Effectiveness of massage, sucrose solution, herbal tea or hydrolysed formula in the treatment of infantile colic. Infant massage improves mother-infant interaction for mothers with postnatal depression. Massage therapy by mothers enhances the adjustment of circadian rhythms to the nocturnal period in full-term infants. Developmental and temperament outcomes of sensory stimulation in healthy infants. Postnatal depression and mother and infant outcomes after infant massage. [Effect of infantile touching on behavior development in infants]. [Effects of touch on growth and mentality development in normal infants]. Salivary cortisol and behavioral state responses of healthy newborn infants to tactile-only and multisensory interventions.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of massage, sucrose solution, herbal tea or hydrolysed formula, each used individually in the treatment of infantile colic.
                The term colic describes a group of symptoms that occur frequently in infants, consisting of paroxysmal abdominal pain and severe crying. Infant colic is of importance for both parents and the community health services that provide families with care, and is therefore an important clinical problem that is amenable to nursing interventions.
                This prospective and randomised-controlled study involved 175 infants in Turkey.
                Data were gathered by using Wessel criteria; parents wrote a daily structured diary, recording the onset and duration of crying. Patients were assigned randomly into four different intervention groups (massage, sucrose solution, herbal tea and hydrolysed formula) and control group. Duration of crying following each intervention was recorded in the diary by parents for a one week period.
                There was a significant reduction in crying hours per day in all intervention groups. The difference between mean duration of total crying (hours/day) before and after the intervention infants in hydrolysed formula group was found higher than massage, sucrose and herbal tea group. The difference between mean duration of total crying(hours/day) before and after the intervention infants in massage group was found lower than other intervention groups and all groups.
                Our findings demonstrated that varied interventions such as administration of massage, sucrose solution, herbal tea and hydrolysed formula are effective in the treatment of colic. The difference between mean duration of total crying (hours/day) before and after the intervention in hydrolysed formula group was found higher than other intervention groups. Hydrolysed formula was the most effective in reducing the duration of crying (hours/day) when compared with the other intervention groups. Massage intervention yielded the least symptomatic improvement among all the interventions.
                Colic treatment models used in this study can be used by nurses in neonatal and primary healthcare settings as an aid to families for the treatment of infantile colic. Postnatal depression can have long term adverse consequences for the mother-infant relationship and the infant's development. Improving a mother's depression per se has been found to have little impact on mother-infant interaction. The aims of this study were to determine whether attending regular massage classes could reduce maternal depression and also improve the quality of mother-infant interaction.
                Thirty-four primiparous depressed mothers, median 9 weeks postpartum, identified as being depressed following completion of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at 4 weeks postpartum, were randomly allocated either to an infant massage class and a support group (massage group) or to a support group (control group). Each group attended for five weekly sessions. Changes in maternal depression and mother-infant interaction were assessed at the beginning and the end of the study by comparing EPDS scores and ratings of videotaped mother-infant interaction.
                The EPDS scores fell in both groups. Significant improvement of mother-infant interaction was seen only in the massage group.
                The sample size was small and had relatively high dropout. It was not possible to distinguish which aspects of the infant massage class contributed to the benefit.
                This study suggests that learning the practice of infant massage by mothers is an effective treatment for facilitating mother-infant interaction in mothers with postnatal depression. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of massage therapy on phase adjustment of rest-activity and melatonin secretion rhythms to the nocturnal period in full-term infants. Rest-activity cycles of infants (measurement 1, n = 16) were measured by actigraphy before and after 14 days of massage therapy (starting at age 10 [+/-4] d) and subsequently at 6 and 8 weeks of age. 6-Sulphatoxymelatonin excretion was assessed in urine samples at 6, 8, and 12 weeks of age (measurement 2, n = 21). At 8 weeks the controls revealed one peak of activity at approximately 12 midnight (11 p.m.-3 a.m.) and another one at approximately 12 noon (11 a.m.-3 p.m.), whereas in the treated group, a major peak was early in the morning (3 a.m.-7 a.m.) and a secondary peak in the late afternoon (3 p.m.-7 p.m.). At 12 weeks, nocturnal 6-sulphatoxymelatonin excretions were significantly higher in the treated infants (1346.38 +/- 209.40 microg/night vs 823.25 +/- 121.25 microg/night, respectively; <.05). It is concluded that massage therapy by mothers in the perinatal period serves as a strong time cue, enhancing coordination of the developing circadian system with environmental cues. Eighty-one healthy, full-term infants were randomly assigned to a control group or one of three experimental conditions: daily administration of a cephalocaudal stroking procedure; placement on a multisensory hammock that provided auditory, vestibular, and tactile stimulation during expected sleep cycles; and a combination of the prior two treatments. All interventions were given during the first 3 months of life. Infants in the control group received the natural stimulation provided in their home environments without additional supplementation. Four- and 8-month assessments were done using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire. There were no significant treatment effects on weight or psychomotor development. Although infants receiving unimodal stimulation obtained lower 8-month cognitive development scores than infants in other experimental and control groups, their scores were within normal range. Control group infants achieved the most optimum mood and distractibility scores at both 4 and 8 months. Postnatal depression can be a long lasting condition which affects both the mother and her baby. A pilot study indicated that attending baby massage improved maternal depression and mother-infant interactions. The current study further investigates any benefits of baby massage for mothers with postnatal depression and their infants.
