Massage Therapy CEs | Prenatal/Doula/Infant Courses

Infant Massage Practitioner

Infant Massage: A Specialized Skill to Support Your Youngest Clients

Infant massage is a delicate and highly specialized practice that requires both refined technique and deep sensitivity. This continuing education course is designed exclusively for licensed massage therapists seeking to expand their scope of practice to safely and effectively provide massage therapy for infants—from newborns to pre-walkers.

This course is designed to equip you with the clinical and practical knowledge needed to directly work with infants in a therapeutic setting.

Why Train in Infant Massage as a Practitioner?

Massage therapy for infants is gaining increased recognition in pediatric and integrative healthcare. Research and clinical experience alike show that skilled touch from a trained professional can offer benefits beyond what caregivers alone can provide. From relieving common discomforts to promoting optimal physical development, your hands can make a difference in the earliest stages of life.

Whether you want to support infants who have symptoms of colic or gas, or simply provide a calming, nurturing experience for newborns (and by extension, their families), this course offers a strong foundation in practical techniques and informed, ethical care.

What You'll Learn

This course covers the fundamentals of safe and effective infant massage, with a strong emphasis on clinical considerations, infant anatomy, and working within your professional scope. You’ll gain confidence in applying gentle, age-appropriate techniques that are responsive to the baby’s cues and needs.

Course Topics Include:

--Indications and Contraindications: Learn when and how to safely apply massage to infants, including special considerations for premature or medically fragile babies.

--Massage Techniques for Common Conditions: Hands-on routines for colic, constipation, teething irritability, gas, sleep challenges, and more.

--Infant Developmental Stages: Understand how motor development and neurological milestones influence your approach to massage.

--Reading Infant Cues: Learn to recognize subtle behavioral signals that guide when to start, pause, or end the session.

--Positioning and Comfort: How to safely position infants for massage depending on age, tone, and developmental ability.

--Clinical Practice Guidelines: Best practices for documenting sessions, working collaboratively with pediatric healthcare providers, and maintaining ethical, professional standards when working with infants.

Who This Course Is For

This course is intended for licensed massage therapists who wish to expand their practice to include hands-on work with infants. IMPORTANT: This course was designed specifically for jurisdictions that do not allow massage therapists to teach massage to anyone who is not a massage therapist (including teaching infant massage to new parents).This course does NOT include instruction for teaching parent-infant classes. Therapists wishing to teach infant massage to parents should take our Infant Massage Instructor course instead.

CE Hours Earned: 15

Classification of hours: Kinesthetic ("General" for Florida and CEBroker reporting)

Institute of Somatic Therapy is approved by the NCBTMB (Provider #280672-00) as a continuing education Approved Provider. Institute of Somatic Therapy is approved by Florida (#MCE-326, CEBroker provider number 50-1116), and New York (#0019). Our courses are also valid for most individual states, as well as for renewing your AMTA or ABMP membership. Some states limit how many hours can be done online or by home study. Please refer to our State Guidelines section for specific information about your state. Laws can and do change, and your state will hold you responsible for knowing the laws that apply to you.

This course is approved in Florida for GENERAL hours, course # 20-1299582, as of April 24, 2025. Florida massage therapists wishing to take infant massage should choose our Infant Massage Instructor course in order for the full hours to count toward their Florida massage CE requirements for the August 31, 2025 renewal period.

Format: Online, self-paced home study course. General for CE Broker purposes.

Tuition and Enrollment

Course Fee: $145 (Includes full course access and CE certificate upon successful completion)

Instant Enrollment: Start today with immediate access to all materials and testing.

Meet Your Instructor: Judith Koch Stapleton

With over three decades of experience in prenatal, perinatal, and infant massage, Judith Koch Stapleton is a pioneer in nurturing therapeutic care for families. Her extensive clinical work, doula experience, and contributions to the field of massage education have equipped thousands of therapists to confidently care for clients during the most tender life stages. Judy's passion for excellence and warmth in instruction shines through in every lesson she teaches.

Begin Your Training Today

Add a valuable skill to your professional toolkit and begin offering a service that brings calm, comfort, and developmental support to your smallest clients. Enroll now to gain hands-on expertise in infant massage therapy—backed by science, guided by compassion.