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Talk to me about tummy time...please :)

post #1 of 14
Thread Starter 
So, DD is 3.5 mos. She is SUPER active when we are holding her or if she is laying down. But, she HATES tummy time. DH and I can already tell she will be a "spirited girl" once she's up and walking (see below) but doesn't she have to crawl first? Do we have to put her on her tummy every day if she hates it? It makes her cry.


some background if you're interested.

She LOVES to lay on her back on a blanket and chatter with anyone who will listen, while kicking and waving her arms something fierce! we dangle little soft toys for her, and she will bat and grab at them (sometimes even successfully getting one to her mouth!) If we hold her up, so her head is over our shoulders, she will push off of our arms or laps with her feet, and almost jump over a shoulder. She's been doing this since abt 6 weeks, no exaggeration. She can support her own weight her legs, on a lap or the floor if someone is just keeping her upright.

But, if we roll her onto her tummy, even if she is alert, happy and active, she will just grunt, and eventually cry. She has great head control, and can lift her head off the floor. She can even lift part of her upper torso off the floor if we leave her there. But she doesnt like it at all!! She can roll from back to front sometimes, though not consistently. She's working on it though. if she gets mad enough, she will start to roll from front to back but, generally gives up and just cries. I feel like I'm just making her upset unnecessarily. What can we do? She "gets" that pushing off will move her, she even pulls her feet/legs under herself and then pushes them out again when on her tummy, but just hasnt gained enough traction yet with her feet. But the whole time, she's giving her "I'm annoyed" grunts and whimpers. it's sad.

Any experienced mamas have any advice for this newbie?
post #2 of 14
My son didn't like it either. But my mom worked at a center for neurological development and made him starting at 2 weeks of age. It is very important. Most peds just say to do it so they won't get a flat head, etc. but it is important to get rid of tonal reflexes. The toe digging they do when they are on their tummy is very important. For me, it was so important that I made my son grunt and whimper and do it. If it escalated into a full blown cry, then I picked him up and held him, comforted him, gave him a break, and then I'd either return him to his tummy or make sure we did a few more times later in the day.
post #3 of 14
My DD was exactly the same at that age. She too started pushing to stand and bearing her weight at 6 wks. She also hated tummy time. I had one of those surfboard tummy time mats and she just didn't like it. A friend of mine had a nice baby gym and her son liked his tummy time so I thought I'd give it a try. I bought this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ef=oss_product and my DD really liked it, especially the crinklely parts. It was great because she would entertain herself there for like a half hour. Unfortunately for me, it was only a month before she started rolling off the mat and across the whole room so we ended up graduating to a sheet on the floor with her toys on it. She does still use the mat sometimes but gets mad when she rolls into the arches. We've repurposed it now, upside down, as a means to block the TV so she won't see it if we happen to be watching it (we don't let her watch the "baby crack" aka the TV )
post #4 of 14
We never did intentional tummy time and our little girl crawled, turned over and cruised at a good age. We did carry her in a sling often. I don't see how forcing her to be uncomfortable would have helped... she didn't enjoy it either.
post #5 of 14
we did VERY SHORT bouts of tummy time, multiple times a day, as dd didn't care for it either - like a total of 5 min a day. She spent a lot of time in arms or in a wrap. Has since met all milestones early or at average time. The only thing we did attend to were neck-strengthening things, as she did have a bit of torticollis in the early days.

I used to take her on "blanket rides" around the house, that was her favorite way to do tummy time.

eta: don't stress about it. try to enjoy this pre-mobile time...when they can't escape your snuggles.
post #6 of 14
Thread Starter 
Thanks everyone! Your experiences make me feel (a little) less neglectful.

! I should mention that we're not home with her during the day. I'm back at work and she is at a babysitter's house. She doesnt nap well there, so sleeps from the time she gets in the car till basically the next morning. only gets up to eat and goes back to sleep So we definitely dont get to do that with her during the week. I was basically asking bc I didnt know if I should be asking the babysitter to do it with her during the day.

I ended up sending her an email this morning asking that she do like 20 min total of tummy time a day. I guess i should decrease that to 10? DD is sooo easy that a tiny bit of effort on babysitter's part wouldnt be a strain.

She has great head and neck control and really seems to want to sit up (or, rather, have someone hold her sitting upright) already. If she is in a reclining position while being held, or in <gasp> her bouncy seat she is always pulling and leaning forward in an attempt to sit up straight.

Unfortunately, the TV is on allll day at babysitter's house. DD is an addict already. Ugh. if only i could be home. But that's another thread. ...
post #7 of 14
We did tummy time, but my DD loved it. One thing she loved at about 4 months was letting her rest her armpits over the boppy. This way, she was able to be at an angle where she could see everyone, but she was practicing holding her head up and bearing weight on her arms.
post #8 of 14
I have a good friend who is an occupational therapist who has worked with young kids - and she has shown me the research that supports the fact that tummy time is important. For crawling, sure, but actually more for later development. There are correlations between lack of tummy time and difficulties learning to write (because of lack of upper body tone) later. I can see this in my DD - she hated tummy time and we didn't do it, and she is struggling to write at a level with her peers, even though she talked early and is reading early too. At the time I didn't do tummy time because she screamed - now I don't know what I would do - probably persist more.

We're doing some stuff with her now to make up for it (swimming, and lying on her tummy listening to bedtime stories) as well as lots of practice, and we've seen an improvement.

Like anything else, not every child will have issues just because of lack of tummy time, but it's something to take into consideration. Luckily for us, DS loves it!
post #9 of 14
With my first, I had to lay down on my back, and do "tummy time" with her on my chest.
post #10 of 14
i could have written your original question, when my son was her age. except: he HATED tummy-time from second one on his tummy. he's a big strong boy, and crawling like a fiend, keeping me running. i did try to give him a little each day, but he hated it so much he'd just scream, so i'd sit him up on me so at least he could get the ab workout of trying to stay sitting.

not to make you feel bad (at all!) but if i were you i'd be more worried about the TV addiction than the aversion to tummy time. she'll learn to crawl and walk without tummy time, but the TV will always be seductive.
post #11 of 14
We went to a talk by an OT a few months ago and she had some suggestions for babies who didn't like tummy time

- put them on a birth ball and gently roll/bounce them
- put a rolled up towel under their chest so their arms are over it to give them a bit of support initially

I also used to put J on the change table on her tummy then kneel in front of it so we were eye to eye. We'd chat and sing a bit and she would tolerate it for a few minutes.

Will the babysitter wear her? Wearing in an upright position confers some of the same benefits apparently and she may prefer it.
post #12 of 14
I never did tummy time with either of my kids. They spent most of their time in the sling, so they never got flat heads. And they learned to roll over and crawl and walk and all of that without any trouble. Dd #1 has always been slghtly slow on physical stuff, but very much within the realm of normal, and not just those things but potty training and swinging alone and bike riding too, so I don't think it's related. And the second one was a bit ahead on physical stuff, and she was in the sling just as much, and also never had any tummy time.
post #13 of 14
Just as a tip: I've seen many babies who HATE tummy time come around when you put them down over a mirror. You can buy the plexi glass kind and just lay soft blankets around the edges, or roll up a towel for under their chest and armpits. They LOVE looking at themselves and your reflection in the mirror, and they'll stay there for much longer than usual!
post #14 of 14
Thread Starter 

Wow! thank you so much for all the great tips! we tried the changing table chat and the boppy under the chest thing over the weekend, and she tolerated it much longer! Maybe I'll bring in that mirror from the car and see if she likes to look at that!

 

She still seems like her upper body could use a little strengthening, but I think will get the hang of it.

 

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