Infant Massage USA’s® lead trainer, Linda Storm, teaches parents and instructors strokes for baby’s stomach, which help to alleviate colic, gas and constipation. When a baby is especially gassy or colicky, Infant Massage USA has a routine that is taught to parents to help stimulate elimination.
While teaching this routine during the infant massage classes, Linda found that it was helpful to have a diagram so parents could visualize the strokes. She incorporated arrows around the diagram of the intestines so parents could more easily understand how to perform the strokes on their baby’s tummy. Over the years Linda incorporated the Skid a Ma Rink song into the routine, changing “skid” to “skin,” to put the moves to music and make it more enjoyable for the baby.
Though infant massage is best skin-to-skin, Linda uses a diagrammed onesie that makes learning the strokes easier. The singing works to calm and distract the baby while the strokes are performed, which in turn aids in relieving baby’s digestive issues.
When parents started asking where they could find the onesie and the words to the song that Linda used in the demonstration, she decided to put a kit together helping parents learn a few infant massage strokes while also learning a fun song to share with their baby.
And Tummy Trouble was born.