                Mothers scoring (3)13 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at 4 weeks postpartum were randomly assigned to attend baby massage classes (n=31) or a support group (n=31). They completed depression, anxiety and Infant Characteristics Questionnaires and were filmed interacting with their infants before and after 6 intervention sessions, and at one year. Thirty four non-depressed mothers also completed the study.
                More of the massage than support group mothers showed a clinical reduction in EPDS scores between four weeks and outcome (p<0.05). At one year, massage-group mothers had non-depressed levels of sensitivity of interaction with their babies, whereas the support group did not. There were no other differences in either mother or child between the two intervention groups. Depressed mothers did not achieve control depression or anxiety scores at one year.
                For ethical reasons, the study did not include a control group of depressed mothers who did not receive an intervention.
                Both intervention groups showed reductions in depression scores across the study period, but the massage group did better on some indices. They also had somewhat better interactions with their infants at one year, but these effects were limited. nan To determine the effects of conducting Touch to infants upon their growth and mental development, sleeping and disease conditions, as well as the difference of effects of conducting Touch among infants of different month age.
                310 normal full-term infants aged 0-6 months were divided randomly into Touch group (n = 208) and control group (n = 102). Parents of Touch group were asked to conduct Touch to their infants 2-3 times/day, lasting 15-20 minutes every time, for at least 3 months. Intelligence tests were performed to infants of both groups at the beginning of the experiment and 6 months later (CDCC measurement table was employed). Data such as height, weight, circumferences of head and chest, sleeping, feeding and disease conditions etc. were recorded each month in a successive period of 6 months. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 10.0.
                (1) The average score of mental development (MDI) was 7.4 higher, with a statistically significant difference, among the infants who began to receive touch within 3 months after birth than those infants with the same age in control group. The average score of psychomotor development index (PDI) was 5.8 higher, with a statistically significant difference, among the infants who began to receive touch within 3 months after birth than those infants with the same age in control group. Infants who began to receive touch within 3 months after birth slept remarkably better than those in control group did. No significant difference was found in scores of MDI and PDI and sleeping condition between infants who began to receive touch 3 months after birth and the infants with the same age in the control group. (2) Weight gain and growth in chest circumference in infants receiving touch within one month after birth were significantly better compared with the infants of the same age in the control group. There was no significant difference in values of height and head circumference between the two groups. There was no significant difference in values of height and head circumference between the two groups. (3) No significant difference in the incidence rates of acute respiratory infection and diarrhea disease was found between the touch group and control group.
                (1) Growth and mental development of infants can be improved by touch. Tthe earlier to conduct touch the better the effects. (2) Touch helps improve sleeping condition in infants. To compare changes in stress reactivity (measured via the biomarker salivary cortisol) and behavioral state in healthy newborn infants immediately following 1 of 2 interventions: (1) tactile-only stimulation or (2) a multisensory, auditory, tactile, visual, and vestibular stimulation with a control group.
                A randomized prospective design pilot study.
                Normal newborn nurseries of 2 midwestern perinatal centers.
                Forty healthy newborn infants receiving standard nursing care.
                Infants were randomly assigned to receive 15 minutes of tactile-only, auditory, tactile, visual, and vestibular, or no stimulation 30 minutes before feeding. Saliva samples were collected before, immediately following, and 10 minutes postintervention. Behavioral state was judged every minute.
                Tactile-only group infants had the largest increase in cortisol levels, followed by control group infants. In contrast, infants who received the multisensory intervention showed a significant steady decline in cortisol. Asleep was the predominant state for all 3 groups and cry was minimal.
                Tactile-only stimulation may increase infant stress reactivity while the benefit of the multisensory auditory, tactile, visual, and vestibular intervention may be in the reduction of infant stress reactivity. Interventions appeared to have minimal effect on stress reactivity based on behavioral state.
These findings do not currently support the use of infant massage with low-risk groups of parents and infants. Available evidence is of poor quality, and many studies do not address the biological plausibility of the outcomes being measured, or the mechanisms by which change might be achieved. Future research should focus on the impact of infant massage in higher-risk groups (for example, demographically and socially deprived parent-infant dyads), where there may be more potential for change.