Read Mumsnetters’ feedback on their baby massage classes, courtesy of WaterWipes - non-attendee? Chance to win £150 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the 100 Mumsnetters who hosted a baby massage class in their home, courtesy of WaterWipes. For those who did not attend, there’s still a chance for you to win – please see details below.

Here’s what WaterWipes has to say: “We know that the first few months can be an unnerving time for new parents. Baby massage is a great way to strengthen the natural bonds between parent and baby and we hope these free classes with a qualified teacher will give parents a fun and informative experience as well as equipping them with some new skills and the confidence to trust that they are all their baby needs”

Attendees, please answer the following questions on your experience at the event, and if you were a host, answer the survey we’ve sent as well:

1. What did you and your friends think of the WaterWipes baby massage class?
   
2. Did you feel the class provided a bonding experience for you and your baby?
   
3. Do you feel you took away some new skills or knowledge?
   
   All attendees who give their feedback on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Boots voucher and 3 month’s supply of WaterWipes!
   
   Non-attendees, for your chance to win a £150 Boots voucher and 3 month’s supply of WaterWipes, please answer the question below:
   What are the moments you most enjoy with your baby?
   
   Thanks and good luck!
   
   MNHQ
   
   Standard Insight T&Cs apply

[TaylorGirl86]

Hello! My friends and I really enjoyed the waterwipes baby massage workshop. The teacher was super friendly and relaxed which really helped us all to relax and bond with our little ones. The workshop lasted approx 60 mins and there was a lot of information to take in such a short time, but I felt that all the babies and mums benefitted from the workshop. Our teacher guided us through a full body massage for our babies and was also able to show different techniques if little one was being a bit wriggly. After the class we all chatted about how baby massage could benefits the babies in different ways for example aiding colic, teething and wind.
I know all of us will be using the techniques we learnt as part of our daily/weekly wind down routine! Brilliant class, thanks so much xx

[Boadiccea]

It was a lovely occasion to host our baby massage class in my home. It's always nice to get together with friends and their babies and learn techniques in helping comfort our babies. The teacher was great and provided us with lots of useful tips to try when not in the class setting. The goodiebags were generous and practical! It was a great atmosphere and activity to bond with my baby some more and I look forward to our daily massage and more bonding time! Thank you so much !

[Sugarcoma]

1. What did you and your friends think of the WaterWipes baby massage class? Everyone loved it. My DS was the only one who didn't seem that thrilled with being massaged but he's grumpy at the moment because he's teething quite badly. But I'd been meaning to do baby massage for ages so it was great to have had a taster in my own home and all the other mums texted after saying their babies had fallen asleep straight away! Plus we all loved the goody bags so thank you MN and WaterWipes (and our lovely instructor).
   
   
2. Did you feel the class provided a bonding experience for you and your baby? Yes it was lovely to have an activity to do with him and also a chance for me and my NCT group to do something fun.
   
   
3. Do you feel you took away some new skills or knowledge? Yes
   
   Thanks again!

[someblondegirl]

1. What did you and your friends think of the WaterWipes baby massage class?
   
   Myself and my friends had a really lovely day. The instructor was great, she was knowledgeable and so friendly. At the end of the class we all had very sleepy babies and a handy goodie bag which was a nice bonus.
   
   
2. Did you feel the class provided a bonding experience for you and your baby?
   
   I think it did. We had lots of smiles throughout and he seemed to enjoy all the fuss. I think this will be a lovely thing for us to carry on doing.
   
   
3. Do you feel you took away some new skills or knowledge?
   
   Definitely. I'd watched videos on massage but didn't really have the confidence in what I was doing. This was a great lesson with some good tips for wind, colic and other common issues. I'll be using them again for sure!
   
   We had a really lovely day. Thank you for the opportunity.

[Hannah4588]

1. What did you and your friends think of the WaterWipes baby massage class?
   

We really enjoyed our class. Our teacher was great putting everyone at ease and putting and encouraging them to follow their babies lead. It was a really interesting course and I loved pairing the massage with songs. Helps with remembering it. It was great opportunity to meet up with friends and enjoy some cake after.

