Baby massage instructions written by Katie Ferryman who has been a baby massage therapist for 7 years and now puts it to practicle use everyday on her own beautiful daughter Innes.

"Do not massage your baby straight after a feed and ideally do it just before they are ready for a nap or after the bath before bed.My daughter is now 14 months old and I massage her every day and we all see the benefits as she is very relaxed and happy all day".

When babies are Newborn massage should be simple but a well established routine for both parents and child to enjoy.Massaging your baby is a wonderful way to bond as they will love the reassuring feel of your touch.

NEWBORN MASSAGE ROUTINE

1. Lie your baby on a comfey mat in a warm enviroment and remove all their clothes and nappy. Take a small amount of the Angelique massage balm and rub it into your hands so they are nice and warm and oily. When your baby is little simply do a gentle stroke down the limbs.

2. Start gently on the chest area and stroke downwards to the end of the feet, simply glide your warm hands over their body using gently movements. Babies love their hands and feet being massaged, so once you have covered the whole body 4 or 5 times focus on these areas using the same gentle movements.

3. Once you have covered the front of the body pick up your baby for a cuddle and gently glide your free hand down her back with more balm. Once you have completed the massage wrap her up in a warm cosy towel , she will feel sleepy and totally relax after this.

Once your baby is older, at least 6 weeks, you can develop the strokes to become a little more sophisticated. As babies like the change gradually I would recommend that you start to increase the routine over a period of time.

MASSAGE FOR BABY OVER SIX WEEKS

1. As you have done before start massaging by gently stroking your hands down her body from the chest to the ends of her toes.

2. Now start to concentrate on the legs. Firstly go to the left and create a tube effect with your hands and stroke from the top of the thigh to the end of the toe's with one hand after the other. After a few strokes take both hands to the top of the thigh and gently twist from the wrist all the way to the foot, once you arrive at the foot use your thumbs to stroke up the foot from the heel area to the toes. With each toe gently roll it between your forefinger and thumb.

3. Take your hands to the abdomen and in a clockwise direction gently circle one hand after the other to circle around it.

4. Moving up to the chest and neck, gently stroke from the shoulder to the chest in a downwards diagonal.

5. Work the arms as for the legs and follow the same principles for completing the fingers as you did for the toes.

6. Now gently stroke her face, please don't place your hands over her eyes as she will find this frightening. Gently take your index and middle finger and move them outwards from the centre of the forehead to the temples, then go under the nose and stroke a "smile" from the nostril up round the cheeks to the temples, then glide along the chin area.These last two strokes are particularly good for teething pain .I also like stroking the head too.

7. The last area to massage is the back. I sit with my legs crossed and place Innes over my thigh so I can access her back easily. Stroke your full hand across the bottom. Using your index and middle finger gently circle around the areas between the spine and the shoulder blades and up towards the neck. To really relax them and send them to sleep I slowly glide one hand after the other down my baby's back.