feel weird about putting babe on the floor - Page 2

[jennybear]

So interesting to read others' experiences! DD (5 months) has been a "floor baby" since around 2 months (when I figured out that fussing meant put me down and let me kick!) She loves nothing more than kicking her legs (hard to do while carried), rolling around, grabbing her feet, etc. I hold her quite a bit, too, of course, but she's a big fan of floor time.

That being said, it's only been recently that she has liked being on her tum. Before then, she wanted to be on her back.

[cristeen]

My little didnt get put on the floor regularly until he started taking nosedives off the bed. We have hardwood also, w cats and theyre cold hard and dirty. When he showed interest in crawling (off the bed), i went out and got a foam play mat for the living room floor. Weve spent most of our time in here since. And hes quickly gone from crawling to trying to walk at 8 mos.

Before we got the playmat he wasnt on the floor at home at all. We just hung out on the futon. Hed be on the floor at gmas houses, since they have carpets, but thats it.

[rhiOrion]

We have a play mat that we put her on. I put a foamy blanket folded in half under it so that it's softer (hardwood here, too). I don't do tummy time, though... I put her on her back. She LOVES to stare at herself in the mirror hanging on the play mat.

But if your baby doesn't love it, or if she's perfectly content on the couch, then I say don't worry about it!

FWIW I tried putting her on her tummy today, and she screamed. Yeah, she can get her "tummy time" from riding in the carrier and looking around. She has pretty darn good head control for an 8 week old.

[jess5377]

Originally Posted by 1blueheron

I think I read the same thing about babies not touching the ground somewhere - was it Bali?

Yep, the Balinese don't let their children near the ground for the first ~3-6 months (I've read both, but I think it's 3 months on the Balinese calendar) and until after a special ceremony.

[Altair]

We have hardwood floors but my baby really liked being on the floor on a blanket or with toys hanging over him. We started out with sitting next to him, but eventually he liked it just to kick around and grab at things for a few minutes on his own. I do think it gives them a different way of moving around and rolling and swatting and kicking, and it seemed easier for him to move around than a bed or couch or anything else too soft.

[Asiago]

Oh I forgot to add that my son wasn't interested in floor time at all until he learned to sit around 5 months or so. He was happy as could be in the sling or carrier before learning to sit. Now at seven months he gets a lot of floor time and the rest of waking time is usually in the sling or carrier. He let's me know when he wants 'down' (usually when he gets a glimpse of his toys on the floor).

[treeoflife3]

My baby I think prefered our hardwood floors to carpeting. Otherwise, I agree that there is no reason to worry about floor time, especially with a 3.5 month old.

[Jaesun's Dad]

Ours is 20 weeks old now and we tried "tummy time" at around two months and again around three and around four months. He never really liked it too much and only puts up with it for a few minutes. Now he seems to enjoy it a little more, I get down with him and crawl around myself to show him and have tried to gently show him the basic mechanics of crawling but he's not doing much besides a half push-up still. I'm not worried and he has excellent balance and head control when I hold him, he knows how to hang on and use his hands to balance when he's held to keep himself upright and he's very strong so I'm sure when he's ready to start crawling, then cruising and eventually walking he's gonna do it when he feels like it and it will be no big event to him when it does happen (though I'm sure I'll promptly phone his grandfather to give him the walking report when that happens).

[texmati]

my mom is constantly harassing me about putting him on the floor. as much as I hate to admit that she is right about anything-- I do think DS has learned alot by being on the floor for a while each day. (normally we are down there with him. I would be a bit concerned about the dog, though.

[1blueheron]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

We don't have any of the floor dangers you do and I was : when dh carefully put dd on the floor while he had to use the restroom while watching her.

Ironically, I found this very liberating, as it had never occurred to me that I could put her down on the shag rug in our bathroom. Now I can pee anytime, without planning ahead or checking to make sure my Moby-tail isn't in the toilet!

Anyway, aside from the brief sojourns on the rug we've not done anything different and since the original post she's now rolling in both directions and doing the mini-pushup thing, so all is well with our world.