Infant and Child Massage

I enjoyed the book for this course, and was actually quite impressed with the exam. I will certainly be taking more courses. Thank you!

J. Kennon, LMT

Excellent book, great for health care professionals and parents! Highly recommended!

T. Brook-Allred, RMP

Terrific and useful content! Will be using your programs again! Very informative! Thank you!

C. Larson, LMT

The material was fascinating and I really learned alot. Great book.

K. Thorne, NCTMB

Very beneficial.

Ginger Grissom Stevens, LMT

This was great

Lewis McCave, LMBT

I really enjoyed this material and what I have learned. Can't wait to help parents with their children.

Namia Hallman, LMBT

It's a good foundation for a hands on class. I think it will help me as I take something more detailed.

Ciara Faccenda, CMT

Great course.

Michalle Queckboerner, LMT

This course was very helpful in giving me ideas to massage and engage with my 7 month old.

Jessica Lewis, LMBT

THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE!

Albert Rinaldis, LMT

Interesting material. Thank you.

Danielle Williams, LMT

I really enjoyed learning about infant massage and can't wait to teach my brother and sister-in-law about it so they can massage my baby niece!

Kayla Melton, LMT

It was great.

Katie Monroe, LMP

I enjoyed reading the material on infant massage. I'm excited to use this information to show and educate clients and parent's of the clients the benefits of infant massage.

Nicole Ledgister, LMT

I enjoyed the personalized approach to expressing the necessity of massage worldwide, in every home, beginning with the infants. I liked that everyone can be involved. I learned a beautiful new theory that respect for one's self, respect for his/her personal space, can be TAUGHT and structured as an infant by the guardian/parent. I appreciated the holistic techniques to help relieve colic, especially, but also the option to help a baby feel better when experiencing congestion, fever and gas pains.

Laura LaFazia, LMT

I really enjoyed this course! It was very informative and interesting. I have a baby of my own on the way, so I'll be putting the information I just learned to good use very soon! Can't wait to help other parents too! I also love the option of online courses, it has helped me tremendously! I will be coming back for more courses in the future. Thank you!

Michelle Atfield

I found this course was really interesting as I became an expecting mother while I was working on this material. I can talk more about infant massage to my future expecting mother clients. I liked how I can prepare for this online test. Working on paper test and taking actual online test was very helpful. Thank you!

Yumiko Kiuchi

This was my favorite class so far. The author was easy to read and inspired me to learn more.

Lisa Wicklund, LMT, NCTMB

What an excellent book! I really enjoyed reading the book and truly feel I have learned a great deal from Vimala McClure and Infant Massage: A Handbook For Loving Parents. I am very grateful to the course for providing me with this wonderful learning opportunity.

Marianne Garrett

Excellent course. Book is well-written and concise with heart.

Mareka Thomson, LMT, NCTMB

I am a licensed massage therapist attaining my CEU's. I took the Infant Massage course. I found the test was very easy to understand and take, I recommend the Institute for Integrative Healthcare to anyone looking to further their education. Thank you for the time and effort put in to making this an enjoyable and educational experience for me !

Desiree Conner, LMT

What a great course. Learned a lot.

Kathy DellaRocco, LMT

I’m very pleased with the infant and child massage CE coursework I was presented with and am excited and feel confident in beginning work with young ones.

Emily Dunagan, LMT

Even though the study material was over 200 pages I easily finished reading the book in an hour. Super easy and very interesting read!!! I can not wait to get started with Infant Massage!

Jen Morris, LMT

I thought this would be more of a "professional" course BUT it was a very good course nonetheless and very thorough. It's contents went beyond expectation regarding the depth of fetal/infant/child developmental needs in all aspects. It was much more than a "massage" course!

Catherine A. Adkins, LMT, NCTMB

Easy to follow direction on how to take the test. Content of subject material was both helpful in my personal life with a new baby and potential practice applications. I do feel confident in passing along this material to my clients or even friends with kids.

Kristina Ebert, LMT

This course was so interesting and well written I was almost obsessed by the desire to try it out on anyone’s baby. I sure wish I’d known about this when both of my grown children were born - both premature. There was such a wealth of great information, suggestions and techniques in this course.

