You’ve tried everything: the fascinator, the pacifier, walking it around the room for hours, singing your whole lullaby repertoire, but nothing helps, baby is still crying!
Like many parents, I have tried many techniques to try and calm my baby’s never-ending crying, and I finally found a solution that almost always works: foot reflexology… And yes, this technique which works in adults is even more effective in babies!
I wanted to share with other parents at the end of their nerves some effective advice to calm your little ones… and find serenity!
What exactly is reflexology?
Reflexology is used on adults to generally relax and treat certain ailments in the body. It intervenes in addition to traditional medicine, to promote self-healing.
Reflexology can be plantar (feet) or palmar (hands) and even be practiced at the level of the ears. This medicine is practiced by exerting pressure points on certain areas on the feet, hands or ears.
These pressures will simulate different organs depending on the area stimulated, and will relieve your various ailments: back pain, stress, respiratory problems, headaches …
According to the principles of Chinese medicine, reflexology aims to rebalance the energies of the body. (2) And these techniques, luckily for us parents, can also soothe and relax our little ones.
For babies, it is especially plantar reflexology that is used from birth, because the hands are still very frail and fragile.
Foot reflexology techniques for babies
Plantar reflexology is the most suitable for the little ones. The foot represents the human body and we find on and under the feet all the organs and functions of the body: under the foot, it is the part where we can stimulate all the internal organs and on the top of the foot the belly.
In the left foot, we find the left organs and, on the right foot, the right organs.
And reflexology is a technique that can of course be used from birth. It is important to gently massage your baby’s feet because the foot is in the process of forming at this time.
But do not worry, the method is quite feasible at home, with complete peace of mind. If your child cannot relax, you will most likely do so by starting with rotations of the foot, first to the right, then to the left.
As soon as you feel that your baby is starting to relax, you can start massaging the foot, with delicate pressure points under the big toes.
Foot massages have the virtue of promoting blood circulation, and can calm many pains in your child:
- To calm and relax it, prefer massaging the solar plexus area, in the middle of the foot. This will soothe him very quickly and stop his tears. first small pressures in the middle of the foot, then small circles to relieve it.
- Stimulate the area of internal organs to relieve your baby’s stomach aches, which are very common in the first months … digestive disorders, reflux gastroesophageal, your little ones suffer a lot of gastric problems at the beginning of their life …
A massage in the middle of the foot, from the underside of the toes to the top of the heels, will quickly relieve your little tip.
- If you think your baby is having pain in his hips, or has pain in his stomach, you should press gently with light pressure on the heels.
- Gently massage his little toes by rolling them between your fingers to act on the teeth, because there too, baby suffers a lot, even if he does not yet have any teeth! They grow precisely and it is very painful! It seems that we adults would go mad because of this unbearable pain!
- You can also give your baby a full foot massage, starting by gently rolling your thumbs across the soles of the feet, working your way up from the heel toward the toes.
Gently massage all the toes one after the other, then massage the heel and soles of the feet. Finish on top of the feet and ankles.
Foot reflexology for your baby is therefore a good way to calm your baby and relieve him of his pain.
It is also a special moment between you and your child, a moment of sweetness to share together, to strengthen your bonds even more.
And it will effectively calm your child’s crying, to bring a little more serenity home and to the delight of the whole family!