Don’t just take my word for it – research about baby reflexology for sleep
I know that if you probably think I am banging on about how amazing reflexology is for our babies and toddlers. Maybe you think that it’s one of those ‘woo woo’ things that won’t help you. BUT, it isn’t just my family it has helped! There are a lot of research studies out there about the effectiveness of reflexology. In this blog I will discuss some of research into baby reflexology for sleep so you will hopefully feel more reassured that baby (or toddler) reflexology is right for your family. It will also (hopefully) show how I can help you to achieve that goal of better sleep for you all.
As a mummy to a now 3 year old (who now sleeps really well), I still remember how rough it was when she was waking every 2 hours when she was around 8 or 9 months old. To be honest, that rough sleep started around 4 months. But it just kept on going and I had reached the point where I said to my husband that we needed to sort this out. There was no way I would be able to survive motherhood and go back to work. I was exhausted all of the time.
What helped my baby (and now toddler) to sleep better
It was at this point that I tried three things:
- Moving her into her own room (so she didn’t smell my milk)
- My husband settling her back down if she woke up. At that point I was feeding her to sleep. She was waking every 2 hours for milk, even though she didn’t need to have it that much at that age.*
- Reflexology – which we still use regularly to this day. You will see below it’s not just my baby who sleeps better as a result of reflexology.
So does Reflexology really work?
Yep! And you don’t need to just take my word for it. Below are three research studies. I’ve included the links sot can read them if you want but I’ve summarised them too.
Baby reflexology for sleep – the research
Study 1: Foot Reflexology in Newborns
Source: Abelpinar et al., 2024 — The Effect of Massage and Foot Reflexology on Sleep in Newborns
This study is so exciting because it’s fairly recent but they studied 108 premature babies. Each baby either received reflexology, massage or standard care (no massage or reflexology). They completed the study by providing reflexology or massage twice a day for 2 days. The babies who received reflexology or massage slept for longer, woke less often and had better sleep efficiency (around 72-73%). How amazing is that!
This shows that even short gentle sessions can have massive and measurable benefits to your baby’s sleep.
Study 2: Reflexology for Sleep, Stress, Sucking Frequency and Crying Episodes in Newborn Infants
72 infants were studied and half of those had reflexology. For the infants who received reflexology for two days, in the morning and afternoon their sleep and feeding lengths increased, and their crying episodes decreased. There was a significant improvement for the babies receiving reflexology.
They found a statistical significant improvement for the infants who received reflexology for their sleep, feeding and less crying episodes.
Study 3: Baby Massage and Sleep Quality
Source: Saputro & Bahiya, 2021 — The Effects of Baby Massage to Sleep Quality in Infants Aged 1-7 Months
10 babies received massage, and 10 others did not receive massage. 60% of those who received the gentle massage had good sleep quality. This is compared to a minimal change with the 10 babies who didn’t receive massage.
This wasn’t a specific reflexology trial. But my video guides include massage within the moves (but because we are working on the specific reflex areas to help with sleep it’s like a superboosted massage!) And it had a significant improvement in those babies who had that gentle and loving massage.
Study 4: Baby Massage and Longer Sleep Durations
Source: NHS Journal, 2021 — Effect of Baby Massage on the Sleep Duration of Infants Aged 6–12 Months
There were 30 babies as part of the study, and after their massage their average sleep duration improved significantly. Again, this isn’t specifically about reflexology but shows that a calm and gentle touch can make a massive difference in baby’s sleep.
Not Just For Babies: Reflexology for Postpartum Mothers
Source: Li et al., 2009 — Foot Reflexology to Improve Sleep Quality Among Postpartum Women
65 new mums took part; one group received 30-minute reflexology sessions for five days, while the control group didn’t. Those who had reflexology reported significantly better sleep quality scores (p < 0.001).
Even though this study was on adults, it shows how reflexology may influence the body’s natural sleep rhythms. I find reflexology helps me. When waking regularly due to baby – it helped me to fall back to sleep a lot quicker.
Reflexology for Sleep Disturbances – 42 studies of 3928 people.
Source: Huang et al., 2020 – Can foot reflexology be a complementary therapy for sleep disturbances?
This is an analysis of the (many) research studies into whether reflexology can help sleep. Forty-two research articles with a total sample of 3,928 participants were analysed.
The studies they analysed suggested that foot reflexology produced significant improvements in sleep disturbances.
Baby Reflexology Doesn’t Need to Take Long – It Can Fit Into Family Life
As a mum myself, I know that it is a juggle trying to fit everything into a day. This is why I have worked hard to find routines that work, but don’t take hours of your time. In fact, my videos are no longer than 5 minutes. In the video I will explain everything to you – but the routine itself is about 2 minutes long. This is all I do to my daughter (and other babies I work on) and this amount seems to be the perfect length. Some of the studies included massage or reflexology for 15-30 minutes but I do not think that is necessary, and I certainly never did it for that long. Additionally, I challenge you to find a baby or toddler who would stay still for that long!
My routines are specific, ‘straight to the point’ (or reflex); routines to save time and stress.
How to get started with baby reflexology
If you’d like to see exactly how I use reflexology to support sleep please do check out my routine. I have created a video guide to show you the routine – the exact same one I use for my daughter.
The routine itself shouldn’t take you more than about 2 minutes. I would recommend using it every day for the first week or so, and then you can probably use it less often. Now my daughter is a toddler I use reflexology about 2 or 3 times a week and that works well for us. But every child is different so please find what works best for you.
Happy Reflexologying!
Take care,
Lizzie x
FAQs
Yes it really can! You can read the four research studies I have discussed in this blog which evidences that reflexology can help sleep.
Yes! And one of the studies shows it can really help them to sleep for longer stretches, and with better sleep efficiency.
Yes it can be beneficial to newborns – and even with premature newborns. It helped with their sleep in a recent study completed with over 100 babies.
Yes, but please do be gentle. A very gentle stroke, much like you would stroke a rose petal – that’s a great level of pressure to apply.
Honestly, I suggest about 2-3 minutes. I would recommend trying to do this every day especially if they/you are new to reflexology so it becomes like second nature to you, and part of the routine. As they get older I would suggest about 2-3 times a week (unless you notice they sleep loads better if you carry on everyday). I personally followed this schedule and it works well, but every little one is different. As adults, we tend to have hourly sessions but remember, our feet are much bigger so it takes longer to cover them, and we are also a lot better at sitting still.
* The first two things we tried were suggestions from Cher at Tired Baby Sleep. Cher held my hand through what felt like a very scary thing to do at the time; moving her into her own room and I am very grateful.