Kathryn Nuzum, BCTMB

This course was absolutely amazing! I loved how it was written like a book, gave multiple personal stories, lots of info, and most of all it was very well written and easy to follow. I did however not like the fact that it didn't come with a dvd. I am a visual learner and that would have helped greatly. With that said, the instructions on how to massage the infants were very easy to follow. I would love to study more from the author!

Samantha Beegle

Terific and useful content! Will be using your programs again! Very informative! Thank you!

Christine Larson

I found this course very interesting and would highly recommend it for anyone looking to add infant massage to their practice.

Jamie Jodoin

Really enjoyed reading the book, and I plan to practice the techniques with my own child. Hoping to possibly get certified in the future in infant massage, this was a great intro!

Sarah Bodah

This was one of the most helpful, insightful courses I've taken. Very encouraging for new parents in citing the benefits of infant massage. I will be able to pass on the info to others even if I don't use it in my current practice.

Sylvia Noonan

Very excited to apply my new knowledge to my own children, as well as in my practice.

Kaitlyn Veldhuisen

Great course! Clear and easy to follow. Material held my interest.

Kerstin Usher

Seeing how I finished this course on the due date of my first child, it was incredibly relevant to me! Super interesting and very informative. I plan on recommending this book to people in general. Can't wait to massage my baby who should be here any day now! Great Course, Thank you!

Cory Wemyss

The online continuing education classes that are offered by the Institute are convenient, very educational, and reasonably priced. I found the material interesting and useful as a Massage Therapist.

Mandy Yarnell

What a great course! I'm looking forward to massaging some babies now!

Marybeth Doucette

Loved the book. Well written. Great information. My only complaint, being a visual learning I would have liked a DVD. Will be sharing this book with my daughter who is expecting a child this winter. I know she will enjoy it as much as I did.

Shirley Stalgis, LMP

I read the book cover to cover and I absolutely loved it.

Sarah Sindoni, LMT

I absolutely loved this course! The book was very informative and clear, providing a wealth of supporting research and resources for continued learning in this area. My experience with the staff for this company was also excellent. I had an issue with changing my email for this site and consolidating all my continuing education classes taken on this website but I was able to get this resolved with one phone call to the customer service department. Thank you so much for offering these classes and giving me such an enjoyable experience while getting the continuing education I need for my massage license.

Jennifer Alvarez, LMT, BCTMB

This course was extremely interesting. I am sorry I didn't have an introduction to infant massage when I had babies. I believe that all new parents should be introduced to Infant massage in the hospital at least or via the OBGYN. This is extremely important information to be overlooked. As the author stated infant massage truly changes all aspects of a child into adulthood!

Pamela Maryanski, LMT

1. Identify why massage is important to infant development and well-being
2. Recognize the ways infants sense and relate to the world
3. Recognize how bonding and attachment can be supported with infant massage
4. Identify how to help babies relax
5. Recognize how music can enhance the effects of massage
6. Identify the necessary steps for preparing to massage an infant
7. Describe each of the 3 essential components of successful infant massage
8. Describe the abbreviated massage and when it can be useful
9. Correctly identify where each massage stroke is used on the infant
10. Recognize baby language and how to respond through touch
11. Identify the cautions and special considerations necessary for working with premature and other challenged infants
12. Recognize and communicate the many benefits of massage for children  

"Babies with hearing challenges have the same needs for tactile comfort as other babies. Affectionate interaction is the most important element in any baby's life. Babies with auditory challenges need to be spoken to. During this early period, sound stimulates the growth of nerve connections between the baby's ear and brain. The sound stimulation in every baby's world creates an evolving network of nerve pathways. Many babies with hearing challenges are fitted with hearing aids to increase the amount of sound stimulation they receive. You can keep these on during the massage." (Infant Massage by Vimala McClure, 2000, p. 169)

Special-needs infant massage:

1. should be specially designed to suit the infant's needs
2. need not be any different than normal infant massage
3. requires a trained professional
4. should not be performed