Benefits of Newborn Touching

Benefits of Newborn Touching

"Infant touch" is to use the hands of the toucher to touch the baby's skin in an orderly and skillful manner. Good stimulation is transmitted to the central nervous system through the skin to produce positive physiological effects. Scientific and systematic touch to newborn babies every day can effectively promote the baby's physiological and emotional development, improve the baby's sleep condition, and enhance the body's immunity.

1. Help sleep quality Newborns often have irregular sleep cycles and are easily awakened at night. Various medical studies have found that these problems can be effectively improved through baby touch and massage. Because touching the baby can stimulate the concentration of "melatonin" in the blood, help the baby establish a sleep cycle, and regulate the day and night cyclical rhythm.

2. Promote gastrointestinal motility. The common phenomenon of abdominal distension and hiccups after feeding is usually relieved by patting the back for 20 to 30 minutes. However, studies have found that if the baby's abdomen is massaged for about three to five minutes in a clockwise direction, consistent with the direction of gastrointestinal digestion, it will help the baby's gastrointestinal motility, which is more effective than the traditional patting on the back.

3. Helps to stabilize emotions. The development of the baby's brain has already begun in the fetal period, and touch is the earliest developed sensory organ. The fetus can suck its fingers in the mother's belly. If the mother has severe stress, the rate of fetal finger sucking will increase. The fetus obviously relieves and reduces its own stress through the skin touch of sucking fingers. Touch massage can stimulate the receptors at the nerve endings, causing nerve impulses, which are transmitted to the brain through the spinal cord, making people feel relaxed and comfortable. Therefore, through touch, it can not only stimulate the child's sensory organs, but also regulate emotional reactions and achieve a balanced state. 

4. Stimulate hearing and vision. When parents touch their children, in addition to the feeling of the skin, they can talk to their children or sing to them. When the baby feels the pleasure of touch, he can also concentrate on listening and observing the expressions and voices of his parents, and at the same time be exposed to auditory and visual stimulation.

5. Enhance parent-child friendship. Nowadays, dual-income families and small families are very popular, and the interaction between parents and children has decreased significantly. In the experience of the United Kingdom, for families with newborns, the local government actively trains parents to do baby massage. Many parents say that massaging their babies is a very pleasant experience and they feel that their children like it very much. Touching the baby's skin for ten to twenty minutes a day is the best way to enhance parent-child friendship.