedtimes/naptimes, as well as a technique for using massage to calm your child following a meltdown. We will also learn two lovely story massages to practise together at home as well as some helpful songs to combine with yogic movements to help with tricky nappy changes or as a fun physical activity.
Comprehensive handouts are included as well as a healthy snack for your toddler. The emphasis of these sessions is really for you to learn the techniques to implement at home she your child is willing and ready so for the purpose of practise there will be a number of dolls and teddies in case your child is not really in the mood (there will also be toys and jigsaws to keep them busy)
Our plan is run these sessions monthly (alternating between a weekday and weekend so that parents who work are able to attend).
Dates will be included in our regular newsletter (you can subscribe here), and can also be found on our Booking Now page.
Each session costs £10 per parent and toddler. Places will be limited to 6 toddlers per session and are open to those between 1 and 4 years of age. Due to space constraints we can only allow one adult per toddler.
If you'd like to sign up or register your interest in one of these sessions then please just email us at [email protected]
Midwives & Doulas: working in partnership (guest blog by @midwifemade)
(to follow Jenny or read her original post please visit her blog here)
I work as a community midwife and have worked with a few doulas in the past and they have all been pleasurable working partnerships. This article aims to explain the differences between the two job roles and explore the ways in which we can work together to provide holistic care for the woman and her family.
So, what are the differences between a Midwife and a Doula?
Doulas Can
Provide emotional and physical support during pregnancy, birth and postnatally
Help with coaching, birth planning, hypnobirthing
Use massage and complementary therapies
Be with the woman and family without needing to document or adhere to policies
Stay with the family for the duration of the labour
Doulas Cannot
Physically deliver the baby
Provide any medical advice or suggestions
Physically examine, diagnose, or treat any medical issues or complications
Make any decisions regarding the woman’s care
Help with non labour/pregnancy reated issues such as housework and childcare
Midwives Do
Physically examine, diagnose, or treat any medical issues or complications
Provide care and support during pregnancy, birth and postnatal care of mother and baby up until baby is 28 days old
Perform minor procedures such as suturing (stitching), episiotomies, emergency procedures
Provide complementary therapies within hospital guidelines
Midwives Do Not
Help with non labour/pregnancy reated issues such as housework and childcare
Stay with the family for the duration of the labour unless they choose to do so
As you can see, they overlap in certain areas, but basically a midwife is more responsible for the woman’s medical care during pregnancy as well as supporting them in their birth choices and signposting them to any social care they may need.
A Doula is hired privately by the woman and can tailor their package as it suits them, they may want a birth partner and advocate with background knowledge to support their birth plan or just some extra support around their life changing event!
How can we work together?
There’s no reason why we can’t work together. During pregnancy they help prepare the woman for birth, which makes a midwife’s job easier when they know what to expect. Some midwives may feel ‘pushed out’ (excuse the pun) by the presence of a doula at a birth, but I for one see them as an added bonus. It means I can confidently perform my necessary tasks such as record keeping, checking equipment, noting the history (particularly if I haven’t met the lady before), performing check ups and dealing with any deviations from the norm whilst someone she knows and trust can support her physically and emotionally. I can also be of added support when needed.
Having a Doula present at a birth also means there’s an additional pair if hands! Invaluable. If there are any complications or slight changes in the plan, the Doula can help to explain the rationale for this and help the family come to terms with it.
Afterwards they can help with any de-briefing, and provide extra support that a midwife just can’t do due to workload.
Tips for working together:
Respect each other’s roles
Co-ordinate postnatal visits so that they are separate, the woman gets twice as many visits and therefore more support
Work together not against each other Doulas can improve birth outcomes and breastfeeding rates so a good working partnership is essential.
About a year ago (let’s call it a mid-year resolution), I decided to ‘Get Clean for 2015′. My aim was to slowly but surely replace all of my household products, toiletries and make-up with those which contained as little ‘nasties’ as possible, came from companies who cared about the environment and the ethics behind their business and created as less waste as possible.
