LITERATURE REVIEW: THE EFFECT OF BABY MASSAGE ON BABY’S WEIGHT GAIN

Abstract

Introduction: Infants are very vulnerable to being affected by various things due to the organs’
immaturity that still not working optimally and cause many problems, emotionally and physically.
It is worse if the infants are LBW or in poor status nutrition. One of the solutions that is recommended
is giving baby massage. It strengthen baby's muscles and improve baby's cognitive. Touching skinto-skin and giving moderate pressure on certain points on the baby's body can stimulate various
nerves and growth hormones that are having great role in increasing weight. Purpose: This study
aims to analyze the effect of infant massage on baby’s weight gain. Methods: This study uses a
literature review method. The data was taken from previous research with the topics discussed that
following the research topics from 2017-2021 as many as 6 journals. Results: It can be concluded
that giving baby massage is proven to be effective in increasing the baby's weight. There was a
significant increase in baby weight in babies who were given baby massage compared to those who
were not. Suggestion: Request to health workers to make baby massage a regular program for all
parents with children. Thereby, parents can be motivated apply baby massage regularly to their
babies so that it can improve the babies’ health, especially in gaining weight.