Baby’s Health: Just a Touch Away

Few things are as humbling and evoke the Mother Bear instinct as seeing our children get sick. While it’s common to immediately run to the medicine cabinet or doctor’s office to remedy what ails our kids, there are solutions that support our children’s wellness and even heal common maladies right at our fingertips.

In the book Acupoint and Trigger Point Therapy for Babies and Children: A Parent’s Healing Touch by Donna Finando (Healing Arts Press, 2008), acupuncturist and massage therapist, the author reminds us of the power of loving touch to bond us with and heal our children. Whether it’s the simple rubbing of the back of a crying child or the more intentionally applied pressure to points on the body that relate to various organs and systems, the use of touch has been shown to be effective in preventing illness and restoring health in children.

This book provides an introduction to meridian theory, the foundational theory of Eastern medicine. Meridians are energetic pathways coursing through the body that relate to the various systems of the body. When there is a blockage in a meridian, a disruption to balance, or health, is created. The idea behind acupressure—directed, intentionally applied pressure to specific points along a meridian—is to remove these blockages so that energy can flow properly, and health can be restored. Treatment plans are provided for common childhood ailments including the common cold, constipation, ear infections and fever.

Finando doesn’t suggest that we turn our backs on Western medicine, but rather that we expand our families’ wellness and medicine chests by discovering the power our bodies have to self-heal when ancient healing practices are applied. Through loving, skilled touch, not only can our childrens’ physical health be supported, but a deepening, empowering connection to ourselves and each other is gained as well.