Baby massage FAIL

[Ruralrunner]

Hi all,
I'm posting for the first time - go easy on me :)! Just wanted some views/ advice - I'm a first-time mum with a lovely, smiley, giggly 12-week old baby. I'm really lucky that he's not really a crier. So - we went to baby massage class today and baby LOST HIS SH*T - howling and screaming like I've never heard from him! The lady taking the class said not to worry, all babies cry... And other babies were crying, but not like my wee one was. He was inconsolable - wouldn't take a feed, the usual cuddling didn't work - argh! I got really stressed and a bit teary (v unlike me) and left early. Bummer. Especially as I don't know that many folk here having moved recently, and was looking forward to meeting people. I didn't meet folk before the birth as I couldn't make the antenatal classes - they were on the same day as scans for folk in our area (I had a lot of scans, and hospital is 2 hours away - great planning!!) Anyway, rambling. Just wondered if anyone else has had the same problem? I'm tempted to skip the next class - I usually give him a wee "massage" with his lotion after a bath and he loves it, so it's not like he's not used to it... Pretty bummed out about the whole thing.

Go again next time. It'll be fine ! My DS did the biggest poo ever during baby massage, I swear it was like a volcano! They'd seen it all before, even though I was between hysteria and weeping.
I eventually felt happier taking him to an Aquatots class run by my local pool. It cost £1.50, I got a free cuppa afterwards and I made some nice friends there. You just have to see what suits you best.
I've just remembered a screaming story to make you feel better. The day after his 8 wk jabs mil took me out to a posh cafe with two of her friends. DS had such a screaming fit that people actually left!!! We did pretty quickly ourselves I may add. It was mortifying. He got so bad that there was silence from the adults all the way home in the car, bar trying to soothe him.

At the class I went to all the babies went into melt down on the first week - except mine as God forbid she could be off the boob long enough for a massage. Each week it got better and by the last week only one crier left, don't give up just yet and don't worry about it. Babies cry. Fact.

I had one that loved it and one like yours. He never got to like it, sorry!

Did you try not undressing him completely and just concentrating on his hands and feet?

Dd hated her first lesson and was hysterical she was fine the next lesson so go back and as a pp said maybe just practise on dc feet. I found lying her on a blanket from home helped too.

I took DS1 to baby massage. He weed in a great arc all over the instructor. I was mortified.

She tried to make it seem like she didn't mind. But I could tell she wasn't hugely pleased about being hosed in wee.

I went back the next week and sat further away!

Thanks guys - makes me feel a bit better! I think I'll just wait and see what the wee one's mood is like before I go to the next one. It might have been something as simple as the room being too cold/busy, I guess - will see how we get on. Your stories made me smile - thanks! :)

We run Baby Massage classes where I work OP and this is indeed perfectly normal. Babies cry - you can't control when or how loudly. No-one I worked with would have even blinked at this. So please do go back and don't worry about it. Baby massage is a great skill to learn.

These kinds of things always put a bit of pressure on you to have a fantastic time and emerge with the happiest, most relaxed baby on the planet. The reality is small babies don't know that and it's all subject to their random whims!

Your post brought back memories of trying to take DD to baby yoga. She was a very grumpy baby and it was basically a merry-go-round of screaming, scowling and whinging, punctuated by doing massive poos and old-man burps that sent sniggers round the room. While everyone else's baby seemed to gurgle away blissfully. In the end I realised she was genuinely happier being wheeled around the shops and making faces at old ladies.

But give it a go for a couple of weeks, it could be a one-off.

Oh god DS2 did the most horrific poo ever just after the abdominal massage bit. It went everywhere - all his clothes, hair, my legs, you name it! All the instructor said was "well that worked well!"
He also screamed during the face massage (lots if babies don't like that one), so I just kept doing his legs which he really liked. The next session he spent bf. out of the 6 we went to we only managed one where we massaged the whole time - no poo/bf/crying/trying to roll off!

My DD hated it. She screamed blue murder every time we went and I was the mum at the back of the room walking her round and trying to settle her while the other babies cooed happily up at their mummies. I remember trying to feed her but her not wanting a feed, it wasn't her nappy. I didn't know what was wrong until now when I look back she didn't like lying flat. She always wanted to be upright and on the move. Shes the same now at 2.4 yrs. She doesn't like sleeping in her buggy flat and wont ever let me stop still in shops with her in the buggy. I have to be moving all the time. If I stop in a shop she shouts "don't stop! Go that way!" Its very frustrating but shes never changed from being a tiny baby!

So glad to hear it's not just me! :) will try again next week, but not optimistic as the class is right after his immunisations... Maybe YouTube is a better bet (and safer for everyone else's ears...!)