But while the skin remains very tender and easily vulnerable. It requires gentle treatment and constant care in the form of a special massage. Massage exercises are different, but what you prefer, we'll talk about in the article "Relaxing massage for infants".
The muscular system during this period is developing significantly, and by the age of six months the child can sit on his own. He holds his head well. And by the age of eight months, the baby tries to get up on its own and produces uncomplicated body movements without outside help. It is at this age (thoracic) and it is necessary to start systematic simple physical exercises, helping the child to raise and lower the limbs, while lying down, sitting and standing, to make slopes and so on, and also to produce some elements of massage. These procedures will help to properly develop the musculoskeletal tissue of the baby, strengthen his health. Constant physical exercises and tempering the child will help to properly form his body, develop a stable immunity to various kinds of hypothermia and diseases, the influence of the external environment. As a result, the child will grow strong and healthy. In infancy it is necessary to continue daily walks with the child in the open air. By the time these walks can take from half an hour to three hours daily. Very good, if the child's afternoon nap will be held in the open air. In summer, almost the entire light-day, the child must be in the air, taking air and sun baths. At the same time, care must be taken to ensure that the child does not receive an extra dose of sunlight. To do this, the head of the child must be covered with a kerchief or a hat, and on a sunny day, try to ensure that the child is more under the shade of trees or in the shade of buildings and other structures. For the proper development of all systems and organs in the baby, strengthening the musculoskeletal apparatus, it is necessary to carry out daily gymnastics and massage with the baby.
Gymnastics and massage for infants
Massage for infants mainly consists of stroking and rubbing movements. When starting a massage, it is necessary, first of all, to wash your hands thoroughly, so that in the process it does not put on the delicate skin of the baby various pathogenic microbes, bacteria and dirt. For carrying out massage and gymnastics of the infant it is necessary to lay on the table, preliminary covered with a blanket or a diaper folded several times, or on a sofa or a bed with a firm surface. Each exercise or massage should be repeated two to five times. The total duration of physical activity should not initially exceed 10 minutes. As the child grows, the number of exercises and the duration of gymnastics and massage will gradually increase. Gymnastics and massage can alternate between each other or alternately during the day: in the morning massage, in the evening gymnastics or vice versa. It is best to massage at night, since it acts soothingly on the baby's body and promotes a healthy and strong sleep. During the massage, blood circulation improves, and the skin and muscles of the child's body become more elastic, flexible and elastic. After a massage or gymnastics, the baby can be fed only after thirty to forty minutes. Now let's get acquainted with what gymnastic exercises can be done with infants and what their impact on children's body is. Gymnastics should include exercises to develop and strengthen the muscles of the back, the muscles of the hands, legs, muscles of the trunk and abdomen.
Exercise 1
The child is put on his right side and, holding it with one hand, with the index finger of the other hand doing sliding movements on the spine from top to bottom. This exercise develops well and strengthens the muscles of the back.
Exercise 2
Put the baby on your stomach. Take him by the legs and lift the lower body above the table. At the same time, the child should touch the surface of the table with his hands and move forward on his hands. This exercise simultaneously strengthens the muscles of the arms and back. It can be conducted with children who by this time are able to focus on the hands.
Exercise 3
Put the baby on your stomach. Capture him by the lower part of his body, pressing his ass to his chest. The child at the same time rises on his hands and performs movements to grab or move toys lying on the table. This exercise strengthens the muscles of the trunk. It can only be performed by the child who has already learned to take toys and other items.
Exercise 4
This exercise is carried out similarly to exercise 4, with the only difference that the bending of the legs is at the same time, and not alternately. This exercise develops and strengthens the muscles of the legs and abdomen.
Exercise 5
Put the baby on the back. Take him by the handles and slowly help him sit down. This exercise develops and strengthens the abdominal muscles. It can be performed by a child who already tries to sit down on his own.
Exercise 6
Put the baby on your stomach. Bring your hands under it and lift the baby over the table. And one hand should hold the child in the chest area, and the other hand should be kept at his feet at the ankle level. When this exercise is performed, the child will independently try to keep his head in a horizontal position, his neck and trunk muscles will strain. This exercise helps to strengthen these muscles.
Exercise 7
This exercise is similar to exercise 7, with the only difference that he himself holds on to the stick proposed to him, and not by the hands of an adult. This exercise will help develop and strengthen the muscles of the hands and abdomen, but it can be performed by a child who knows how to sit on his own.
Exercise 8
Put the baby on your stomach. Take him by the hand. Divorce the child's arms in different directions, lifting the upper part of his torso above the table. This exercise develops and strengthens the muscles of the back, neck and arms. He is able to perform a child who knows how to hold his head on his own.