As time went on (probably when they realised I wasn’t going to turn into a greasy, unwashed heathen and that my house hadn’t succumbed to five feet of grime) more and more of my friends started to ask about specific substitutes that I had found, and encouraged me to compile a list of my favourites. So here it goes...
Household Products
This is an area where lots of new products are on the market, some as yet unheard of, and others which are now widely available in supermarkets. Here are my top 3:
Splosh - Mail order cleaning products. You buy the empty bottles and little “graze-like” boxes are posted with pouches you can use to mix up more when you run out. Work out about £1 per bottle for everything. Laundry detergrent works out about £2 a bottle.
My fav Splosh products are:
Washing up liquid (seems to last forever and smells divine)
Laundry detergent - Cotton flower no bio (only non bio I have found that leaves a strong scent
Household sprays - Love the kitchen,bathroom and toilet cleaners, all do just as good a job as conventional cleaning stuff.
http://www.splosh.com/shop/splosh/open/range/
Method - Widely available in most supermarkets and whilst not entirely nasty free are much less nasty than the normal stuff. They also make a much wider range of products
Top 3 Method products:
Furniture polish - Its almondy scent is divine and as its a spray (and quite wet) not an aerosol it seems to last for a long long time.
Glass cleaner - One of the few eco glass cleaners around (I know, I know I could just use lemon juice or vinegar, but I’m lazy!)
Stainless steel cleaner - As a clean freak I like my stainless steel shiny and this does an amazing job!
Bio-D - Bio-D is an amazing brand if you like buying in bulk to be thrifty and the are one of the few eco brands that tackle dishwasher products. You can buy huge 5 or 15 L boxes with taps for household cleaners, so you can just top your bottles up as and when.
My top 3 Bio-D:
Dishwasher powder - Lasts forever as you only need a tiny, tiny scoop
Dishwasher rinse-aid - Its hard to find an eco-rinse aid (most require importation from America) but this is a goody
Laundry Bleach - A non-chlorine containing bleaching product which works using an oxygen based antibacterial whitener.
http://www.biodegradable.biz
Toiletries
It’s hard to give up products you have been using for years, but reading about the possible long-term effects of some of the chemicals used in conventional toiletries and make up is quite scary stuff. Plus we all seem to have made the move to make sure we are using safe, organic products on our children’s skin and it’s time we followed suit. Here are more top three toiletries:
Dead Sea Spa Magik - I absolutely adore this brand and use their face masks, rejuvenate bath salts, BB cream and natural toothpaste. In face I love it so much I even wrote a specific blog post about it! ---> here
https://shopforspa.com
Lush - Lush, whilst not entirely nasty free in some of their products (just ask in store about SLS and paragons, they have a lovely range of products which are so practical and seem to last forever. My top 3 are:
Block shampoos - They have huge range from anti-dandruff, to full body, to shine and they also have a fab conditioner too. My hair feels so clean and light weight (and by that I mean it feels like hair, rather than hair coated in silicone!
Toothy tabs - A great alternative to toothpaste and they come in lots of yummy flavours.
Fresh face masks - These gems only last a couple of weeks as they have no nasty preservatives. My favourite is cupcake which has lots of chocolate in and leaves my skin silky soft.
https://www.lush.co.uk
Weleda - I have always loved weleda and it is one of the oldest and most trusted holistic eco brands we have. They also have fab products for babies and children too. My favourites are:
Hair oil - A little bit of this on damp hair after a shower leaves my curls defined and shiny (but with no grease) (for other great eco hair products see Giovanni Cosmetics)
Wild rose day/night cream - It smells divine and literally feeds my skin
Skin food - An all over moisturiser which literally feeds you skin, its amazing!
https://www.weleda.co.uk
Make-up
You would think substituting make-up would be difficult but it was actually one of the easiest bits. The main brands to look for are Benecos, Lavera, Dr Haushcka and Korres. If you are unsure then head over to Big Green Smile (where all of the below are available) and have a browse. Here are my recommendations across the board:
Concealer and foundation - Lavera. They have various types so that their range mimics one of the mainstream brands
Blusher, highlighter/bronzer and nail polish - Benecos. Their nail varnish contains no formaldehyde and comes in a range of colours including some really cute pastels. Their blusher, highlighters and bronzes come in small palettes and can be used on eyes, lips and cheeks and they seem to last forever!
