Stroking your baby’s silky skin, meeting her trusting gaze and taking turns at listening to her ‘coos’ and ‘goos’ then responding, telling her “your tiny toes are like little pink peas”, or “ your legs are growing so long and strong,” is more than just a delightful way to enjoy your little one’s company. Massaging your baby incorporates all the elements of parent-child bonding as it stimulates your little one’s senses through skin contact, eye contact and your familiar smell as well as hearing your voice and experiencing a focused response. This loving interaction and sensory experience is hard-wiring your babies’ immature brain for emotional and neurological development: as you touch and talk to your child and share eye contact, you stimulate the development of connections between nerve cells in your babies’ brain that will form foundations for thinking, feeling and learning.