5 Surprising Ways Infant Massage Supports Your NICU Grad’s Growth

Bringing you baby home after the NICU can feel like a new chapter, filled with relief but also questions about how to best support your baby’s growth. Many parents are surprised to learn that something as simple and natural as touch can make a powerful difference. Infant massage isn’t just about relaxation; it’s a gentle tool that supports your baby’s development in ways you might not expect. From boosting digestion to building trust, the benefits go far beyond the moment.

Here are five surprising ways infant massage can help your NICU grad thrive at home.

1. Calms the Nervous System and Helps Regulate Stress

   NICU babies often experience a lot of medical handling early on. Gentle massage helps babies to shift their nervous system from “fight or flight” to “rest and digest,” reducing stress hormones and promoting a sense of safety. Not only do babies benefit from lower stress levels, but parents also experience nervous system changes when massaging their babies. A 2023 study reports that parents who massaged their babies reported significantly lower stress levels at 1-, 4-, 8-, and 12-weeks post-discharge from the NICU. Over time, it can help calm the body and set the foundation for healthy growth and development.

2. Supports Better Sleep Patterns

   Infant massage also helps NICU grads settle into more predictable sleep cycles. A study published in the Journal of Neonatal Perinatal Medicine found that preterm infants who received massage spent more time in the drowsy (calm-alert) state that helps their body prepare for sleep. Another study in 2023 reported that babies who received massage actually slept about five hours longer than they did before. These findings show that gentle, infant massage can be a powerful way to support better sleep and help calm your baby’s delicate system in those tender weeks after leaving the NICU.

3. Encourages Digestive Comfort and Weight Gain

   One of the clearest benefits of infant massage is healthy weight gain. Several studies have shown that babies who receive gentle, consistent massage can gain 31–47% more weight in just a week or two compared to babies who don’t. Why? Massage helps activate the vagus nerve—a key player in the body that supports digestion. When the vagus nerve is stimulated, it boosts the movement of the stomach and intestines for more efficient digestion. In one study, preterm babies who were massaged showed better digestion during and after massage, and this was directly linked to their improved weight gain. Tummy massage can also ease gas, constipation, and reflux, which are common struggles for NICU grads. When digestion is smoother, babies feed more effectively and gain weight more steadily, which directly supports their growth.

4. Strengthens Parent-Baby Bonding

   After weeks or even months in the NICU environment, many parents long for simple, meaningful ways to reconnect with their baby. Infant massage offers just that. Research shows that parents who practiced routine infant massage reported significantly lower levels of stress, particularly on scales measuring “parental distress”. Massage is more than touch, it’s communication. Eye contact, gentle strokes, and your soothing voice all tell your baby, “You are safe, you are loved.” Bonding through massage isn’t limited to their time as infants, it helps with long-term social-emotional development and well-being.

5. Boosts Body Awareness and Motor Development.

   Every stroke of massage helps babies feel where their bodies begin and end. This “body map” in the brain builds awareness that supports rolling, crawling, and other motor milestones. For NICU graduates—who may have missed out on early sensory experiences—infant massage offers a simple, hands-on way to nurture development while sharing quiet, connected time with their parents.

Infant massage may seem simple, but its impact reaches deep. With just a few minutes each day, you’re giving your baby both comfort in the moment and tools for healthy development in the future.

SOURCES

• Effects of massage intervention on discharged premature infants' weight, parental stress, and parent-child attachment: A randomized controlled trial (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37515904/)

• The effect of massage on cortisol level in infants: A systematic review and meta-analysis (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1355184123000364?utm)

• Massage Therapy Facilitates Weight Gain in Preterm Infants (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8721.00113?utm)

• Vagal activity, gastric motility, and weight gain in massaged preterm neonates (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16027695/)

• Stable preterm infants gain more weight and sleep less after five days of massage therapy (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12904452/)

• The effects of massage therapy and white noise application on premature infants' sleep (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37806925/)

• Meta-Analysis the Effect of Baby Massage in Increasing Quality of Sleep and Infant Body Weight (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360105361_Meta-Analysis_the_Effect_of_Baby_Massage_in_Increasing_Quality_of_Sleep_and_Infant_Body_Weight?utm)