Become a QIMI®

Our advanced Qualified Infant Massage Instructor (QIMI®) Training offers an individualized and nurturing approach to training parents/primary caregivers with infants and young children in the art of infant massage. Practitioners in many disciplines and professions have taken our training and can attest to its quality and content. We offer a comprehensive program, as well as a wide variety of support materials and a web–based professional community to support your efforts and educational needs as an instructor.

The program model is relationship-based and family-centered, promoting the idea that infants and their families are collaborators in developing an individualized program of support to maximize physical, mental, and emotional growth; health and other positive outcomes for infants and children from the well–baby to the special needs infant.

As a QIMI® you can get much greater satisfaction out of teaching when you are able to share your experiences, resources, contacts, and knowledge with others. The support and marketing assistance provided by the International Federation of Infant Massage can make your role as an instructor easier and more fulfilling and enable you to become part of a larger network of qualified healthcare professionals.

• Instructor Manual
• Baby’s First Touch Parent Booklet & Bottle of Infant Massage Oil
• Set of class brochures
• Resource packet with articles and handouts

• Global history, theory, methodology and techniques of infant massage
• Massaging the healthy full-term newborn and the growing toddler
• Massaging physically challenged infants and children

Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:

• Describe the history of infant massage as a parenting practice used worldwide.
• Identify how birth and childhood memories can influence present behaviors.
• Discuss how to prepare an environment conducive for an infant massage session.
• Demonstrate the skills and techniques of infant massage with the use of a doll.
• Discuss the details of setting up and teaching the curriculum for the Touch-Love® Parent-Infant Massage Program.
• Describe infant cues leading to an infant’s ability to willingly or unwillingly engage in reciprocal interaction.
• Identify which behavioral state is optimal for receiving infant massage.
• Demonstrate the various techniques and methods of infant massage.
• Assist in teaching the skills and techniques and methods of infant massage to parents and/or primary caregivers.
• Analyze own, infant and parent responses to infant massage session.
• Discuss the benefits of infant massage as they relate to both infant/child and parent/caregiver.
• Review the details of setting up and teaching the curriculum for the Touch-Love® Parent-Infant Massage Program.
• Review the four primary categories of benefits of infant massage.
• Review a variety of evidence-based research studies on the importance of touch for healthy growth and development of infant or child.
• Discuss how infant massage techniques can be applied (and/or adapted) to medically challenged children.
• Describe how touch plays a role in the development of the newborn’s brain.
• Demonstrate teaching the skills and techniques of infant massage with the use of a doll.
• Assess muscle tone for practicing appropriate massage routine.
• Practice stroke adaptations for medically challenged children the growing toddler.
• Practice teaching the skills and techniques of infant massage to parents and/or primary caregivers.
• Compare own, infant and parent responses to this infant massage session with responses from session on day one.
• Practice the primary Touch-Love® Parent-Infant Massage stroke techniques and sequence.
• Review the study materials and training tools for the post practicum coursework.

• Multiple learning styles
• Repetition through various instructional methods
• Using different ways of assimilating same knowledge
• Active learning experiences
• Anecdotal stories and case studies
• Audio-visual presentations, Powerpoint presentations, class discussions and small group interactions
• Brain-based learning
• In-classroom practice quizzes
• In-classroom authentic instruction with parent-infant demonstration sessions
• Hands-on play exercises
• Student teaching opportunities
• Comprehensive review of post-training exam and research practicum
• Questions and Answers

• Attend training course.
• Read required textbooks, articles and research studies.
• Complete open book take-home exam.
• Teach the Touch-Love® Parent-Infant Massage Program to a minimum of four (4) sets of parents. Newborns to infants six months of age is recommended; older babies and toddlers are fine as well!
• Write eight (8) SOAP Note observational summaries, one for each of your individual sessions.
• Collect feedback from parents you taught using the evaluation forms provided with your exam materials.

An initial due date of two months after the training course will be given to complete the exam, SOAP Note observational summaries and evaluation forms. One two-month extension may be requested to complete coursework; additional extensions may be requested and may require payment of an additional fee. Mail completed coursework to IFIM, Gatehouse Road Aylesbury Buckinghamshire OR 0300 131 6000. Upon completion of all requirements, graduates will receive a diploma of completion, be registered in the International Touch-Love® Registry of Qualified Infant Massage Instructors and may access instructor forms and other materials online.

The fundamental objective of the course is to prepare students for the QIMI® examination and ability to teach infant massage. All we ask from you is a 100% commitment to the training program and follow-up coursework.

We are a nationally accredited program and offer continuing education hours for healthcare professionals. 

Registered instructors will remain in active status, thus maintaining their QIMI® credential, by renewing their certification. Certification renewal requires payment of dues and submission of continuing education information. Annual renewal dues cover instructor resources, instructor calendar, materials &  supplies for classes, website support and staff support. Continuing education (three contact hours per year) may come from numerous resources (e.g., conferences and/or workshops pertaining to early childhood, parenting, health education, massage therapy related workshops, books and/or research articles). Continuing education is not required for first-time, one-year renewals.

The International Federation of Infant Massage (IFIM) is committed to providing instruction to course participants and support to Qualified instructors that is ethical and without bias. IFIM, its planners, presenters and staff receive no commercial support or sponsorship and have disclosed no conflicts of interest.