Book Giveaway!

I was at the Half Price Books store the other day and came across a copy of one of my favorite baby-related books: Infant Massage: A Handbook for Loving Parents by Vimala Mcclure.

This book does a great job of teaching infant massage techniques, but it offers so much more than that!

For generations mothers the world over have know that the soft stroke of their hands soothes, calms, and communicates their love to their babies. In Infant Massage, McClure shares how massage benefits children - easing discomfort, releasing tension, helping premature infants gain weight, even helping asthmatic children improve breathing function. She explains each step of the massage process with simple easy-to-follow instructions and delightful photographs demonstrating each stroke. You'll also find:

• Specific routines tailored to help relieve colic, fever, chest and nasal congestion
• Modified instructions for premature infants and babies with special needs
• Helpful hints on dealing with crying and fussing
• Lullabies, rhymes, and games to enhance the massage experience
• Guidance for teaching children about "good touch"
• A special chapter dedicated to fathers
• Compassionate advice for foster and adoptive parents
• And much more!

The book covers a multitude of information before it even gets to massage technique; such as the benefits of skin stimulation, stress and relaxation, your baby's sensory world, the importance of bonding and attachment to your baby, helping your baby learn to relax, listening to your baby's cues, and massaging your growing child.

I can't tell you how much this book has helped me in my parenting! It's incredibly rich, informative, and delightful. Here's one of my favorite excerpts:

Infant massage, as it is shared in this book, is not a fad. It is an ancient art that connects you deeply with the person who is your baby, and it helps you to understand your baby's particular nonverbal language and respond with love and respectful listening. It empowers you as a parent, for it gives you the means by which you become an expert on you own child and therefore can respond according to your baby's unique needs. The deep emotional bonds formed in infancy lay a foundation for a lifetime of trust, courage, dependability, faith and love.

The bond I've developed with my babies through applying many of the principles in this book has been beautiful. I love connecting with them after baths, diaper changes, and before bedtime through stroking their little bodies and rubbing out the tension in their limbs. I feel I understand them better and pick up on their cues more readily, too. In a culture where we don't tend to touch our babies as much as they do in certain others - most Americans don't carry their babies on their own bodies, don't sleep next to their babies, and use all manner of plastic containers to hold their babies during the day - practicing infant massage is can be a huge blessing to babies and their parents. That's why I love this book.

So... I bought another copy of this book, thinking I'd give it to a friend. But then I couldn't think of which friend to give it to! Almost all my friends have babies or are pregnant or are planning on getting pregnant... and although I'd love to give them ALL a copy, I only have this one to give away.

Then I came up with the brilliant idea to have a bloggy book giveaway - draw a name and send the book to the winner!

If you are at all interested in this book, or know someone who might be,
leave me a comment and I'll draw a name on Friday, July 4th.
The lucky winner will receive a like-new copy of this book, autographed for them by... me.