Infant Benefits:

• improves immune system
• helps baby learn to relax
• promotes sounder and longer sleep
• promotes positive body image
• promotes bonding and communication
• helps to regulate digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems
• helps relieve discomfort from gas and colic, congestion, and teething
• decreases production of stress hormones
• cross cultural studies show that babies who are held, massaged, carried, rocked and breast fed, grow into adults that are less aggressive and violent, and are more compassionate and cooperative
• recent research shows benefits for premature infants, children with asthma, diabetes, and certain skin disorders

Parent Benefits:

• provides a special focused time that helps deepen bonding
• helps parents to understand and respond appropriately to baby's nonverbal cues
• promotes feelings of competence and confidence in caring for baby
• improves parent-infant communication
• increases parents' ability to help child relax in times of stress
• eases stress of parent who must be separated from child during the day
• it is fun and relaxing for parents to massage their children
• mothers with postpartum depression have shown improvement after starting infant massage
• teenage mothers have shown improved bonding behavior and interactions with their infants

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