Preschool Children's Sleep and Wake Behavior: Effects of Massage Therapy

Preschool children received 20‐minute massages twice a week for five weeks. The massaged children as compared to children in the wait‐list control group had better behavior ratings on state, vocalization, activity and cooperation after the massage sessions on the first and last days of the study. Their behavior was also rated more optimally by their teachers by the end of the study. Also, at the end of the 5 week period parents of the massaged children rated their children as having less touch aversion and being more extraverted. Finally, the massaged children had a shorter latency to naptime sleep by the end of the study.