As mentioned above, massage for infants qualitatively affects the development of all the kid's organs and their strengthening. With regular carrying out of massage at the child the skeleton and muscular system is correctly formed. In addition, massage helps improve blood circulation and accelerate metabolic processes occurring in the child's body. The muscles and joints of the child become more flexible and elastic. Preparatory measures before the massage are normal. Before you start massaging a child, you should thoroughly wash your hands with soap and dry them with a towel. Then put the child on a table or couch and expose those parts of the body on which the massage will be performed. As with gymnastics, you need to monitor the temperature in the room, pre-ventilate the room. After that, the body of the child and the hands of the masseur must be applied cream or talc, depending on the skin type of the baby. And you can start a massage. Stroking and rubbing the child's body surface - the main methods of massage for infants - should be done slowly and cautiously with the movements of the hands and fingers. This will avoid damage to the delicate skin of the baby.
To massage the hands and feet of the baby, you need to bend them slightly, relaxing the muscles. Sharply bend and unbend the limbs of the baby is not recommended, because in infancy, he still did not fully develop the skeleton and muscle tissue, and the joints and ligaments are very flexible. With a sharp movement of the muscles and ligament of the child can stretch, which leads to severe pain and an undesirable consequence: the development of the musculoskeletal system of the baby will be disrupted. Stroking movements of the baby's handles should be made from the hand to the shoulder joint. The baby's legs are massaged from the bottom up, starting from the foot. Initially, massage, besides stroking and rubbing the child's body surface, should include passive exercises. In addition to flexion and extension of the limbs, it can be the movements of the fingers of the masseur along the midline of the back of the baby or the pushing of the baby with the emphasis of his legs in the hands of the masseur. With the emphasis under the legs, even a three-month-old child will try to push away from him. At the same time, he makes movements with the whole body, because in the process of repulsion the muscles of the legs, hands participate, and the child tries to raise his head.
We must strictly monitor the fact that during the massage does not cause pain to the baby, otherwise he will refuse further from this procedure. Massage should soothe and relax the baby, to give him pleasure. When the child is 4-5 months old, the passive movements of the baby should be gradually complicated by introducing active exercises, since by that time the child already knows how to hold the head independently, and some can sit and even crawl. The kid is able to take and move the toys and other objects offered to him. Now the movements of the baby when performing gymnastic exercises and massage should be aimed at developing and consolidating these skills. Massage for infants should include techniques and methods that strengthen and develop muscles, joints and the bone system of the back, arms and legs. Here are some of them.
Massage of baby's hands
Put the child on his back. With one hand, grab his pen in the area of the brush, and another carry out five to seven strokes, starting them from the child's hand and finishing in the shoulder area.
Foot massage for toddlers
Put the child on his back. With one hand, grab his foot in the ankle area, and the other to make strokes, heading from the foot to the groin area.
Back massage of the child
Put the baby on your stomach. The back of both hands is to stroke the back of the baby, starting from the buttocks and finishing the movement in the upper back. This massage can be used for babies and infants. When this procedure is performed, the infant will raise the head, resting with the handles on the surface of the couch. This will help to strengthen not only his back, but also the skeleton and muscles of the neck, head and hands. Any physical exercise passive or active, positively affect the overall development and health of the baby. They contribute to the normal functioning of all the organs and systems of the child, the development of the motor skills of the baby. The child grows mobile and healthy. In the newborn age, that is, in the period up to three to four months, physical exercises are passive. They are mainly aimed at the unconditioned reflexes of the baby. For three to four months the child is able to perform some simple movements. That is why during this period of growth of the baby during physical exercises and massage it is necessary to add active ones to passive exercises. These can be exercises on crossing, flexing and extending the arms and legs of the baby, back, exercises with elements of crawling and grasping toys and others. Toys in this case it is better to use light and bright ones, so that the kid would notice them on the surface of the couch and could easily take or move. By the age of six or seven months the child can crawl on his own. During this period, physical exercises should be more diverse and aimed at developing and strengthening various groups of muscles and joints, the limbs of the baby. At this age, performing gymnastic exercises with a toddler or performing massage, you need to talk with him, since the child is already able to distinguish the speech of adults and follow certain instructions of the parents.
Talking with the baby will also contribute to the development of his speech. The child can be recommended to take a toy, sit down or roll over on the other side, from the back to the abdomen and vice versa. These movements a child of six to eight months can perform on their own or with minor help from an adult. By doing stretching, squats and turning over, the child thereby produces a complex development and strengthening of his body. Closer to the year, the gymnastic exercises of the child should be more complex. At this age, a child, as a rule, can sit, stand, walk, squat, and the like. That is why gymnastic exercises should consolidate these skills. Carrying out their (exercises), a child can independently, or with the help of adults, squat, pick up toys from the floor or shift them from place to place, raise their legs and arms, bend their trunk at different angles, lower or tilt the head and so on. Gymnastics at this age should include exercises to develop its activity and independence. Now we know how to perform a relaxing massage for infants.