Bradenton therapist has just the right touch

Winding River resident Stacy Norkin followed the directions, which in this case meant running her fingers down the spine of her 6-month-old daughter, Ava.

Infant massage instructor Patricia Cadolino modeled the stroke on a doll, and Norkin and others attending a class at the downtown Central Library in Bradenton followed suit. Called Nurturing Touch, the infant massage program typically consists of a series of light strokes.

Cadolino stroked the doll’s chest, making a heart shape with her fingertips, as she talked about how to correctly complete the motion while explaining the benefits of touch.

“From the top of the head all the way to the bottom of the feet makes the baby feel neurologically connected,” Cadolino said. “Massage is a very special bonding.”

Norkin wanted to learn about touch therapy because she and her husband, Ian, want Ava to sleep through the night.

“I want to try a new bedtime routine,” Norkin said. “This will help her sleep.”

Cadolino, a resident of Country Meadows, has spent nearly 30 years teaching the method to parents and caregivers in New York. 

Now 58, Cadolino moved to Lakewood Ranch four years ago, but began spreading the word about Nurturing Touch two years ago after learning Manatee County had an opioid crisis that was putting children into foster care.

“It really struck me,” she said, noting touch therapy can help guardians bond with foster children. “Not only are these children left without a parent, now they’re in foster care. It got my passion going again.”

Foster parents Tim and Heather Pye, of Bradenton, have four children of their own and a foster child.

“Being foster parents, we don’t come equipped with the ability to breastfeed or those soothing capabilities,” Tim Pye said. “Using what’s available to us has been helpful. The tiny babies we get will be on formula and these massages help with digestion. We think it’s really beneficial for people in our position.”

They’ve used Nurturing Touch therapy on their own children and said it has helped them relax and even helped their 5-year-old daughter Madeline with headaches.

Cadolino grew up in Long Island and was 8 years old when her mother, Concetta Sharkey, volunteered with special needs children, doing movement therapy with them. 

“I saw how the babies responded to it,” Cadolino said.

In 1987, Cadolino said her newborn, Kyle, was a fussy baby. One day while Cadolino was exercising to a Jane Fonda workout video, the video ended and information followed about a European woman who taught baby massage.

“She demonstrated strokes on a baby’s stomach, belly and legs,” Cadolino said. “I just followed along. (Kyle) seemed to really enjoy it.

“A lot of light bulbs went on — wow, the power of touch,” she said. “I got to see the benefits with my son. He was looking at me more, more interaction. He was calmer. I felt empowered. I couldn’t wait to learn more about it.”

Cadolino went to massage school, graduating when Kyle was 2. She added pediatric training and became certified to teach. At Stoney Brook University Hospital in New York, she implemented programs for healthy babies and premature, medically challenged children.

To find out more about Cadolino’s future classes, call 631-379-8854 or email [email protected].