Baby massage garment

Abstract

The baby massage garment has one or more pieces sewn together to fit a person, typically an infant. The garment has a front and a back, and sleeves and pant legs which fit an infant. Indicia and markings upon the garment guide a masseuse to position the garment upon the body of an infant. Once the garment is in position, the markings guide the masseuse to apply pressure at specific points to trigger a desired physiological response in the infant. The markings encourage health, digestion, respiration, emotional well being, and overall development of the infant. The markings have familiar shapes linked to the desired response such as a heart symbol for emotional well being. The garment is made in a variety of sizes to fit infants of all ages.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This non-provisional patent application claims priority from the provisional application having Ser. No. 60/500,763, and filed on Sep. 5, 2003.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to clothing, and more particularly to a garment for an infant with indicia upon the garment as to the proper locations for pressure point massage of an infant.

Acupressure massage has its roots from acupuncture, a form of therapy and health maintenance developed by the Chinese over the last forty centuries. Presently, members of the public, the media, and some scientific institutions widely believe that acupressure massage affects the energy balance in the human body and that it activates natural self-healing abilities. The energy within the body travels upon lines that manifest in specific locations upon the surface of the body. Pressure applied at those specific locations affects the energy balance within the body beneficially. A daily pressure point massage may sooth many common ailments, promote overall health and well-being, and assist a baby through normal growth and neurological development. Giving an acupressure massage forms, sustains, and strengthens the bond between a parent, or masseuse, and an infant. The therapeutic effects of an acupressure massage sooth, calm, or relax a fussy, colicky or crying baby. Studies have shown that massage has a positive effect on all babies especially in reducing anxiety, trauma, pain and stress. Specifically, massage triggers certain physiological changes in infants, such as improved immune function, faster weight gain, shortened hospital stays for premature infants, better sleeping habits, and less irritability. Gentle touch also relieves teething pain, improves skin tone and circulation, and helps digestion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has a cotton and spandex garment commonly referred to as a jumper, snuggie, onesy, or sleeper. A sleeper has long sleeves, pant legs, and footies dependent from the pant legs. The garment is placed over the head of an infant and then is pulled down the infant's body. The infant's arms are placed in the sleeves and the infant's legs and feet are placed into the pant-legs and footies. The sleeper then fastens at the bottom of the torso. When placed upon an infant, the garment provides reference points to facilitate the proper alignment of the pressure point icons.

One object of the present invention is to provide a map of the proper areas on an infant's body for acupressure massage.

Another object is to provide a garment that can be adjusted to each infant by providing symbols for the proper alignment of the garment upon the infant's body.

Another object is to provide such a garment in which the pressure points are indicated by different icons according to the potential benefits of a massage in each respective location.

Another object is to provide such a garment which is easy to put on and take off the infant.

These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of the outer surface of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and,

FIG. 2 is a back view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various figures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A garment 10 of the present invention is generally shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The garment 10 includes alignment markers 1, 2, 3 and 4 to correctly position the garment 10 on a person's body, commonly an infant. The garment 10 has two symmetric markers 1 indicating where the garment 10 should be positioned on the infant's knees. The garment 10 has a marker 2 indicating where to align the torso portion of the garment 10 with the infant's bellybutton. The garment 10 has two symmetric markers 3 indicating where to position the garment 10 on the infant's elbows. The garment 10 has a linear shaped marker 4 indicating where to position the garment 10 on the infant's spine. The garment 10 has the form of one coherently sewn piece with snaps 5 in the bottom running down the insides of the legs. The garment 10 is formed by two pieces of fabric: a front 11 and a back 12 joined around their perimeter with footies sewn at the bottom of the pant legs, has holes at the end of long sleeves and an opening for the infant's head. Different sleeve and pant lengths can be created, if desired. The garment 10 is made of a flexible and stretchable fabric. The garment 10 is readily placed upon a baby by anyone.

