This is a free clinic offered to children birth to age 3 years and their mothers. At each clinic the mother and child will join Karen Sjostrom Hedger in a local pool. Your baby will experience Craniosacral releases, and you will hold you baby and / or assist with releases as you wish. Mothers will have opportunities to assist with releases, learn touch skills and enjoy the benefits of being in the wather themselves.

Benefits to Baby and Parent: Attachment & Bonding

- Helps bring ease and regulations to the central nervous system, affecting the digestive, respiratory and circulatory functions, often relieving the discomforts of gas and belly distress.

- Helps the baby relax and relieve stresses built up from so many new experiences each day.

- Enhances the loving connection between mother and baby, and builds touch skills and connections through non-verbal cues.

- Helps mothers release tension and stress from anxiety, sleepless nights and full schedules.

- Encourages mothers to parent with presence and compassion for self and other.

- Encourages the lifelong benefits that come from early relationships that are loving, healthy and secure.

Monthly Clinic: We offer a free monthly clinic for babies ages birth to 18 months and their mothers. These clinics will be on hold through the summer, but will resume again in the fall. Please check back soon for dates and times!

Individual Sessions: Individual healing sessions are available for babies and / or parents with a variety of needs. These sessions can be water based pool sessions or healing sessions at the office.

Fathers are also welcome to attend!

Call for your slot: (207)-667-6783

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Fussy Baby Clinic

A community based service offered to families of young children, birth to 18 months of age. Visits take place within one-hour sessions with two professionals trained to work with infants, toddlers and their families. Through observation, play, feeding and dialogue, the team headed by the parents, explores questions and concerns of the family and young child. The team uses both a developmental framework and a functional look at the child and family's day. The purpose of the clinic is to make each day a little easier, accessing strengths and creating successful experiences from which a child and caregiver can grow. Interventions can include a wide range of strategies. Appropriate referrals to other disciplines and agencies are encouraged when necessary to meet this goal.

Fussy Baby Clinic Offers:

Fussy Baby Clinic team members are parent educators who have completed training in infant, toddler and family issues and in the AKID approach. They are committed to helping you learn interactive communication with your baby through love, play and fun to make each day a little easier. We have the vision that one day every parent, child and infant will have the opportunity to experience the lifelong benefits that come from early relationships that are loving, healthy and secure.

About the program

Please send questions and comments to: dtaus@hotmail.com or call (207) 667-6783

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Infant Massage Instruction

Infant Massage is an ancient tradition in many cultures throughout the world which has been rediscovered in the West. Clinical evidence now shows that loving, touching, nurturing contact between caregiver and infant has a positive impact upon subsequent development. Many studies reveal the benefits of positive contact as an integral part of the baby's early life, and the unfortunate results when this early attention is lacking. Infant massage is one of the most pleasant, early positive contact. " The bonds of trust and love, the lessons of compassion, warmth, openness and respect which are inherent in the massage routine will be carried by your child into adulthood. "

The Importance of Bonding

Because it includes the critical elements of bonding - eye to eye contact, skin - to - skin contact, smiling, soothing sounds, cuddling, smell, response and interaction - an important benefit is the quality of closeness between parent and baby that Infant Massage brings about. These benefits extend beyond the bonding period. Parents who have been unable to be as close as they would like to their infants find that daily massage and the interaction it provides is a wonderful way to compensate

The benefits of Infant Massage include the following:

· Helps to strengthen and regulate the respiratory, circulatory, and gastrointestinal functions, often relieving the discomforts of colic and gas through the stimulation it provides.

· Helps the baby to relax and relieves the stresses which build up daily from so many new encounters with the world. We teach specific techniques which help babies to be aware of body tensions and to release them in response to the comfort of nurturing touch.

· Enhances the loving communication between caregiver and baby, and helps parents to keep " in touch " with the infant's non-verbal clues. This is especially valuable for parents with fussy, colicky, or sick babies.

The Parent/Baby Course

This is a four session course for parents and their babies ages three weeks to crawling. Parents learn about the benefits of nurturing touch in addition to step - by -step massage and relaxation techniques.

Individual Sessions

In these sessions each parent and baby receives individualized instruction and attention to address special needs such as colic or prematurity. Parents also learn Vimala Schneider's Touch Relaxation, a technique which enables infants to learn how to relax in response to nurturing touch, and techniques which effectively address discomforts such as gas or congestion.

In-services

Presentation on Infant Massage and its benefits are available as inservices and demonstrations for professional groups and conferences. Individual consultations are also available.

About the Instructor

Sara Pierce, IA Teacher, PT, CIMI

Sara is an Integrated Awareness Teacher who has been practicing pediatric physical therapy for 18 years. Her special interests have been in infants, parents and communities with a deep appreciation for the unique natures we all bring to our families and communities. To arrange for appointments or to get more information on classes, contact us at:

Offering services in prenatal and parenting classes, Fussy Baby Clinic, Infant Massage classes, Infant Developmental Evaluations, various Integrated Awareness classes and therapeutic services.

Call 207-667-6783 or email Sara