Sweet baby needs tummy relief!
Recently my granddaughter was having such tummy troubles that I pulled out my newborn bag and tricks and decided it give them a try. She is 1, so eating all kinds of big kid foods now, but she sometimes really struggles to poop and her tummy gets really tight. Yes, her mama is doing all the right things and she drinks plenty of water and eats loads of fiber and fruit. She moves a bunch, and she is healthy and growing well. But when she gets constipated her whole world is affected (just like when your baby struggles with gas or poop) and my heart hurts for her little red face and straining.
This weekend we tried infant massage techniques to get things moving, and it worked! She was a brave girl and moved out a lot of poop, gas, and bloating, and left with a soft tummy. I was so glad to have been trained in infant massage to help get things moving, and wanted to share it with our newborn and toddler parents here. I’m not an expert on infant massage, but I have helped hundreds of parents work on their baby’s tummies, showed them techniques to relieve gas, and demonstrated loads of “poop positions” that help make the magic happen.
One of the biggest reasons parents see the Pediatrician in the early weeks and months is for trapped gas, or for “constipation” (although the definitions for this is different for newborns). It can be so painful for little ones to encounter, and as doulas we often demonstrate and teach new parents about gas relief using the baby yoga position (see our blog about that here) and other movement oriented approaches to relief that work really well. But I think we often forget the power of infant massage as it can seem formal or intimidating.
Evidence shows that infant massage reduces crying, colic, and gas/constipation, so it is worth a shot if your baby or toddler is struggling. You don’t need to do a fancy massage routine, but a couple strokes on the tummy can make a major difference in your baby’s comfort, and it is something you can DO when you feel powerless to help. Here is a video demonstration of techniques that I find really effective for both newborns and bigger kiddos.
While you are at it, try it on yourself! As new parents it can be hard to take the time to care for yourself, but doing some tummy massage might just help relieve your own gas or constipation issues, especially if you had a cesarean birth or some scar tissue to work around in your new postpartum body. As doulas we care not just about babies but also about parents who are doing sacrificial work to give their babies their BEST life. We are glad that we can help give parents back a little bit of this nurturing in our doula support, and so grateful for the research done on giving babies comfort care (when they used to be supposed to be “seen and not heard”). What a wonderful time to live in where we can just link a youtube video and parents everywhere can get training on doing something that really gets results.
If you have had success with tummy massage, tell us about it! What worked for your little one?