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The reason I ask is because my baby HATES it. She's 7 weeks old...I'll put her on her tummy on the floor and she'll cry really hard. She won't even attempt to lift her head or chest....she'll just lay there on the floor either with her face smushed or turned to the side...and cry.
Are there alternative ways to do this? Or is it all that necessary? She moves her head around a lot when I hold her upright.
Any suggestions would be great!
From a mom of 2 babies with misshapen heads who crawled late - it is important. I made sure they had a lot of TT, but we still had the issues we did. Building up gradually, providing toys, stimulation, smiles while they're down there is important and helps it go more smoothly. Laying down and having the baby lay on you or on your lap sideways is good too.
There are tummy time mirrors and mats and things like that that can make it more interesting. I hear a lot of babies don't like it, but I think they eventually grow into it. What's annoying is when you want to give them TT, but they've learned to roll over so you have to keep on flipping them...
DD hated it for quite a while too. We would do TT for very short increments (like a minute or two) several times a day. Using a boppy of a pillow to prop baby up a bit helped DD's face from smooshing into the floor. Just keep at it. Eventually your LO will either start to like it or will learn how to roll over to avoid it. I can remember DH and I saying one day, "Remember how much DD used to hate tummy time." It's like a lightbulb got switched on and all of a sudden it just clicked with her.
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Originally Posted by ckso
it is very necessary. all babies hate it at first i think. we had physical therapy as well as early intervention on a weekly basis for our ds. he had severe torticollis at birth as well as a mean case of reflux that is still raging at 17 months. tummy time was HELL!!!! spit up, crying etc.
pt told us to prop him on and inclined surface, a towel rolled up or the crib incline for congestion. just the tummy on the mat and the arms and head over the higher end. it was amazing what a difference it made for him. he didn't seem to scream as much, if at all.
we also found that toys with lights and moving objects to distract him (not a huge fan of these otherwise) became our best friends. the fisher price aquarium propped on the floor, as well as the stacking stars by fisher price, were his faves.
good luck. and don't take this critical exercise for granted. hugely important. if older people tell you (like your mom) you never had it, your fine, remind her that you also slept on your stomach.
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I suggest not making TT so "scheduled" for lack of a better term. My babies did tummy time in my lap and on the bed in the a.m and p.m. until they learned how to crawl. Anytime you're sitting down, baby can have tummy time. She won't even realize she doesn't like it because she'll be close to mom and it's very short intervals throughout the day. :)
i agree.. change it up sometimes. they can do it on your chest or stomach while you're on an incline, on a boppy or pillow for an incline.... on the floor, try getting on the floor with them too or dangle toys for them to look at.
i think it's very important.. and honestly, i think bc of TT, my 6 month old is very good at lifting herself, crawling, sitting up from her tummy position, etc.
Yes! Incredibly important! All the above suggestions are right on. Just little bits throughout the day and you getting down on the floor too are probably the best.
I think it's important. But, I also think doing it in very short amounts and even skipping some days is just fine. DS2 didn't get a lot at first because I was just too busy with 3 kids. He's 4 months now and his head is fine and he likes his tummy. We didn't make much of a point of it until 2-3 months.
But, we did often hold him so that his tummy was along our forearm. At first, his head was at our hand and could be used for support. Now, his head is at our elbow and he lifts his head and turns it, etc. I think this, and putting him face down on our lap were both very good alternatives to him not getting on the floor on his tummy.
I read an article last week about an increase in the number of kids showing up to pre-school not knowing which hand was their dominant hand - they could not catch a ball and did not know which hand to hold crayons in for drawing etc.
The reason? Not enough tummy time lead to children learning to pull up and walk with out learning to crawl. Somehow, TT and crawling lead to handedness....think about it. Once they are propped, they learn to reach for something while maintaining their balance and weight on one hand or arm.
At 7 weeks (well, your lo is what, 10 or 11 weeks now?) just try doing TT on your tummy laying on the bed for a few minutes, on your chest etc. Do it several times a day for just a few minutes, even a minute or two.
We just started TT on the mat on the floor (with a blanket folded underneath it) at 14 weeks (dd had developmental issues and could not be on her tummy before that) and dd is just now, at 18 weeks, not hating it (well, she doesn't hate it for the first 5 minutes!) That frustration is important - it's what motivates them to learn to push up. We let her go to the point of frustration + a moment or two more - but lift her up before she goes ballistic.