tummy time!

[braidmama]

I'm just wondering what everyone else thinks about this...

DS is 5 months old and HATES tummy time. He will hardly do it for more than 5 minutes at a time (really, that's a maximum). He's definitely been showing signs of wanting to be more mobile and will scoot himself around (more like inching...) on his back, but the minute he's on his tummy he gets sooo mad. I've tried everything; toys, music, using the boppy fot support under his arms/chest, nothing works. I always get down on the mat with him and play and try to distract him rom the fact that he's on his tummy, which seems to work for a little while but then he gets super mad. He's a very fussy baby and has a seriously loud cry! I've even put him in front of the tv (which I hate and really never do but I'm trying everything, here!) to ditract him. Nothing! Pedi wants him to get more time in because at 5 months he's still pretty floppy. I'm just worried about his development and I want to make sure he has plenty of opportunity to develop upper arm strength and neck control. I sometimes will sit him in the bumbo seat (never unattended) to maybe help him with neck muscles but after a couple of minutes he just flops forward.

Anyone else dealing with this? Any tips/advice on how I can get him to enjoy this more? I feel like I've exhausted all of my ideas!

[Peace+Hope]

eh, we went to a PT and she said tummy time was very important too, but charlie is just getting to the point that he'll do it for awhile (more than 5 minutes).

i've seen quite a few moms here say that being upright in a carrier exercises a lot of the same muscles.

couple things i do to help charlie with upper body strength: "fly" him around so that he's working his muscles to stay straight through his torso and neck. also, i have him sit/stand in my lap with support only at the hips, or as little support above that as he can handle for as long as he's having fun.

[Hannah32]

Sam loves the colic carry (draped over the arm thing). His dad carries him around that way and I often take him for walks around the yard that way. This also counts as "tummy time."

Sam generally likes it though, so I'm not sure what else to suggest. He tolerates it for up to 15 minutes, depending on mood.

[braidmama]

thanks to both of you! i do the holding his hips/waist thing while he stands on my lap a lot, i just didn't really think of it that I guess but it makes sense! I tried the colic carry with him and kinda zoomed him around the house after I read this and he loved it. i do have a beco that I carry him around in the front with and a ring slingf that he likes to sit in kangaroo carry. I guess I'm overreacting here and he's right on track. I know every baby develops differently and he will get there eventually...usually I don't obsess and worry about this stuff but for some reason this particular thing was eating at me. Thanks again!

[mamakaikai]

Another fun way to do 'tummy time' is for you to lie on your back with your legs up knees bent (that makes sense) and place your babe on your shins so his head is just past your knees. He'll be working on his upper body strength while looking at you. It's great for you too, since you can lower your legs and bring him back up and get some exercise. It's fun bonding time too.

[ShanaV]

My kids don't really like being flat on their tummy either, but they're getting really strong necks bc of a couple of things I do constantly:

(1) Lie on my or Daddy's tummy. They'll often do some mini push ups and scoot up towards my shoulder / neck.
(2) Hold them all the time in the over the shoulder burp position. In the last few weeks I've been doing a lot of this and they are getting a LOT stronger at holding up their heads to look around. I lol bc they're like a little sack o' potatoes.
(3) Practice sitting and standing with my support, holding them around the waist or under the pits.
(4) Similar to the pp, they sit on the "Daddy Throne": he lies on his back, knees bent up, and sits a kid on his crotch leaning back against his thighs.

Because they were preemies we've met with an occupational therapist, and she assured us that "tummy time" counts basically whenever the kid is not left on his back. So, doing AP stuff pretty much takes care of the major problem that tummy time was invented to address by not leaving the kid on his back all the time.

[braidmama]

oh cool, also great to know! i guess i have been doing all of those things pretty much (except the leg thing but i will def try that- this mama is so out of shape!) all the time too but i didn't really think of it that way. cool! he's definitely been diggin' "standing" on my lap while I hole on to his waist. he cracks up every time!

[Zangua]

DD is 5 months (also born on April 5th!) and she still absolutely hates being on her tummy too. I think it's too much pressure on her belly. We do the flying thing, the belly hold while walking and the upright carrier... think of it this way, tummy time is a western construct. Plenty of babies all over the world do not get 'tummy time' in any sort of formal way and they still learn to crawl and walk and move independently in their own time. Your babe will be fine!

[Ninetales]

Elsa never liked being on her tummy in the early months. I held her upright all the time since she preferred it and never really put her on her tummy. She eventually started rolling over just fine, and once she could do that, she tolerated it until she was strong enough to hold her head up and now she's nearly always on her tummy scootching around.

I think "tummy time" is something you only really need to worry about if the baby isn't held upright or worn very much.

[braidmama]

Originally Posted by Zangua

think of it this way, tummy time is a western construct. Plenty of babies all over the world do not get 'tummy time' in any sort of formal way and they still learn to crawl and walk and move independently in their own time. Your babe will be fine!

Thats very true...thanks everyone!

[Sorin]

DD also HATES tummy time (she's 11 days younger than your babe). I do all of the things mentioned by other posters. Plus, I figure that if I can get her to tolerate tummy time for even one minute, I can do that ten quick times a day. Added up, she gets 10 minutes! Looking at it this way helped me to relax a bit about her not tolerating it.

[LilaQ]

My son would not tolerate tummy time or being on his belly in any way until he was 9 months old and the desire to crawl finally made him get over his aversion. Funny thing is, now he's a tummy sleeper! I worried about the tummy time thing too but it turned out fine. One thing that helped (maybe) was playing on our bed. We'd bounce around and be silly and he didn't mind if I rolled him on his belly then.

[Adaline'sMama]

Originally Posted by Liz.Furtado

oh cool, also great to know! i guess i have been doing all of those things pretty much (except the leg thing but i will def try that- this mama is so out of shape!) all the time too but i didn't really think of it that way. cool! he's definitely been diggin' "standing" on my lap while I hole on to his waist. he cracks up every time!

Have you tried holding him from his hips when hes standing on your lap? It seems to strenghten their upper body.

DD hated tummy time. Now she can roll over, she is alway on her tummy. Does your DS roll over yet?

[St. Margaret]

Yeah, I did a tiny bit of tummy time just to try it out, but I wore DD for hours every day, tummy to tummy in a wrap, and she slept on me (on her tummy!) and we did the playing with her up above us, in the air/arms or on our knees/legs. She was fine! I think babes are going to be into what they're into when they're into it, and as long as they're not being left on their backs in "devices" all day, it's all good.

[braidmama]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama

Have you tried holding him from his hips when hes standing on your lap? It seems to strenghten their upper body.

DD hated tummy time. Now she can roll over, she is alway on her tummy. Does your DS roll over yet?

Oh yes we do the standing thing, he definitely loves it! He holsds his arms up or out to the side and I always sing "TA DAAA" to him when he does it, haha. Nope, not rolling over quite yet, although I do often find him on his side in the middle of the night or morning when we wake up.