Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/68185
our touch. By being fully present in our hands, it creates an unspoken nurturing, a willingness to set our own stuff aside." 3. REMEMBER WHo YoUR CLIENT IS Unless you're providing therapeutic massage to medically at-risk babies, your client is the baby's caregiver. And new moms are typically pretty stressed out to begin with. So don't add to their stress by making this too difficult or too demanding. "We need to temper our enthusiasm with a sense of responsibility and respect for what the family needs," Ramsey says. "And my experience with new families is that they have short attention spans and a lot on their minds, so we can only give them a little bit," she says. "Be in their corner," advises Marybetts Sinclair, Corvallis, Oregon, massage therapist, instructor, and author of Pediatric Massage Therapy (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2004). "They don't need one more expert telling them what to do. Find out what their concerns are. They're the ones staying up at night, making huge sacrifices to support their children. You don't just give those parents a lot of things to do and then say, 'You should spend 20 minutes every day massaging your baby.' If they have other kids, they may not have that much time. But find out what's appropriate for them." 4. BE FLExIBLE Infants operate on their own time clocks, and theirs may not always jibe with yours. "They're unlike other clients who will willingly disrobe and hop onto a table for their session," Allen says. "Infants may be more interested in eating or sleeping or having their diaper changed at the time of their massage session. So it's best to have some creative ideas up your sleeve to make the session educational and fun for all, even when the baby is crying," she says. "There's generally one baby in every class that it's just not their time of day,' Sinclair advises. "But we just jolly them along. That's part of their charm, too." 5. INFANT MASSAGE ISN'T NECESSARILY LUCRATIvE Sinclair is blunt: "There's not much money in working with children." She advises not trying to build an entire practice around infant massage unless you're in a major metropolitan area that can support such specialization. But there are positives. Infant massage—especially leading classes in which you just use a doll—isn't nearly as physically taxing as other forms of massage. And if you tap into the right markets, you can grow your practice quickly. "As an infant massage teacher, you can teach private sessions or group classes," Allen says. "And group classes can be made up of any number of families. This means more money coming in for the same one-hour class." PoTENTIAL LIABILITIES An infant massage teacher can ply his or her trade in any number of settings: private homes, hospitals, early education centers, community events, health-care clinics. "Really, the number of places 6. BE AWARE oF you can teach are endless," Allen says. "Anywhere you can carry your teaching doll can become your classroom." That's the good news. But having such a multi-situated practice does have insurance ramifications, and you may need to add each of the settings in which you practice to your liability policy, Allen warns. Also, as someone who has authorized contact with young children, you're required by law to report any instances of suspected child abuse. Failure to do so could lead to criminal charges. "There are liability issues there, too," Moore says, "so you should be informed." 7. BE SMART ABoUT MARkETING The best marketing is always word of mouth, but don't let that stop you from doing something online. "You must create an Internet presence," Allen says. "Thirty-year-old marketing techniques won't help you reach today's young families. At 2:00 a.m., when the baby finally falls asleep, today's parent is going to be on the Internet looking for the best way to help them fall asleep tomorrow night. Your information has to be online and easy to find in order to be the answer for them." Ditto for targeted advertising. Figure out where the young families are and go there. "Parent groups are your number one market," Sinclair says. "Childbirth prep classes. Networking with midwives. Going to the ob-gyns where you live. I've connect with your colleagues on massageprofessionals.com 79