The practice of infant massage is not a new phenomenon. Early records of massage practice and research are diverse. It has been documented as early as 2760BC in China. More recent research has further suggested that the practice of infant massage provides exceptional benefits for the baby. The popularity and demand for infant massage resulted in the establishment of the International Association of Infant Massage in 1986, whose membership spans more than 40 countries.

Massage has many other physical and emotional benefits for your baby.

These benefits include:

• Promoting social, emotional and cognitive development
• Helping a baby relax and release tensions of daily stimuli
• Decreasing irritability and excessive crying
• Reducing gas, colic and intestinal difficulties
• Regulating behavioural states and promoting sleep
• Strengthening and regulating primary systems (i.e., respiratory, circulatory, nervous, musculature, digestive and endocrine)

Infant skin

Human skin is the largest organ of the body and protects its internal components. The skin has three layers: the epidermis; the dermis; and the hypodermis. The epidermis is the first point of contact for the application of topical products. The stratum corneum is the outermost layer of the epidermis (the visible part of the skin). Its main function is to act as a barrier to penetration by external irritants and to protect against excessive water loss. Skin barrier function can be affected by genetic and environmental factors. Examples of the latter include water quality, pollution, detergents and the application of skin care products.

At term birth, the skin is sufficiently mature to withstand extrauterine life; however, infant skin does not become comparable to that of an adult until approximately 12 months of age. During this time, infant skin is more vulnerable than adult skin because it is different in several ways. For example, the stratum corneum is 30% thinner in neonates and the epidermis is 20% thinner . This puts infants at a greater risk of permeability and dryness than adults. In addition, the neonatal body surface to body weight ratio is greater than in adults, and infant skin has a greater absorption rate than that of adults. The consequence of this difference is an increased vulnerability to the effects of topical treatments.

Dry skin is common in the first few months of a baby’s life. The recommendation to new parents to use topical oils for the prevention or treatment of neonatal dry skin has become traditional practice. While there is a dearth of evidence to support the practice of recommending topical application of natural oils, there is a readiness to believe that what is ‘natural’ is also ‘safe’.

Preterm infant benefits

Weight gain is the most consistent outcome associated with preterm infant massage. One explanation put forward for this weight gain is the separate finding that significantly lower levels of energy and stress behaviour were expended among preterm babies in the intervention groups which meant that they were able to ‘sleep and grow’. Another explanation is that infant skin has a high rate of absorption, so topical oil may have been absorbed systemically to provide a nutritional function. The most important finding from preterm infant massage studies is the significant reduction in mortality and infection. Darmstadt’s research demonstrated a 26% reduction in mortality, and that preterm babies were 41% less likely to develop a nosocomial infection when massaged with sunflower seed oil compared to no treatment. Reduction in infection in a preterm population is related to reduction in mortality.