Bonding with My Baby through Infant Massage

I was sitting in the waiting room at the pediatrician's office today, perusing one of many parenting magazines targeted toward moms when I came across an article about the benefits of baby massage. My interest peaked as a result of seeing infant massage mentioned in a few "best practices for baby" books, and so I read to see what the hulabaloo was all about.

It turns out that there are quite a bit of perks to kneading your baby that I wasn't aware of. The one that caught my attention, increased sleeping time. Boo-yah! Much to the consternation of my moral wife, I stashed the magazine in my coat pocket for a walk-through guide to becoming a manly masseus once we returned home.

After feeding my daughter and changing her diaper I walked through the step-by-step (simplified) rub down routine.

First things first, rub some olive oil in the palm of your hands to warm before rubbing it on your baby. Check. Now, rub your baby gently from the forhead, over the scalp, and down her nape. She responded well, and I didn't mind the added benefit of her smelling like anyou  italian restaraunt either.

Next, using the pads of your fingers, rub outward from her neck to her shoulders. Now she was really starting to settle into it.

After that, use your fingers to massage up and down along the length of her back, avoiding rubbing directly on her spine.

Then, rub up and down along her baby triceps. She was curling up at this point, so I gently grasped her palm and stretched out her arm. She didn't seem to mind one bit.

Move down to the legs and rub her hamstrings and calf muscles with the same motion as you did with her arms.

Flip that flapjack over and massage her torso on biceps exactly as you did along her back and triceps.

By the time I was done (a whole 10 minutes or so), that premie baby looked like she was floating on a cloud. Still somewhat skeptical about the massage working on the first try, I decided to swaddle her and lay her down in her bassinet (a surefire cause for crying), and . . . she's laying there, content. As a matter of fact, she has been relaxing in that bassinet for the last 45 minutes without so much as a peep. In all seriousness, I keep checking up on her to make sure that she is still breathing.

Had I not tried baby massage myself, I would have continued to brush it off as a fad. Of course, it was only our first time. But in the words of Davy Jones, "I saw her face. Now I'm a believer."

New to Blogging . . . and Being a Dad.

The amount of poop in my house increased tenfold a few weeks ago as the result of bringing my first born child, Harper, home from the hospital. Born one month premature, Harper is a beautiful, baby girl who has filled our home and my heart with love. She has also inspired in me a desire to be an informed, involved, papa.

Growing up as an only child, I envied the boys who had younger sisters to protect and defend. It seemed like the life of a superhero to me, and I could tell that those baby sisters idolized their big brothers, regardless of any attitude that they copped.

As a 25-year old daddy, I get to lace up the proverbial spandex and cape for the first time in my life as I learn to raise my daughter. Nothing excites me more than watching her exist. I digest books, magazines, and blogs about parenting and being an involved father. The moment I arrive home from a hard day in the elementary classroom I ditch the shirt and tie and get into my play clothes, sweep my daughter into my arms and talk to her about her day. I've noticed that her eyes are more able to focus on my face each time we have this debriefing, and with each glance at me, my heart is more able to focus on her.

Those bonding moments are important and priceless, but they are interrupted by nap time quite often. During those "breaks" I like to learn more about parenting, child development, and supporting my wife in our efforts to raise our daughter. In an attempt to make this relationship with parenting information reciprocal I decided to start Poop Culture, my blog about my adventures as a new dad. Here, I'll share my ideas, findings, suggestions, and thoughts about raising my daughter. Hopefully, you might find nuggets of gold that might help your personal adventure in understanding and raising your children too . . . even if those nuggets have a little poop on them.