Was baby born premature? Or did baby spend time in the NICU? If yes, then it’s important to know the benefits of infant massage!

Massage+ 30, 10, 5 is a simple, quick, and powerful baby massage intervention to help improve the health and development of premature and full-term infants. This is an infant massage of baby’s head, arms, legs, belly, and back, and also incorporates communication and movement. This baby massage can be done in the NICU or at home.

In this video, you’ll learn baby massage techniques for premature infants, babies in the NICU, and full-term babies at home. Watch this video of a premature baby in the NICU getting an infant massage.

There are many benefits to this infant baby massage intervention. Some of the benefits of infant massage include improvements in:

  • Baby’s sleeping and eating habits
  • Baby’s sense of hearing, touch, sight, and motion
  • Parent confidence levels
  • Parent and child intimacy
  • Parent and child communication

Massage+ 30,10,5 is also known as ATVV, which stands for Auditory, Tactile, Visual and Vestibular. The parts of this baby massage are:

  • Auditory – Talk softly to infant for 30 seconds
  • Tactile – Moderate stroking or massaging infant for 10 minutes
  • Visual – Making eye-to-eye contact with infant while massaging and rocking
  • Vestibular – Rocking infant for 5 minutes

Here are a few tips to help with baby massage:

  • Allow enough time so you are not rushed
  • Best to do in a dimly lit, quiet room
  • Do the massage at the same time each day
  • Give baby 100% of your attention