Lips - For lipsticks definitely Lavera, they do some great matt lipsticks as well as lipgloss sticks and conventional lipsticks. For tints and tinted balms definitely Korres.
Perfume - Florame. They do a whole range of extremely affordable organic and vegan scents. I love the Patchouli!
I will also be holding a live Q & A on these products on my Facebook page on Wednesday 5th August. So if after reading this you still have questions or would like to see some of the products, then please just post on the Facebook Page wall and I’ll answer them and make some suggestions.
A couple of months ago I came across this self-care printable from Eponis and it stopped me in my tracks. As a mother we all have days where our plans go to pot, the stars don’t align (or perhaps that should be kids), we’re feeling under the weather and generally putting too much pressure on ourselves to solve the age-old conundrum of mothers: will going out and doing stuff make me feel better or will coming back to my growing to-do list make me feel worse?
Having suffered PND and anxiety in the past, and currently battling a chronic illness, this little printable has been a total godsend. Whether you are having the day from hell, or just feeling overtired from a few nights on the trot of teething and night waking, it just helps to focus on your for a brief second and a few minimal things you can do to make life easier and give something back.
A couple of years ago I read the book Buddhism for Mothers by Sarah Napthali and it made me realise how, in a tribeless society, the mechanics of motherhood are all wrong. We devote our days to giving, feeling and providing, constantly emptying our cups, with very little to fill them back up for us during the toughs days or weeks. We run on empty, and when we do that we lose sight of the small things (like those above) which have disproportionate affects on our mood: putting on a little make-up, having a glass or water, writing a list, putting on some music, getting outdoors...
So there is only one place that this little gem of a reminder sheet is going in my house and that’s inside the biscuit cupboard!
Emma Goodman has long been a respected pre and postnatal fitness specialist in the Maidstone area. This month she guest blogs for us about taking care of our postnatal bodies and unveils a brand new service available to a mama’s touch clients at a greatly reduced fee...
“I am passionate that new mum's get the correct advice with regards to returning to or even starting exercise after having a baby. There is so much pressure to get back in the skinny jeans but I believe this is a great time to not only focus on your new bundle of joy but also make a promise to yourself that self-care will become a priority.
The right kind of exercise in the right amounts and the right time. Strength and energy should be at the core of your practise and gradually the weightloss will follow.
I run regular running courses and buggy fit session in Maidstone and in the last couple of years have also started to teach classes with a specific focus on regaining pelvic floor fitness and helping to resolve issues associated with diastasis recti (or tummy-gap).
Details of the full courses I offer both to groups and on a 1-2-1 basis can be found on my website: http://www.preandpostnatalexercise.co.uk . I also write my own blog which has lots of great tips to integrate fitness into your family life and follow my own journey too.
As part of a new service I will be offering 1-2-1 consultations where I will assess your posture, check for diastasis (tummy gap) and answer any questions you may have regarding exercising postnatally. After this you should feel confident returning to exercise and have a good idea of which activities will get you the best results at whichever stage you are at after having baby.
Clients of a mama’s touch will be entitled to a reduced consultation fee of just £10.
If you would like to book in for a consultation just email [email protected]
How time flys? - adapting your massage to suit a mobile toddler
Many people think massage is just for newborns, but when we think about how we as adults use massage (to ease aches and pains and to relieve stress both mental and physical) we can begin to see how we can apply our practice to the ever-growing, ever-exercising little people in our lives. We should also consider how physical touch strengthens our relationships (a foot massage for a weary partner) and see massage as a way to reconnect with our children when the days of constant cuddles and newborn needs have long passed.
So we've heard about the applications for massage as our babes grow older and it all seems, well, lovely, but how on earth to we tackle an oiled crawling/cruising/walking/talking baby and coerce them into some massage time... well here are some tips.
