Most adults enjoy a relaxing massage, but experts say babies may benefit just as much.

In response, El Paso resident Alicia Fennall has teamed up with two of her sisters to start "Sweet Nature," a program to teach parents and caregivers the importance of infant massage.

"It's the magic of touch," Fennall said. "If you touch a child - even if you touch us - it's soothing, and that is what a child feels."

Fennall used the example of a mother whose child simply wouldn't sleep.

"She did everything that she thought she could do ... I offered this and within that next day that baby was sleeping through the night. That baby was soothed," she said.

Fennall and her sisters, Maria and Irma, said the list of benefits includes helping the immune system, teaching the baby to relax and providing a sense of security.

They also said different massage techniques can help relieve discomfort from ailments such as teething, colic and constipation.

Fennall said the massages are beneficial even to children who don't have problems because it enhances the adult-child bond.

"You will start seeing it because that child is going to look at you and you just connect," she said.

Fennall said there are times when children should not be massaged, such as when they are running a fever.

Fennall and her sisters attended classes to learn infant massage and are certified. The massages are taught using dolls.

They provide individual and group sessions, and are working on classes at the YWCA.

For more information, please call 478-1449 or visit sweetnature.net.