1. Did you feel the class provided a bonding experience for you and your baby?
   

Definitely! Being my 3rd baby and having a 3 and 6 year old I feel like Mila has to just fit into our busy life and with school/Pre-school runs I don't get the chance to focus on just her. It was nice to arrange alternative childcare for my 3yo and have an hour where she was my sole focus.

3.Do you feel you took away some new skills or knowledge?

When Mila was about 2 months old I looked up some baby massage on YouTube and had been doing it most nights. It was great to actually be taught the moves properly. I've managed to expand on what I'd been doing although with baby brain I can't remember everything and we covered a lot in a short space but any longer would have been too much for the babies.

Thank you WaterWipes and Alexia

[Smurfy23]

1. What did you and your friends think of the WaterWipes baby massage class?
   

We all really enjoyed it. None of us had had any real experience of baby massage (save for some youtube videos when desperate) so.had no real.expectations. Our instructor was fantastic and our babies all seemed to like it.

2.Did you feel the class provided a bonding experience for you and your baby?
Definitely although my baby was asleep for the first half of the class! When she finally woke (after Id been practising on a doll) it was really nice to try the massage on her and see her reaction to it.

3.Do you feel you took away some new skills or knowledge?
Definitely- Ive already used some of the techniques on her.

[LauraGoldsmith]

We had a lovely massage taster session on Monday. Was thrilled to have the chance to host for a group of my friends, something different from our usual mums lunches! Also thanks for the great goody bags too.

1. We all enjoyed it, even the mum who was slightly late with a baby under the weather. Anna was very friendly, warm and knowledgeable, giving us lots of tips on ways to use the massage to help with different issues.
2. It was lovely to have more skin to skin time, definitely a bonding chance. Nice to have another tool in the range of options of what to do with your baby.
3. Having never done any baby massage before I certainly feel I gained lots of tools, I now know how to do basic massage to help relax my baby, help with colic and teething.

Overall the class was fun, informative and enjoyable. Thanks so much to WaterWipes

[Luvhair86]

What an amazing morning we all had both mummy's and babies!
We all absolutely loved every second of it. What a great taster session if you haven't had the opportunity to do baby massage before. We all felt like it was fun, relaxed and all learnt a lot from Amber our instructor. She is super lovely too . Amber made us feel all at ease and the babies certainly liked her!
We definitely felt that it was the perfect opportunity to bond with our beauties and we're grateful for the opportunity given to us by waterwipes and mums net. The majority of the group were 2nd time mums and it was a lovely gentle reminder for us to take time and have some one to one time with our a babies doing something fun and relaxing and what better way than a massage!

Definitely hasn't taken anything away. I think we all learnt new skills and techniques and definitely new nursery rhymes. All our babies slept so much better that day and that night which we're all grateful for and all have promised to use our new skills regularly as it clearly has an obvious benefit to the baby and therefore has a positive impact on us!

[Konstantine27]

We all thoroughly enjoyed the WaterWipes class. A couple of us, myself included, had already done a little baby massage so were expecting to know all the moves. However, this class was completely different - all the moves had songs to accompany them which made them easy to remember and they had lyrics that we could pick up really easily. One of the babies particularly enjoyed the tickle bird song, which I think she has now downloaded from Spotify. The teacher was warm, friendly and put us all instantly at ease. Not everyone in the group knew each other and by the end of the session we were all sharing stories.

The class not only provided a bonding experience for us mothers, but I felt that it was a lovely way to bond with my baby. He's at the stage where he wants to be on the move so it's not always easy to hold his attention, but this massage certainly did and I found the strokes more gentle and flowing than those I had previously learnt. He loved all the sensory pieces too and it was a joy to see his face light up.

Definitely! We all spoke afterwards about how we had learnt so much. From going with your babies natural foot reflexes - in the past massage class we had been shown how to open those curled toes up - but this way felt more in tune with baby to easing up around those joints. Everything felt as though it was done with more care, and dare I say it, pure love.