Firstly lets dispel the myth that massage is only beneficial if your child is lying down, quietly whilst you lovingly gaze into one another's eyes. With a mobile baby it just isn't going to happen, but, and its a big but, that doesn't mean that it isn't beneficial. Just 20 seconds of loving physical contact releases a shot of the hormone oxytocin in both of you, filling you both with relaxation. Its also relaxing tired muscles and easing growing pains.
We also need to ignore our assumption that movement means disinterest. Your childs brain is on a constant mission to explore and accomplish. Trying out their new skills whilst you massage doesn't mean that they don't want you to continue, it just means they simple can't stop for a second and miss out on their new found trick. Look out for negative cues which aren't associated with wandering off, so pushing your hands away and vocal cues such as whines or grunts. I've met many a baby who happily crawled along or cruised the furniture whilst their mums happily continued to massage them.
Pick your timing. Choose a time of the day when you know your baby will be quieter and calmer than the playful parts of the day. Allow your little one to read books or play with toys whilst you massage to keep them still. Don't worry about carrying out a full massage routine massage ad-hoc throughout the day: legs with some playful nursery rhymes, hands whilst you wait in a queue, back whilst you read books etc.
As your child gets older allow them more choice, so let them pick which areas they wish to be massaged, all the time still asking them permission first.
Change position. Baby massage doesn't have to be carried out lying down. Sitting, standing, over your shoulder whilst giving them a hug... you can carry out pretty much a full body massage in these positions albeit with a few adaptations. Massage can also be a way of helping your baby to lovingly explore a position they are currently exploring, so if you baby has started to roll onto their tummies but aren't quite sure about staying there, why not give them a back rub?
Tell stories and sing songs with your massage and turn it into an activity.
Try massaging in the bath. This is one of the last places your baby will attempt to move and even when they get started they won't exactly be running around! Its also a great way to wash as you can use the water and soap as your oil subsitute.
I hope this post will give you the means to continue massaging once your little ones get that little bit bigger and perhaps even try the same moves on one of your older children.
If you have any questions drop me an email ([email protected]). I love helping people to extend their massage into their childs older years and with peer massage more frequently becoming a part of our children's school lives why not extend nurturing touch beyond those first few months.
Today I wanted to talk more about massaging toddlers well past those first mobile months all the way up to school age and why its such an amazing, rewarding and worthwhile activity.
Touch remains your child's first language well into the preschool years and even as an adult there are some circumstances where nothing speaks more to us than a sincere embrace. Learning ways to use nurturing touch as part of your parental toolkit can help in times of intense emotion and aid you in either harnessing that energy or helping to calm your little one down. In practical terms massage can help calm a child and manage a tantrum or emotional meltdown, encourage your child to open up and talk about their emotions or emotional situations, stop them from being too overwhelmed during intense periods of play and also encourage them to wind down to sleep either at naptimes or bedtime.
In this blog post I wanted to go through a few scenarios and give you an insight into how massage can help
Using massage for "time-in" following a tantrum/meltdown
If your toddler becomes overwhelmed by big emotions which they find it hard to understand and process then "time-in" allows them time to use you as an emotional bolster to support them and teach them how to cope with feeling angry, sad, frustrated, excited etc. When your child requires physical reassurance and has calmed down enough for you to be able to talk about how they feel, combine a comforting hug with some gentle massage strokes on their back. Once fully calmed this could progress into a simple massage which can either distract from the situation or encourage them to talk about it depending on what is needed at the time. This can be as simple as drawing smiley/sad faces on their backs and getting them to tell you which one best applies to how they feel, or distracting them by driving a car on a mundane journey around their back (a firm favourite in our house: we drive the journey to preschool and walk fingers around her back to get out and go to the shop, stop at the drs etc).
Using massage during playtime
Massage isn't just something we can use to help our toddlers wind down and relax but can be used in conjunction to songs, stories and poems. I have made up massages to most of my toddlers favourite story books, drawing the stories across her back and getting her to join in with what comes next, actions or guessing games. We like to use massage to aid our physical play and rough housing to stop our toddler from making that all too easy transition from excited to overwhelmed and emotional.
