Baby Body Parts That Can Be Massaged and How To Do It

Baby massage is an activity that can be said to be a parental tradition in Indonesia. Usually baby massage is carried out starting from newborns, entering the age of several months to how many years. Baby massage is believed to provide many benefits and can be done alone at home. But moms and dads need to know which parts of your little one's body can be massaged.

According to Midwife Angela Frischa Lidia Pratiwi, Amd.Keb., CPHCT or who is familiarly called Midwife Icha in the MAKUKU with Oramni webinar, explaining that the parts of a baby's body that can be massaged are the entire body from the face to the feet. So that the benefits of massaging a baby can be felt by the smallest and not hurting him, moms and dads can pay attention to the following steps:

FACE MASSAGE

Section Forehead

moms or dads fingers starting in the middle of the baby's forehead (then move) sideways towards the temples to form a smile in the forehead area and do it 6 times.

Eyebrows

Use both thumbs to massage the eyebrows starting from the middle forming a smile towards the temples and do it 6 times.

Nose

Gently wipe your thumb from the bridge of your nose down your nose and then up to your temples. As if to make a child smile and do it 6 times.

Upper Jaw

Place both thumbs above the mouth just below the nasal septum. Movement of both thumbs sideways and up towards the cheeks as if to make the baby smile. Moms and dads can do it 6 times.

Chin or lower jaw

Place both thumbs on the chin and lower jaw, moving from the middle to the upper side as if to make the baby smile. This movement can be repeated 6 times.

Behind the ear

Using the fingertips, apply gentle pressure to the area behind the right and left ears in a forward motion until just below the chin 6 times.

HANDS

MASSAGE Indian Expression

Hold the baby's arms with both palms starting from the shoulders towards the wrists like holding a softball, then move the right and left hands down alternately and repeatedly. This movement can be repeated 5 times.

Swedish milking

The same movement as the Indian milking, only starting from the wrist to the top or the shoulder and do it 5 times.

Finger

Gently massage the fingers one by one towards the fingertips in a circular motion. Moms and dads can do it 5 times.

The palms

hands are massaged in a circular motion by the thumbs, from the wrists to the fingers, while the backs of the hands are massaged by the other fingers.

Rolling Movement

Hold the baby's upper arms / shoulders with both palms form a rolling motion from the base of the arm towards the fingers as much as 5 times.

MASSAGE OF THE CHEST

Heart

Place the fingertips of both hands in the center of the baby's chest, then make an upward movement to the bottom of the neck, then sideways to make a heart shape and return to the solar plexus 2 times.

Butterfly

Make a diagonal movement like a butterfly. Then massage crosswise from the solar plexus towards the right shoulder and back to the solar plexus. Do it alternately using both hands.

ABDOMINAL MASSAGE

Pedal Bicycle Pedal

Perform the movement using the edge of the palm of the hand. Massage on the baby's stomach like pedaling a bicycle from the top to the bottom of the stomach.

Moon - Sun

One hand makes a circle with the fingertips. The right hand starts from the lower right abdomen (appendix area) up until it surrounds the stomach (sun). Then the other hand forms a semicircle from the baby's belly to the bottom of the belly (month).

Movement I Love You

Massage by forming the letter "I" massage the baby's stomach starting from the top left straight down using the fingers of the right hand to form the letter "I". “LOVE” Forming an inverted “L”, massage from the top right of the baby's tummy to the left, then from the top left to the bottom. “YOU” The massaging movement forms an inverted “U”, starting from the lower right (appendix area) to the top, then to the left, down and ending in the lower left abdomen.

Bubbles

Place fingertips on baby's tummy and make movements with gentle finger pressure in a clockwise direction from bottom right to bottom left to move air bubbles.

Flexi both legs

Hold the baby's knees together then point the baby's knees towards.

FOOT

MASSAGE Indian Expression

Hold the baby's feet by the groin like holding a softball bat, alternating downward movements of the hands, like milking.

Swedish Milking

The same movement from the ankle to the groin.

The soles of the feet

Make small circles with the thumbs alternately rotating from the heel of the finger to the entire sole of the foot.

Fingers

Massage the fingers one by one in a circular motion.

Instep

With both thumbs at the same time, massage the entire back of the foot from the ankle to the toes in a V shape towards the middle toe.

MASSAGE OF THE BACK

Back and forth Movement

Massage with back and forth movements using both palms along the back in a prone position.

One-handed movement

Slide one of your palms from the neck to the baby's bottom with a little pressure. As if rubbing your baby's back.

Circular Movement

With your fingers make small circular motions along the side of the spine from the top of the buttocks to the shoulder and then move down the side of the back.

Scratching Movement

Gently press your five fingers and move from the shoulders down to the buttocks, as if you were clawing.

Final Movement

Make a long massage with the fingertips of the right hand from the neck to the baby's bottom to end your massage.

When massaging a baby, continued Midwife Icha, you can use olive coconut oil or baby oil. To be on the safe side, make sure to use an oil that is okay if swallowed. In addition, avoid using jewelry when massaging a baby because it can injure the baby's skin. Also pay attention to the length of the nails that massage the baby and do not use the fingertips to massage the little one.

To anticipate your little one moving a lot, make sure your little one uses a comfortable diaper when massaged. The comfortable diapers recommended by doctors are diapers that use the core structure of SAP or super absorbent polymer. Diapers with a SAP core structure have been proven to be anti-clotting, able to lock liquids well and keep the diaper surface dry for up to 8 hours. The only diapers that use the full SAP core structure are MAKUKU Air Diapers Slim and MAKUKU Air Diapers Comfort.

MAKUKU Air Diapers Slim and MAKUKU Air Diapers Comfort are available in two types, namely tape or adhesive and pants. While the sizes for MAKUKU Air Diapers Slim are NB, S, M, L, XL, XXL and MAKUKU Air Diapers Comfort are S, M, L, XL, and XXL. All variants of these MAKUKU diapers can be purchased offline at the MAKUKU Family Store and online at the MAKUKU Official Store at Shopee, Lazada, Tokopedia, JD.ID and BliBli. Regarding information on the new MAKUKU product, moms and dads can also monitor parenting and promos on the @MAKUKU.Indonesia.Official Instagram account and visit the MAKUKU.co.id website. 

Come on, be comfortable with MAKUKU, MAKUKU starts the SAP era! (Aq/MKK)