MAALISHWALI........to have or not have a masseuse for ur baby?

As soon as new mother and her newborn baby comes home from hospital ,a look out for a maalishwali is started immediately.
From  a long time in our country, it has been a tradition to get the baby massage and baby bath done by the expert hands of these women called maalishwalees or dais (massage women or masseuse).

Senior family members usually have full trust on whatever they do to the little baby just out from her mother's womb, No doubt older generation believes them religiously as they had no other source to get information on childcare during their time.
Though their knowledge is often suspected by the young generation of mothers who have gained more information beforehand thru web.
It give rise to confusion in mind of young mothers to get their baby's massage done by these women or not.

Myths regarding massage.

It is true,a good massage helps in blood circulation and it also helps baby in sleeping easily too.
but a lot of things has been said about method of giving massages and necessity of massages to babies done by expert maaliashwali only.some people says that babys bones will developed and grow by massaging .If not done by an expert, bones would be crooked ,they help in proper growth of babies organs or moulding body body parts(nose or lips), massage with pressure is needed for strenghthening bones and more flexibility.babies who are given rigourous massages grow healthier(cute plump types). I am sure,most of the moms in India must have heard of something similar to above.
Well ,i dont know whether they are true or just myths,whether a massage can mould baby organs or help in growing healthy but there is no scientific proof to it.

My Experience

Well ,I had a good and enriching experience .
When i had my baby, a masseuse was send to our house by our neighbours. we called her amma.
Like every new mother in our country i have to believe her completely for my baby,and i was told so by my mil.
thou my reasons for having a masseuse is not that i wanted help .As my mil herself have no idea of bathing babies and i had never seen how babies are bathed?How cud i know how babies are bathed? i needed to be taught. i desperately wanted someone who cud train me in massaging and especially bathing my little helpless baby.  I was thankful that she said yes but were given late timings.

The masseuse or amma was a wonderful lady, she was quite educated. she comes from a family of massuese, she told me that she had learned all this from her father.She was good at her work and i was compelled to believe her completely. she used to massage baby a little bit rigoursly and also with some pressure too.
But like most people from older generation in india, she had justified her method.though still i had little doubts then.
but there was one practice that annoyed me completely and that was throwing baby in air and catching with all that slippery oily hands.
and i told her to stop doing this and she stopped.
but my inlaws were so keen for this to be done and justified it by saying it is done so that baby's all types of  fears wud go away.
Really funny, do u people believe it?

My baby is good rather being a person with little fears than to have even 1% chance of slipping thru oily hands and breaking her bones,
Infact my baby had really very bad dreams that night. ofcoure she must be dreaming abt throwing in the air.

Amma was not that ignorant and she was just doing all this to impress my in-laws only. she did whatever i asked her to do later on. and stopped rigourous massages to baby also.Infact she used to calm the baby also in between if she cried a lot. i liked the way she used to give head massages, her hands used to flow very smoothly. all her massages had soothing and calming effect on my baby which led her to sleep after that always.well, that was my experience.Massage done by mother to baby

Infact, a simple massage done by mother or father wll have a really calming effect on baby.And babies loved it more and cried less if it is done by someone they know and trust (mother or grand mother etc.).A mother can easily gives a massage to her baby before bedtime. i learnt it and done on my own.

 After one month i started massaging my baby on my own and it was real fun, she loved it lot and never cried whn i did the same. Infact i now know there is too much fuss about massaging babies in India, it is as simple as anyone can learn. it is easy to massage ur baby on ur own suitable time.Giving gentle oil massage and bathing one's own baby lets a mother get closer to the baby and it feels great.

So, whether to hire a masseuse or not?

Masseuse not only massages the babies but mother also.A good massage to tired and sleep deprived new mother is quite like a pampering.Hiring a masseuse is ideal as the mother can also enjoy the benefits of a massage in the comfort of her home but be sure and tell her what u want and what u dont want her to do especially to your baby.
so i wud say u can have a masseuse for your baby but dont panic if u dont get one, just watch few videos on some good childcare sites and learn it.

some of the videos or pics u might find useful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKFEI8q-Ii8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIHNzOQynmQ
http://www.babycenter.in/l1026536/how-to-massage-your-baby?gclid=CN2ZmfeZlLwCFU2t4godZykAWw#/0