Use of massage in scenarios like those described above is becoming widely recognised as an important tool not just for parents but also for older children in primary schools. The Massage for Schools Programme which uses basic techniques and principles such as those described here has been shown to improve concentration, improve peer inclusion, reduce bullying and improve emotional health.
If you would like to give toddler massage a go always remember the below key principles:
Always ask permission. Never massage your child without their consent. Remember by allowing them to have full control over when and where they are massaged we are teaching them important lessons about body ownership, consent and "good" & "bad" touch.
Allow your child to be in control over how clothed they are. Allow them to decide their limits and massage over cloths should they choose so.
Allow your child choice of where to be massaged. They may feel uncomfortable being massaged in certain areas of their body, again let them have control and adapt your massage appropriately.
Most importantly enjoy! Our little ones grow up so fast and being close to them is a joy!
If you'd like to know more about Toddler Massage courses or would like to reserve a place please visit our toddler massage page or email [email protected]
If you love beautiful kids clothes and homewares...
Then Mini-Mi, based in Rochester High St, is the shop to browse. Available on-line as well as in store, they sell gorgeous kiddy clothes and shoes as well as toys, nursery furnishings and a little something for mum thrown in too! I've caught the bug recently and have bought a few lovely bits for the kids, as well as my new prized possession: my pineapple vase!
They've also been extremely kind and have offered all a mama's touch subscribers 10% off until the end of June with their unique offer code: amamastouch. So get yourself over to their beautiful boutique or visit there website here: www.mini-mi.co.uk
Father’s Day - the perfect time to talk about Family Massage
When most people think about baby massage they think about an activity carried out between mum and baby, a relaxing time to bond and get to know one another. The more keen enthusiasts of skin-to-skin contact will know that massage releases oxytocin or "the love hormone" in mum and baby promoting secure attachment but what about the wider family? Most courses promote baby massage for grandparents, siblings and dads but what are the benefits? Does it run deeper than just letting them "have a go"?
Alongside my courses I have always run a one-off Family Session, a 90 minute class with dads, grandparents or siblings so they can have a go. Mostly this was prompted by seeing my own family massage my daughter and seeing how much they gained from having a go from time to time. However, through trawling through various articles and studies I have since found that their involvement affects their bond with baby on a much deeper level. In this blog post I'll be looking closer at the benefits for dad's and siblings and giving you some tips to get them involved, using the last few weeks of massaging Chester as a point of reference.
Sibling Massage
When a new baby arrives in the family people often overlook bonding time between baby and any siblings, but these guys are going to be together forever, long after we've all left the building! Promoting secure sibling bonding and attachment is an important element of having a new baby and all too frequently parents use "helping out" as a way to give the older child a sense of responsibility. However, grabbing nappies and encouraging big brother or sister to talk to baby when they are unsettled doesn't promote a deep and profound connection between the two in the same way as a relaxing and affectionate activity like massage.
My daughter loves to stroke, cuddle and kiss Chester enthusiastically and massage is a really lovely way for her to do this in a supervised way which also allows her to dictate the boundaries and bond at her own pace and in her own way. Sometimes she will show no interest in getting involved, other times she boisterously blows raspberries on his belly as we massage, other times she will show affection and intimacy which surprises even me and tenderly stroke him in a way I didn't think 2 year olds had the restraint for. The main point of this is that she explores their relationship in a way she has full control over, she is allowed free rein (albeit supervised) to be playful, affectionate or nonplussed in a way that cuddles on the sofa or the occasional pat in the bouncer doesn't allow her.
Aside from sibling bonding, massaging each other also allows them to explore powerful lessons when it comes to touch. We always get siblings to ask permission in the same way as we would ask our babies and teach them to stop if baby isn't happy. We teach them to observe when it comes to how hard or soft baby likes to be massaged and in turn attune them to subtle cues and signals that their siblings exhibit, improving their communication with each other.
If you want to involve your other children in massaging your baby always do so in an age appropriate way that allows them to be involved as much or as little as they want.
