Moar Gut Family Nature Resort has introduced wellness treatments for infants as young as two weeks old, featuring mountain spring water baths and specialised massage instruction for parents. Olivia Palamountain reports

An Austrian family resort has opened a dedicated baby spa, offering wellness treatments including floating therapy for infants as young as two to three weeks old and up to crawling age.

Moar Gut Family Nature Resort near Salzburg launched the Lillee Baby Spa in June 2024, providing baby massages, yoga sessions and "basal stimulation" in a specialised facility featuring custom-designed baby baths and dedicated breastfeeding areas.

The centrepiece treatment, "Baby floating", involves infants weighing over 3kg floating in specially designed tubs filled with mountain spring water whilst supported by soft inflatable rings. The resort claims this weightless experience promotes motor skills, body awareness and restful sleep whilst potentially affecting the autonomic nervous system. Christina Schöninger, the resort's qualified paediatric nurse and cranio-sacral therapist who leads the treatments, instructs parents in massage techniques that the spa suggests strengthen immune systems, stimulate metabolism and digestion and relieve abdominal pain in babies aged three weeks to crawling age.

The spa's signature "Baby deluxe kombi treatment" combines massage instruction with floating therapy, with parents first learning gentle massage techniques before their child experiences the water-based session. An alternative "Baby relax kombi" pairs basal stimulation with floating for what the resort describes as a deeply calming effect.Baby yoga sessions form another component of the programme, designed to assist coordination and motor development whilst strengthening parent-child bonds. The resort positions these movement-based therapies as supporting children's discovery of their body awareness in what it terms a "playful and professional manner".

Basal stimulation treatments involve delicate massage techniques specifically for restless infants, incorporating yoga elements under medical guidance. The resort emphasises that all treatments occur under supervision of trained specialists who teach parents techniques they can continue using after their holiday.
Treatment prices range from €42 to €270, with specific programmes tailored to different developmental stages. The facility uses mountain spring water sourced locally, which the resort suggests enhances the therapeutic benefits of the floating treatments.

The baby spa concept addresses growing demand for family-focused wellness experiences, extending spa culture to include the resort's youngest guests. Moar Gut positions the treatments as both therapeutic and educational, with parents learning techniques for ongoing use rather than receiving one-off services.The spa's launch reflects broader trends in wellness tourism, where resorts increasingly cater to entire families rather than focusing primarily on adult relaxation. The inclusion of medical professionals in spa programming suggests attempts to legitimise wellness treatments through qualified supervision.