NICU Massage: helpful or overstimulation?

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kaferty

New member
During the pregnancy, I picked three books to be my childrearing bibles. One of them is “Touch” by Tiffany Field. In it, she sites a study showing that daily massage (three 15-minute sessions per day) brought kids home sooner from the NICU.

The article cited is below—I can’t quite find the full pdf of it.

On the other hand, the NICU manual provided to me states: "When you touch your baby, use a still, gentle hand. They do not like stroking or rubbing, but they love to have your still hand on them."

Is there any more recent research out there, about massage either being helpful or overkill? One nurse was all for massage but another said that it could be overstimulation, especially when trying to nurse (which makes sense).

Any more recent guides on massage for NICU or just how to “hand hug”?

Field, T. M., S. Schanberg, F. Scafidi, C. Bower, N. Vega-Lahr, R. Garcia, et al. (1986). “Tactile/Kinesthetic Stimulation Effects on Preterm Neonates.” Pediatrics 77:654–658.
 
@kaferty NICU nurse here. Premature infants are not neurotypical and they do a lot of wild things as a result. One thing for sure, the more premature the infant the more they hate light feathery touch. They like ‘hand hugs’ and feelings of being contained. Holding the legs and feet up towards the body, hands and arms midline toward the face and a hand at the top of their head is their happy spot. Since massage is deeper pressure than stroking you probably could introduce it before the baby was term say after 35-36 weeks. But read their cues. If they don’t like it they will tell you.

Edit to add - they are neurotypical for their gestation but not typical compared to full term babies, children or adults.
 
@redcrambler
They like ‘hand hugs’ and feelings of being contained. Holding the legs and feet up towards the body, hands and arms midline toward the face and a hand at the top of their head is their happy spot. Since massage is deeper pressure than stroking you probably could introduce it before the baby was term say after 35-36 weeks. But read their cues. If they don’t like it they will tell you.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this!!
 
@redcrambler
Holding the legs and feet up towards the body, hands and arms midline toward the face and a hand at the top of their head is their happy spot
Click to expand...

Do you happen to know of a youtube clip that shows how to do this? Or even a photo of how it's supposed to look?
 
@kaferty I don’t have more research, but every doctor, PT, OT, and nurse told us no massaging or rubbing until after full term gestational age because of overstimulation
 
@kaferty I wasn’t thinking and I rubbed my daughters top of her hand when she was in the NICU and let me tell you, she did NOT like it. She cried and her heart rate went up fast. So from my perspective, I’d wait. But it’s your call :)
 
@kaferty I’d echo what others are saying. Pre-term babies love a hand on them, warm and still. Movement is overstimulation and they let you know they don’t like it.

But that said, if you do decide to try it you can be sure the baby will let you know if it’s not to their liking. You will get instant feedback.
 
@kaferty Our PTs taught massage to parents in the NICU. One of my twins loved it, the other still isn’t a fan. We were taught to massage using a firm touch, but never for as long as 15 minutes. Like 5 max and I could see she was ready to be done. They were born at 32+6 and massage introduced at around 34 weeks
 
@fechtforcharlie45 We are in the NICU - 37 weeks - and the OT just showed me some massage today. It was basically putting my hand on LO's back, over clothes, and very very slowly putting pressure in a downward motion to relax his shoulders. Like hand hugs with very minimal movement.
 
@nagomirov Interesting - I was shown to do it with lotion but yes, very slow with pressure on the back, belly, and extremities. He’s been home for about a month and a half and we still do it often. It also teaches them that touch is safe now - these poor babies associated with touch as negative a lot of time. Touching their feet meant a heel stick, touch their face meant adjusting CPAP or NG tube, touching their arms meant another IV. He still doesn’t like his head being touched but everything else he no longer flinches too 💕
 
@kaferty I brought my 31 weeker home at 34 weeks last year and I messaged him every night before bed. He loved it. Definitely some do not. His older sister who was also 31 weeks home at 34 didn’t like it. You just have to follow their cues.
 
@kaferty I agree with everyone saying to wait. My guy was in the NICU for 100 days and near our departure a LMT taught me some baby massage. At that point he was more than 3 months old - but it wasn't really what we consider to be massage, more light stroking than any rubbing or pressure. Preemies tend not to like that light kind of touch till they're a little older. You could probably rest your hand on baby's torso with some gentle pressure, like hugging the baby with your hand. Baby will let you know if they dislike it
 
@kaferty We were taught infant massage starting at 35 weeks from PT using oil and no clothes on the baby. If she was in her quiet alert state she really loved the contact, but she didn't most other times. We were taught an array of leg, arm, stomach, and back massages.

I'm sure that your NICU can help you set up an appointment with PT so they can watch and give guidance on massage for preterm babies. I always loved working with PT.
 
@kaferty My brother in law is a NICU consultant and told us the same as the nurse above - they like being held and a cupping feeling of their head / stomach etc but not stroking.
 
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