Here are some ideas for sibling massage:
Get younger siblings who may feel uncomfortable, or do not have the patience to massage to get involved in setting up the room for you. They can pass you oil, get blankets ready for baby, put the music on or sing songs to baby as you massage them.
Siblings can massage a doll or teddy alongside you and mimic your actions if they don't feel ready to have a go themselves.
Siblings can have their own "special strokes" in the routine, so you can choose moves which you know your child will find easy to carry out and when you come to them in the routine allow them to have their go before continuing with the massage yourself.
As children get older they can be encouraged to draw pictures, write stories or sing songs whilst taking turns to massage each others backs.
Children can lie alongside each other whilst you take it in turn to massage parts of each of them, looking at each other whilst they both have special time with mummy or daddy.
Daddy Massage
Skin to skin contact for dads is slowly being promoted more and more when it comes to newborns. Dad's are encouraged to receive baby after birth should mum be poorly or unable to have skin-to-skin immediately after delivery and indeed my hubby was encouraged to pull Chester out of the water at his birth. This contact not only empowers a father but encourages involvement from the earliest possible stage.
On a practical level massage provides dad's with something to do, in a time when most primary needs such as feeding, comforting etc are mainly fulfilled by mum. However, I often found it a little patronising when instructors cited this as the main reason for dad's to get involved and really wanted to root out a more fundamental explanation for the importance of paternal skin-to-skin... then I learnt about vasopressin.
Vasopressin is released in response to nearness and touch (such as massage), and promotes bonding between the father and the mother, helps the father recognize and bond to his baby, and makes him want to be part of the family, rather than alone. Much as oxytocin does in the mother, it encourages a family wide bond and promotes stability and urge to protect. It is an extremely powerful hormone which counteracts and tempers testosterone production.
From my own experience of teaching massage to dad's and watching my own husband massage my children, babies prefer massage from dad's no matter how infrequent they may be. It can sometimes be hard to get dad's to want to have a go but I promise after one massage they will be hooked. Dad's big hands and confident touch are extremely reassuring to baby.
Spending time close to their babies, interacting and touching their babies really boosts confidence. Chester loves some close time with his dad and as this is our second child it is all too easy for my husband to spend his time tending to no.1 whilst I look after the baby, this gives him some special time with the new addition. Its also extremely intimate for us to massage our new baby together and it really feels like some nice time together as a couple admiring our beautiful boy.
So next time your reach for the oil drag dad or brother/sister along for the ride to! You may find you never get a look in again!
I get asked all the time about which oils to use for massage and also see many expensive oils being promoted as baby massage oils, so I thought I should write a little blog post outlining the benefits and disadvantages to some of the commonly used oils and give you my recommendations for the best, cheapest and safest oil to use when massaging your babies.
I'm going to mainly focus on natural oils but will also look at mineral/synthetic oils and essential oils which may have been recommended to use on your babies skin by health visitors, relatives, friends etc.
A good place to start is the IAIMs four recommendations for a massage oil. These properties have been highlighted not only to get the best for your baby's skin but also the best bonding experience from your massage:
Unscented - Unscented oils ensure that your baby isn't overwhelmed by over-stimulation of too many senses at once during massage. Unscented oils are also referred to as carrier oils, as they cling to any scent and when warmed magnify its properties. When using an unscented oil during baby massage the carrier oil will cling to your natural scent, and when used with warm hands will make your very own unique blend of "mummy oil" which will be your baby's favourite smell by far!
Organic - When it comes to natural oils always go organic. We don't know the implications of non-organic products and the price difference is not that extreme so we should always choose organic products if being regularly used on your babies skin.
Cold-pressed - Cold-pressed oils have been extracted from the nut or seed without any heat or chemical treatment and therefore are in their natural state, reducing risk of an allergic reaction.
Edible (ideally vegetable/seed based) - Edible oils will be recognised by the body's immune system as safe and therefore should cause no reaction to your skin. It is also inevitable when massaging a baby that any oil on their hands will find its way to their mouths! With allergies in mind when it comes to this recommendation avoid nut oils until the age of 3, as you would in your baby's diet.
