Our mommies during the meet-up at Dulcinea, Eastwood City Walk

Do you know that infant massage, or Touch Therapy, helps strengthen your baby’s limbs and immune system, and facilitates faster growth and weight gain*?

More importantly, touch is the language of love. It is the most intimate and loving way to bond with your baby. Through massage, you help baby become affectionate, confident, and well-adjusted.

At the 3^rd Johnson’s Baby Bedtime Discovery mommy meet-up, thirteen mommies had a refresher course on five different massage techniques:

1)       Face Massage – Use upward and outward strokes on baby’s face

2)      Back Massage – Gently stroke the sides of baby’s spine with your thumbs

3)      Milking Technique for the Limbs – Gently pull baby’s limbs, mimicking milking a cow

4)      Stroke/Rolling Technique – Gently roll over your hands on baby’s body, as if kneading dough with a rolling pin

5)      Baby Reflexology – Like adult reflexology, parts of the hand corresponds to different parts of the body (i.e., palm ~ heart)

Joy Mendiola, mommy to a 7-year old twin and a 4-year old boy, shared how massage helped her twins grow taller.  She attributes this to her girl’s fondness for regular head massages.

The same goes for Mommy Cookie Lugue, whose second child likes being massaged on the head, to the point of having her hair pulled! Both babies and mommies enjoy this special time together.

Our mommies enjoyed swapping tips and meeting fellow bloggers in the intimate meet-up.  Boisterous laughter filled the room come meal time when they shared about mommy-child mishaps and adventures.

Watch out for these other Bedtime Discoveries (there are only two more left!):   Bedtime Stories and Baby Lullabies, and Wrap Up!  Mommy Gets Good Sleep. For all the mommy bloggers out there, we look forward to meeting you and sharing more Bedtime Discoveries with you!  For the upcoming meet-ups, we welcome new advocates to the cause of good baby sleep!

(You can also check out the four Bedtime Discoveries events:  2009 launch, 2010 launch, Good Sleep, and Sleep Environment. To learn more about touch therapy and how to give your baby better sleep, visit http://www.babycenter.com.ph/bedtime)

*Touch Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, 2004