An infant’s caregiver is her lifeline to the world. Without the caregiver the infant would be helpless and most likely perish. Caregiver’s supply all of the essentials for an infant to physically flourish in this world including food, water, and protection. However, these are not the only things needed to promote a nourishing environment. If healthy emotional development does not occur, it can affect the infant for years to come. “People whose bonds are constantly broken in infancy have a much greater risk of becoming sociopathic criminals in their adulthood, unless they receive serious intervention at an early age” (McClure 13). This presents the question of how a caregiver can encourage healthy emotional development. One way to accomplish this is to promote a secure relationship between the caregiver and infant. Communication is the key to any relationship. The communication between two adults is obviously different than the communication that happens between an infant and an adult. How, then, does it take place? For as long as the human race has been in existence parents have faced these dilemmas. Nowadays, parenting support floods the internet and book shelves. Included in this plethora of information are books, classes and suggestions for learning infant massage. Massage has been a part of our culture for thousands of years, from the ancient Egyptians, to ancient Chinese medicine, and up to today where people use massage for relaxation, stress reduction, and pain relief. Infant massage has been practiced in India for just as long. Vimala McClure, the founder of the International Association of Infant Massage, “became aware of the importance of traditional Indian baby massage” while “studying and working in a small orphanage in India in 1973” (McClure xxi). In the early 1980’s, Vimala decided to share this amazing experience with America in her book Infant Massage: A Handbook for Loving Parents. Since the release of this book hundreds of caregivers have enjoyed the art of infant massage and the benefits it provides. Many might not even realize that by doing so they are helping their child’s physical and emotional development. Infant massage promotes secure attachment and bonding, encourages active communication and stimulates positive physiological changes to ensure healthy development into adulthood.

Infant massage instructors stress the importance of attachment and bonding to promote emotionally healthy and empathetic children. Merriam-Webster defines attachment as “the state of being personally attached” or “having affectionate regard” for something. In 1950 Mary Ainsworth joined John Bowlby’s research team shortly after he finished a highly criticized report for the World Health Organization entitled Maternal Care and Mental Health. This sparked the beginning of the research that lead to the development of the attachment theory. Bowlby “revolutionized our thinking about a child’s tie to the mother and its disruption through separation, deprivation and, bereavement” (Bretherton). Before Bowlby, it was thought that although infants were accepted as being dependent on their caregivers, adults are to be independent. Bowlby thought that human dependency, “as in many other species, could be understood in terms of evolution theory” (Ainsworth). In other words, not only is it biologically natural for infants to form attachments to their caregivers, but also to form attachments with others throughout their lives. If the process of infant attachment is interrupted, it may cause attachment issues into adulthood. Infant massage promotes this secure attachment and bonding with face to face interaction and responding to infant cues. It is not enough to simply soothe a child when something upsets him. For attachment to be secure, the child needs positive attention while in a relaxed state. Infant massage is a way for caregivers to give that positive attention. “Attachment is more than the reestablishment of security after a dysregulating experience and a stressful negative state, it is also the interactive amplification of positive affects, as in play states” (Schore). Caregivers are taught to engage their children in massage only when they are in a quiet alert state. For older infants, they are encouraged to use games that promote healthy touch and bonding. Merriam-Webster defines bonding as “the formation of a close relationship especially through frequent or constant association.” Harry Harlow’s experiments with monkeys had corroborated Bowlby’s “conviction that it is proximity to and close bodily contact with a mother figure that cements the infant’s attachment rather than the provision of food” (Ainsworth). This can be seen in many family situations where infants develop a strong attachment and bond with family members who may or may not be involved in the feeding of the infant. “Kennell and Klaus cited cuddling, kissing, and prolonged gazing as indicators of a developing bond,” all of which are an important part of infant massage techniques (McClure 25). Infant massage is one way in which family members can promote bonding and attachment with the infant and provide a solid foundation for the infant’s future relationships.

Through infant massage caregivers learn to communicate with their children while instilling confidence in themselves as parents and securing attachment and bonding with their infants. Studies have shown that infants are more responsive to a caregiver’s touch as opposed to a caregiver simply talking to them (Touch Research Institute). This evidence supports infant massage as a way for caregivers to effectively communicate with their children through touch, sight, and sounds. Attachment theorists believe that a reliable, attentive caregiver creates an environment of security for the child. Children of these caregiver’s have confidence in exploring their surrounding environments, which leads to confidence as adults. This advancement of the attachment theory is credited to Ainsworth’s research during the “strange situation.” “Mothers who fairly consistently responded promptly to infant crying early-on had infants who by the end of the first year cried relatively little and were securely attached” (Ainsworth). Infant massage supports caregivers in their attempt to understand their infant and respond appropriately. Another way infants communicate is by crying. During an infant massage class, caregiver’s are informed that the environment is “baby friendly,” meaning they should feel free to attend to their child if she starts to cry, signaling that she is in need of something, to be changed or fed perhaps. This encouragement of listening and responding to the infant promotes securely attached infants, as can be seen in the “strange situation.” Vimala McClure said it best, “When we truly listen to our infants, we are fulfilling all of their psychological needs” (143). Communication is emotionally charged. When we communicate with another person, we are essentially asking them to respond to our emotional needs. Caregiver-infant “attachment can be defined as the interactive regulation of emotion” (Schore). The results of a study published in Nature shows that gesturing just may be an integral part of the speech and communication process (Iverson). In this study the researchers compared blind and sighted participant’s communication and found that all of the blind participants used gestures while communicating, just as the sighted participants did. Throughout the day and especially during an infant massage session, the infant may reach out to the caregiver or push them away. If caregivers can learn to recognize these infant gestures as communication, they will be better able to understand to the needs of their infant and more likely to instill self respect and secure attachment in their child. Furthermore, as can be deduced from the above study, if the caregivers encourage this gesturing communication, the infant will have a strong basis in the process of developing speech. Infant massage instruction includes educating the caregiver about infant cues. These cues include the gestures, sounds, and looks an infant gives to their caregiver in an attempt to communicate. Infant massage creates an optimal environment for caregiver-infant interaction and communication through sight, sound, smell, and touch. The caregivers are encouraged to massage in a dimly lit room so infants, being sensitive to bright lights, may have their eyes open wide. The caregiver and infant should be face to face about a foot away from each other, since this is the optimal distance for an infant to focus on a caregiver’s face. Infants react greatly to sounds, and caregivers are encouraged to talk, hum, or sing during the massage. Scented oils are discouraged as they can mask the scents of the caregiver and baby. By learning to communicate through infant massage, caregivers can make certain their infants have every chance of a healthy emotional and physical development.