As can be seen in the FIGS., printed upon the garment 10 are several icons, 6, 7, 8 and 9. The icons appear upon the garment by silk screen printing, embroidery, patches, buttons, snaps, sewing, or other printing processes applied to textiles. These icons separate into categories denoting four benefits from an acupressure massage at each icon's location. Each icon provides a pressure point whereupon a massage benefits the infant. Pressure point massage is achieved through gentle touch applied in a circular motion. Each pressure point is clearly marked on the garment 10. The key symbols are located by the masseuse according to the benefit desired for the infant. Some icons are labeled health maintenance 6 and a massage applied at these pressure points improves the overall health and development of the infant. Other icons are labeled emotional well being 7 or “♥” and a massage applied at these pressure points soothes insomnia, crankiness and nightmares. Other icons are labeled ease of discomfort 8 and a massage applied at this pressure point remedies nausea, vomiting, diaper rash, colic, constipation, gas, urinary tract infection and poor appetite. Then other icons are labeled respiratory assistance 9 or “♦” and a massage applied at these pressure points resolves allergies, colds, congestion, asthma, fever, runny nose, coughing and ear infections.

The garment 10 provides a positive effect on infants and should be used three to seven times each week for maximum benefits and overall health. The garment 10 may be used as often as every two hours if the infant suffers from specific aliments. Acupressure massage, when used properly, is safe and has no harmful side effects.

From the aforementioned description, a baby massage garment has been described. The baby massage garment is uniquely capable of positioning a garment upon an infant for accurate massage of specific points upon the infant's body. The baby massage garment and its various components may be manufactured from many materials including but not limited to polymers, polypropylene, fabric, leather, nylon, and other fire retardant fabrics.

Variations or modifications to the subject matter of this invention may occur to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the disclosure as provided herein. Such variations, if within the spirit of this development, are intended to be encompassed with in scope of any claims to invention provided within this patent. The description of the preferred embodiment, as also depicted in the drawings, is set forth herein for illustrative purposes only.

The phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. Therefore, the claims include such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A garment for a person, such as an infant, having a front and a back of fabric sewn together with sleeves, pant legs, and a neck opening, wherein the improvement comprises:

one or more indicia upon the front and the back, said indicia indicates proper position of the garment upon the joints of a person; and,

one or more markings upon the front and the back, said markings indicate physiological processes;

whereby a masseuse locates the garment properly upon a person using said indicia and then applies massage to selected said markings to induce a desired positive physiological response in the person.

2. The garment of claim 1 further comprising:

said indicia applied upon the pant legs to indicate the kneecaps, upon the sleeves to indicate the elbows, upon the front to indicate the belly button, and upon the back to indicate the spine of a person; and,

said markings applied upon the arms, legs, front, and back of the garment.

3. The garment of claim 2 wherein said markings are located to apply a pressure point massage to the body of the person to induce a desired benefit.

4. The garment of claim 3 further comprising:

said benefit being health, development, emotion, digestion, or respiration.

5. The garment of claim 1 wherein said markings and said indicia are applied to said garment by silk screen printing, embroidery, patches, buttons, snaps, or sewing.

6. A garment to guide an unskilled masseuse to provide massage to specific points upon a person, such as an infant, comprising:

a front having arms and legs;

a back having arms and legs joined upon the perimeter of said front;

one or more indicia upon said garment, indicating the proper position of the garment relative to the knees, elbows, bellybutton, and spine of the person; and,

one or more markings upon said garment, indicating the desired response corresponding to a point upon the body within the garment;

whereby, a masseuse places the garment upon a person, positions said indicia upon selected body locations, and applies gentle pressure to said markings to induce the desired beneficial physiologic response within a person.

7. The garment of claim 6 wherein said markings are arranged symmetrically upon said garment.

8. The garment of claim 7 further comprising:

said markings having a shape to correspond with the desired physiologic benefit.

9. The garment of claim 8 wherein said markings have the shape of a swirl, a heart, a star, a diamond, or an oval.

10. The garment of claim 7 further comprising:

said indicia having a shape distinctive from said markings.

11. The garment of claim 10 wherein said indicia are arranged symmetrically upon said garment and are a dotted linear or polygonal shape.

12. A garment to guide a parent to provide massage to specific points upon an infant having a front with dependent arms and legs, a back with arms and legs joined to the arms and legs of the front, fitting around the infant, wherein the improvement comprises:

one or more indicia symmetrically located upon said garment, indicating the proper position of the garment relative to the knees, elbows, bellybutton, and spine of the person, said indicia have a polygonal or linear shape; and,

one or more markings symmetrically located upon said garment, indicating the desired response corresponding to a point upon the body, said markings have a shape illustrating the desired response;

whereby, the parent places the garment upon an infant, positions said indicia upon selected body locations, and applies gentle pressure to said markings to induce the desired beneficial physiologic response within the infant.