[ChescaRae]

Our group all really enjoyed the class - it was so nice to get together and do something a bit different, at the same time as learning something new. A few of us had already done some sort of baby massage via our local children's centres, and while those classes were good, there was a clear difference with this one (despite the fact it was only an hour compared to 4 x hour sessions!). Our teacher was really knowledgable and gave us explanations behind each technique, why it was beneficial and how it works. She also explained that massage isn't always best straight after bathtime (something I'd assumed) and that it can be done any time and is best based around baby's mood.

As I mentioned, I had done baby massage classes before but in all honesty hadn't bothered doing it again at home as my son never seemed in the right mood for it. However, following this class it is definitely something I'm going to make sure we do regularly. Although i play with and talk to my son constantly throughout the day, it was nice to have a bit of quiet time and engage in some skin to skin - something which seems to get harder as the babies get older.

I definitely took something away from this class, and will be making an effort to massage my son regularly (without feeling like I have to do it at set times and every single day, something the teacher mentioned! It can be so easy to get wrapped up in thinking we have to do this class and have to do this routine, so it's nice to be reminded to just take each day as it comes and whatever fits in is fine!) another benefit was that all the babies seemed super relaxed after and we're ready for a little nap - wins all round!

As a side note, the goody bags were brilliant and everyone was really pleased with them. The travel size packs of wipes are great - I wish i could find them in the shops!

Thanks WaterWipes for allowing me to host the class :)

[foxessocks]

Non attendee - my favourite thing to do with my baby is curl up on the sofa with some books when he is a little bit sleepy and cuddly!

[TellMeItsNotTrue]

Has to be the time after feeding when they are snuggling in to you and drifting off to sleep

[TheOnlyPurpleLlama]

Non-attendee; snuggles when he's sleepy, making him laugh by tickling and when he smiles at his brother (even when he's only ten weeks!) 😍

[hayli]

Non attendee- in the morning morning after feed,changed and clothed the smiles, cuddles and interaction of a fed and happy baby but not sleepy!

[GetSchwifty]

Non attendee here. My favourite moments are when I lay him down and kiss his cheeks and have a little chat to him. He gives me big smiles and reaches for my face (or to grab my hair!).

[EasterRobin]

Non-attendee: my favourite baby moments are when she shows me her natural generosity by giving me her toys to play with or feeding me bits of her tasty food.

[MakeTeaNotWar]

Non-attendee: sometimes breastfeeding and arduous but some of the most peaceful & precious moments I have had with my tiny baby is when he's had a full and satisfying feed & is contentedly snoozing in my arms in the quiet, dark night while the rest of the world sleeps

[Pipstarz41]

Non-attendee. My favourite moments are sleepy cuddles and post milk face...love the cuddles as they just don't last for long enough!

[TorNayDoh]

Non-attendee. My favourite moment is how every time I pretend to sneeze, baby DC find it hilarious.

[purplepandas]

Non attendee. For me, it was the small tnings when they were amazed by everyday items. A space blanket someone have gave us was tons of fun and I have fond memories.

[Mummychoochoo3]

Watching my baby fall asleep in my arms is one of the best times I've had. Especially when it's cold outside and we're warm and snuggly.

[wwwwwwwwwwwwww]

Non-attendee
I most enjoyed being snuggled up breastfeeding a tiny new born.

[ButterflyOfFreedom]

Non attendee

There are millions of things I enjoy, every moment is special but some of the stand out ones include when they giggle away when you pull funny faces or say silly things, when you sing nursery rhymes & they try to join in / do the actions, when you can curl up with a book in bed together, and breastfeeding was definitely a highlight - so precious.

[mum25littleones]

Non attendee. The moments I enjoy most are those quiet hours in the AM when it's just me and the little one. Nothing and no one can come between us and it feels like it's a perfect little team.

[Pickle83]

We really enjoyed the session. It was lovely to spend time with our babies and seeing their little faces light up.

The session was really well organised and well run with good focus on particular areas of the body with alternatives shown if the babies were not wanting to sit in that position. Roots and wings also repeat d the songs over and over which means I can now remember them and have now done this at home with my baby. My friends loved it too, spending time with each other and our babies.

Massage is now part of our bedtime routine to create a calming atmosphere and get ready for bed.