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First of all, thank you so much for visiting my site and for your desire to learn more about baby and child massage! Doing massage with my own children has given (and still gives) me lots of precious moments and I'm sure it'll do the same for you!
I started massaging my first little one, Wies, when she was a few months old. Being a professional massage therapist myself, I knew I wanted to massage my baby as well. But massaging a baby was different then the adult bodies I was used to! A baby doesn't lie still and everything is so small. I felt pretty clumpsy in the beginning, so we took a baby massage class to get the hang of it and I loved it.
I did massage with her for a few months, but when she started to crawl, I stopped. I had no idea how to adhust the massage to a crawling baby and Wies had different things on her mind now instead of lying down for a massage!
When Sara, my second little girl was born, I started massaging her when she was only a few days old. To my surprise, Wies became very interested in the whole massage routine. She wanted to massage Sara as well, and herself and me. And she wanted me to massage her. We came up with our own massage style, games, songs and stories and we had so much fun! Besides the fun, it also helped us cope with the terrible-two's and three's. We could have days where we were bumping heads the entire day (or at least it felt like that) and I would feel very frustrated (and insecure) by the end of the day. Finishing the day with a lovely massage and our special moment made us both feel good and loved.
A few months after Sara was born I became a Certified Infant Massage Instructor and I started teaching classes right after. It has been the best move for me ever. I Love Love Love to teach these classes and see parents and children interact in a very loving and fun way. Thank you all for making this happen!
Martine Groeneveld is a Registered Nurse, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Infant Massage Therapist and mom of two: Wies (5) and Sara (3). As a massage therapist and mom she is dedicated to share her love for baby/child massage with other parents and caregivers. Martine holds a private massage practice in Los Angeles.
"Thank you so much! We've had so much fun in class and are excited to go on with the massage."
Guliana White, Santa Monica
(baby massage class Santa Monica)
"I am blown away by the change I see in Sean since we've started massaging him on a regular basis. Before, he wouldn't go to bed till 10.00 or 10.30PM and now he's in bed by 7.30PM. Our whole evening and bedtime ritual has become more peaceful and because he sleeps better at night, he's not tired anymore during the day."
Brande Davis, Malibu
(private child massage instruction for her son Sean, 3 years old)
"My friends and I are still talking about your class. It was special and fun. Thank you for putting a class together for all of us."
Sei Anderson, Brentwood
(private baby and child massage instruction for a group of friends)
"Doing infant massage has definitely helped me adjust to motherhood. I was pretty overwhelmed the first few weeks after Olivia was born and wondering if I was doing it right. Infant massage made me and Olivia relax and made me more confident. I showed some of the strokes to my husband and he loves it as well. It made him feel more confident too."
Nina Peterson, Pacific Palisades
(baby massage class Santa Monica)
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