MASSAGE TO RELIEVE CONSIPATION
BABIES
After a warm bath, lay your baby gently on her back and with a little olive or almond oil on your fingers, you can trace a gentle clock-wise circle about 2-4 inches from her belly button with your fingers. You may not know it, but you are following the natural circuit of the large intestine and encouraging peristalsis (the squeezing action of the intestines) for the purpose of promoting elimination. Make sure baby is reacting favorably to this kind of stimulation as severe cramping or colic isn’t a normal reaction. If you are a visual learner, here is a great short video on infant massage to illustrate the technique with real live wriggling infants.
You can also enhance the effectiveness of the massage by adding a few drops of specially formulated essential oils to your massage oil.
The other baby massage technique that works well is the recumbent bicycle. While baby is on his back, you can take his legs and gently imitate the motion of riding a cosmic bike. This also acts to stimulate peristalsis in the same way that walking and movement helps us parents to stay regular. If, during the baby massage, you feel hard or knotty stool, or you don’t hear any gas bubbles when you put your ear to baby’s tummy, it may be a sign of an obstruction from too much stool built up and the next action would be a trip to your medical practitioner for the appropriate remedy or intervention.
OLDER CHILDREN
1-Lie your child down on their back and place one of your palms on their abdomen. Use your flat fingersto make a small clockwise motion around their belly button. Start by applying light pressure and increase it gradually, drawing4 circles.
2-Place one hand on top of the other and draw bigger circles using your palms. Make the circles big enough so that they cover the whole abdomen. Be quite firm with your movements and keep themclockwise so that you follow the direction of the childs large intestine. Repeat 4 times.
3-Use the fingers on one hand only to make small rotating movements that go in the same direction as before (only draw one circle).
4-Gently knead their abdomen with your thumbs and index fingers. Alternate your hands, raisingreleasingtheir skin.
5-Soothe their abdominal area by applying light, gliding pressurefrom their left to their right, usingfirstone hand and then the next, making a wave-like movement. Do this for as long as you like.
6-Finish the sequence by placing your palms just under their belly button, the tips of yourfingers touching. Hold for 1 minute, breathing slowly and deeply. Release.