NEW YORK (Reuters Health) — Just like their stressed-out parents, babies may take comfort from a gentle massage, a research review suggests.Infant massage has long been used in many Asian and African cultures to ease babies’ colic and fussiness, help them sleep, and even aid their growth and development. There is growing interest in infant massage among parents in Western countries as well.

To assess the science behind the practice, UK researchers analysed 23 clinical trials in which infants younger than 6 months were randomly assigned to receive massage or not.

They found that across nine of the studies, gentle massage appeared to improve infants’ sleep patterns, ease crying, and strengthen mother-child bonding. Some studies found that massage lowered babies’ levels of certain stress hormones.

Given this apparent hormonal effect, it’s “not surprising” that massage seemed to improve sleep and crying, according to the researchers.