The benefits of routine infant massage & how eLeMeNO-Pee can help!

The other day, I was visiting with my sister, who is expecting her first child later this year. She mentioned infant massage and asked what I thought about it, and thus, a blog post was born! It was something I did a handful of times when my daughter was tiny but I admittedly didn't do it nearly enough.

Image credit: Erin Keith (used with permission)

 

Most adults know that a massage is excellent for themselves and recognize how much better they feel after having one so it only  makes sense that our babies would love them, too! Infant massage is beneficial in many ways, the four biggest being: stimulating, relaxing, relief, and bonding/attachment.






infant massage USA expounds on those four areas with a helpful list of explanations for each of those four biggest benefits:

Stimulating

Stimulates all the systems of the body including the:

• Nervous system
• Circulatory system
• Respiratory System
• Elimination System
• Immune System

Stimulates the release of oxytocin, known as the cuddle hormone (is released in both parent and child), prolactin (promoting milk production in the mother) and other endorphins.
Reduces muscle stiffness and normalizes muscle tone

Relaxing

• Helps relieve tension built up from all the stimulation in the baby’s environment
• Helps babies handle sensory stimulation and respond in a relaxed manner
• Helps babies sleep better
• Helps regulate sleep/wake cycle

Relief

• Touch combined with vocalization helps reduce pain levels up to 80%
• Helps tone digestive tract
• Helps alleviate gas and promote elimination
• Releases hormones for food absorption.
• Releases endorphins, natural pain killers, to ease emotional distress

“Bonding is a unique relationship between two people. It is specific and endures through time.”M. Klaus

Bonding and Attachment

• Infant massage draws on all the elements of bonding and attachment
• Eye-to-eye contact, skin-to-skin, body scent, vocalization, taste, responsiveness
• Hormones stimulated by infant massage promote bonding and attachment between parent and baby

eLeMeNO-Pee carries two excellent infant massage products. The first is the hosie naturals baby massage oil, one of the many all-natural products from the hosies line that we carry.

The second infant massage item we carry and highly recommend is the Earth Mama Angel Baby baby oil which is also comprised of all natural ingredients.

Image credit: Erin Keith (used with permission)

There are many ways to learn how to give a "proper" infant massage. There are many online tutorials, books, DVDs, and even in-person classes.  One thing is for sure, it's a great, age-old way to bond and relax with your baby and eLeMeNO-Pee would be honored to assist you with the products you need to properly administer an excellent infant massage!

What's lurking in disposable wet wipes?

I'm sure by now you've seen the news article circulating that exposes the terrible rashes little ones are getting from disposable wet wipes. Wet wipes are a quintessential "mommy staple" but the report of terrible reactions definitely makes one second-guess using them. Per the article, "..this is because manufacturers have bumped up the amount of MI [methylisothiazolinone] used in wipes 25-fold." Methylisothiazolinone is a powerful biocide and preservative within the group of isothiazolinones, used in personal care products.

Photo credit: Dr. Mary Wu Chang

Isn't that rash terrible? Ouch! According to the Skin Deep website, almost all of the wipes made by Pampers, Huggies, and Luvs score in the 3-5 range on their scale. Products rated 2 and under are encouraged, anything that scores over a two is cautioned. One variety of Pampers wipes even comes in with a whopping score of 7 on the Skin Deep scale. That is really concerning -- everything scoring 7 or more is considered a "high hazard". The good news is that there are easy alternatives to disposables wipes. eLeMeNO-Pee carries several different types of cloth wipes and cloth wipe solution also.


We carry three different lines of cloth wipes:  Bummas, Planet Wise, and Thirsties and each offer different materials and color options.

We also carry two wet wipe solutions, Hosie Naturals and Earth Mama Angel Baby (in unscented, orange vanilla, and calming lavender). As a comparison to the scores for disposable wet wipes, the Earth Mama Angel Baby wash we carry scores a perfect zero on the Skin Deep scale. That is a drastic difference compared to the disposable wipes available in most grocery stores. For those times you absolutely must have a disposable wet wipe, we also carry gDiapers biodegradable gWipes which also score very well (a one)  on the Skin Deep chart.

There are a couple common ways that people use their cloth wipes. Some people use a small bottle,  prepare the solution, and just spray each wipe as you're ready to use it. Others prefer to fill a recycled wet wipes container,  fill it with their cloth wipes and pour the wet wipe solution over it so they're ready to use when you need them. Either method works fine, it's all a personal preference.

Cloth wipes are extremely soft and so much easier on gentle skin. They are SO much softer than disposable wipes! They also make a great alternative to Kleenexes as well. We have all been struggling with major allergy issues in our household and we all prefer to use the cloth wipes because they are so much more gentle on our noses! The best part about cloth wipes is that they are such an easy alternative and they require very little maintenance. It's quite easy to get in to the routine of using cloth wipes instead of disposable because it's such a simple process. Give them a try, I know you won't be disappointed!