Infant massage causes positive physiological stimulation and enhances neurological development. In animals, “licking serves to stimulate the physiological systems and to bond the young with the mother” (McClure 6). This is also true for humans and massage. Massage has been shown to regulate sleep cycles in infants with sleep problems, “facilitate weight gain in preterm infants,” “increase vagal activity and gastric motility that are associated with greater weight gain,” and to raise body temperature in preterm infants (Touch Research Institute). Through infant massage, caregivers are able to learn the massage techniques that allow for these positive physiological changes to use at home. Infant massage classes stress the importance of using firm pressure as opposed to light pressure while massaging. This is because “moderate pressure massage elicits a parasympathetic nervous system response,” or rest and relaxation response, as opposed to light pressure which causes a fight or flight response (Touch Research Institute). “Through the use of conditioned response techniques similar to those developed for childbirth by Lamaze and others, we can teach our babies how to relax their bodies in response to stress” (McClure 11). This can be accomplished with infant massage and is especially important in our modern world where stress is abundant. Through massage, the infant learns how to relax and soothe himself, which can later be used in stressful situations. “The relationship with the primary attachment object has a critical effect on, as Bowlby speculated, the organization of the limbic system, the central nervous system brain areas specialized not only for the processing of emotion but for the organization of new learning and the capacity to adapt to a rapidly changing environment” (Schore). This means that an infant’s attachment to her caregiver has an effect on the developing brain area known as the limbic system. Having a secure attachment to a caregiver is critical to the emotional development of the infant. Since infant massage promotes attachment and bonding, caregivers using these techniques are assisting in the emotional development of their children.

Infant massage is a wonderful way for caregivers to form secure attachments and lasting bonds with their children, enhance their ability to understand and communicate with them, and promote positive physiological changes including neurological development. With the research taking place today and over the last six decades, caregivers have proof that our ancestors and nature got this one right, massaging our young is in their best interest. “When asked what he thought of infant massage, anthropologist Ashley Montagu commented, ‘People don’t realize that communication for a baby, the first communications it receives and the first language of its development, is through the skin. If only most people had realized this they would have all along given babies the kind of skin stimulation they require’ ” (McClure 5). Caregivers of all kinds, maternal, paternal, special needs, foster, and adoptive parents can enjoy the benefits of infant massage. No matter the age of the child, it is never too late for loving, respectful touch. “In general, massaged children grow up feeling confident and comfortable in their bodies, and they openly communicate with their parents” (McClure 191). What caregiver wouldn’t want to give their child the best possible foundation for a healthy life? We live in a world of cell phones, email, text messaging and internet and massage is a way for all of us to regain our connectedness to one another. Our society will only benefit, for years to come, from having empathetic, compassionate, and emotionally healthy individuals living in it.

Works Cited

Ainsworth, Mary D Salter, John Bowlby. “An Ethological Approach to Personality Development.” American Psychologist. Vol. 46 (4) April 1991, pp. 333-341. http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/online/ainsworth_bowlby_1991.pdf Web. 9 Dec. 2009

Bretherton, Inge. “The Origins of Attachment Theory: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth.” Developmental Psychology (1992), 28: 759-775. http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/online/inge_origins.pdf. Web. 9 Dec. 2009.

Iverson, Jana M, Susan Goldin-Meadow. “Why people gesture when they speak.” Nature Vol. 396 19 Nov. 1998: 228. http://www.pitt.edu/~icl/publications/iverson%20&%20goldin-meadow%201998.pdf Web. 9 Dec. 2009.

McClure, Vimala. Infant Massage: A Handbook for Loving Parents. 3^rd Revised Ed. New York: Bantam Books, 2000. Print.

Schore, Allan N. “The Neurobiology of Attachment and Early Personality Organization” Journal of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health (2002) Volume 16(3) Spring. http://birthpsychology.com/birthscene/ppic3.html. Web. 9 Dec. 2009.

Touch Research Institute. http://www6.miami.edu/touch-research/ Web. 9 Dec. 2009