Natural Oils
contain beneficial natural ingredients (e.g Vitamin A, E, B1, B2, B6 and calcium)
have no added odour
are recognised as a digestible food by the skin
nourish the skin and allow the skin to breathe
can be bought cheaply in the cooking aisle of any supermarket
Some great natural oils which have been known to be perfect for baby massage are: sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, grapeseed oil, vegetable oil, coconut oil (both refined and unrefined (for more details on refined or fractionated coconut oil please see last blog post))
A note on Olive Oil:
Olive Oil has been recommended for years by well-meaning midwives and health visitors for use on a baby's dry skin following birth or on cradle cap. A recent study by Professor Richard Cork from Sheffield University found that the high levels of oleic acid found in olive oil were linked to the development of atopic dermatitis and eczema in later life, if used regularly from birth. Therefore only use olive oil on areas of dry skin and use an oil with low levels of oleic acid, such as sunflower oil, for regular massage.
Synthetic/Mineral Oils
Mineral Oils are derived from petroleum, while synthetic oils are produced in a laboratory. Whilst they have a practically indefinite shelf-life your baby's skin does not absorb most mineral oils, instead leaving a layer on the skin's surface, making it difficult to breathe. Most mineral oils are not metabolized by the human body and as such are not recognised as a food by the immune system. They may create a layer in the digestive tract if swallowed, thus interfering with the absorption of food. Most mineral oils are scented and therefore interfere with the process of bonding and can over-stimulate your baby. Most commercial "baby massage" oils will be mineral or synthetic based, they are much more expensive than your average natural oil and you are more likely to see a reaction with your baby's skin.
Essential Oils
Although essential oils are in the main natural and derived from plants, they are very different from vegetable oils. Essential oils are obtained by complex chemical processes, including distillation. They are extremely concentrated and are usually used for therapeutic reasons by a trained professional. The aromatherapy field does not advocate the use of essential oils for babies as they may be too over-stimulating for a baby's developing body and nervous system and have an effect on the brain and cells.
What to use if your baby has sensitive skin or eczema?
If you baby suffers from a skin condition, massage is a great way to administer any creams or lotions provided by your GP. Don't worry about using a specific massage oil, instead use massage as a method of applying cream daily or twice daily as directed. This way you'll never have to struggle and something that is often a quite difficult element of your routine will soon become enjoyable and relaxing for you and your baby.
If your baby's skin is sensitive, patch test oils which are low in oleic acid (the lowest being sunflower oil) or stick to fractionted coconut oil, which best resembles the chemical make-up of our own skin and thus is unlikely to cause a reaction.
FInally....
Here are my top 5 oils on the market for you to try massaging with:
Lucy Bee Extra Virgin Raw Organic Coconut Oil - £9.95 for 500ml
Clearspring Organic Cold-pressed Sunflower Oil - £2.85 for 500ml
Tiddley Pom Organic Baby Massage Oil - £7.99 for 150ml
Vital Touch Natalia Organic Massage Oil - £5.00 for 50ml
Tomorrow marks exactly a month since I started exercising for at least 30mins everyday. It's been hard finding the right things and balance to not trigger my angioedema but I've only missed two days (one I was in hospital on a drip and the other I was asleep in bed with a belly the size of a pregnant woman). I've lost about an inch and a half off my vitals and lost no weight, but my stupid condition means my inflammation is not water retention but actually tissue swelling/mass. My bmi may still say I'm borderline "morbidly obese" but I'm feeling strong, flexible and healthy. Here's to many more months like this and (hopefully physically as well as mentally) a return to the old me!
Still holding back the tears after being given the most beautiful, heartfelt gift by my dear friend @michelekavanagh as a memento for being there at the birth of her gorgeous son, Fox. The beautiful fox pendant is made from 30 year old gold from her own christening jewellery. Don't think I've ever been so touched in all my life. Love you guys forever xxxx #instagram #doula #fox #thebondofbirth
a mama's touch @amamastouch - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
