Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy for infants is a gentle and nurturing practice that utilises pure, filtered, warm water, free from chemicals, to help babies relax and alleviate tension. This therapeutic technique promotes physical and developmental benefits and creates a calming and soothing environment for babies.
Infants are placed in a specially designed single pod filled with warm filtered water, providing a comforting and tranquil experience. Our exclusively designed neck float, compliant with Australian standards and regulations, cradles the baby's neck, providing essential support for the head while enabling the body to move freely during the session, which includes gentle movements and floating exercises. Our one-baby-per-pod approach ensures a chemical-free space, which is especially beneficial for babies with eczema, addressing their specific needs and making them feel comfortable. This commitment to personalised care sets our spa apart as an oasis of calm and hygiene.
* Neck floats are material foam rings placed around an infant’s neck to support their head while allowing their body to move freely in water.
** The singular pod or baby pools are small, controlled environments where these activities occur.
Hydrotherapy sessions for your baby have lots of benefits:
- Strengthens bones and muscles
- Encourages positive water association
- Promotes a strong bond between parent and child
- Calms and relaxes
- Benefits the digestive and circulatory systems
- Helps promote sleep
- Offers relief from colic, wind and reflux
- Strengthens tummy time, rolling and crawling
- Aids digestion
- Improves social skills
- Advances cognitive abilities and coordination
- Stimulates the immune system
- Benefits cognitive brain development by connecting the left and right brain
- Accelerate neonates' physical and mental development, increasing their weight and improving digestion.
Massage
Infant massage as part of your baby's daily routine can deeply impact their development and bond with you, improving sleep patterns, digestion, and overall well-being.
Our highly skilled and experienced practitioners are committed to empowering you with the knowledge and techniques to safely and effectively massage your little one. By making infant massage a part of your daily routine, you can promote the well-being of both your baby and yourselves while fostering a deep and meaningful connection with your little one.
Massage has physical and emotional benefits for your baby:
- Assists social, emotional and cognitive development
- Decreases irritability and excessive crying
- Encourages direct eye gaze
- Relaxes baby and releases tensions of daily stimuli
- Regulates behavioural states and promotes sleep
- Helps with gas, colic and intestinal difficulties
- Strengthens and regulates respiratory, circulatory, nervous, musculature, digestive and endocrine systems
It benefits parents, too:
- Promotes better understanding of infant cues
- Enhances communication and emotional ties
- Increases confidence and handling skills
- Provides quality one-on-one interaction and bonding
- Encourages parents to unwind, relax, and listen to their baby
Preparing For Your Visit
We recommend feeding your little sunshine before your appointment to help them feel content and comfortable. After your session, you’re more than welcome to use our peaceful feeding room, complete with private booths and a microwave, for any feeding or care your baby may need.
- Please arrive 10 minutes before your Little Sunshine session to allow time to complete our form and feed your baby if needed. We greatly appreciate your punctuality.
- In addition to your usual nappy bag essentials, we suggest packing extra formula and a fresh nappy for after the hydrotherapy session. Don’t worry, we provide swim nappies for your little sunshine!
- Our services are designed for infants aged 1 week to 2 years. Hydrotherapy neck floats are suitable for babies weighing up to 15kg and 9 months. For those over 15kg or 9 months, we offer our beautiful infant massage up to 2 years. All babies are weighed before their session, and you'll receive a complimentary weight record card to take home.
- If your baby is unwell or something unexpected comes up, please contact us to reschedule. We kindly ask for at least 24 hours’ notice in accordance with our cancellation policy.
Understanding Touch
Babies need to be touched in a conscious, loving, and caring way, and those deprived of nurturing touch may regress in development.
Touch and the Nervous System
Touch plays a pivotal role in creating a safe and secure environment for developing a baby's nervous system. The use of an IAIM massage routine will help to create neuronal pathways associated with positive experiences. Massage stimulates the autonomic nervous system, which stimulates the parasympathetic and sympathetic parts, ensuring a balanced development. The Parasympathetic regulates our body's digestion and respiration, and our Sympathetic nervous system is needed for performing active tasks and protecting us from danger.
Touch and the Brain
Relaxing techniques are essential to balancing the autonomic nervous system, such as helping the baby relax.
Imprinting and Touch
When parents lovingly massage their babies and give them undivided attention, they positively support the structuring of the brain. Nurturing touch from parents has a direct impact on brain formation in babies.
Touch and Biochemicals
Touching directly affects our biochemicals, including hormones and neurotransmitters. Feel-good hormones such as oxytocin are produced when touch and massage occur. This is extremely important if you have a stressed parent and baby; it can positively impact their neurotransmitters and reduce stress.
