Tummy Time

[Erin M]

Hang in there -- I always break my hour up into little bits 5/10 minutes at a time or so.

[rinajack]

tummy time laying on your tummy counts too - so go lay on your bed, and talk to her while she is on your tummy No falling alseep though

[debetha]

youcan also put them tummy down on a fitball/ swiss ball - or any largish ball for that matter. Obviously you hold them there, and move it around, great also for vestibulr stimulation. but my lo (9wks) we only do 2-3 mins of this at a go. then turn her over and bounce her/ you on it.

[skatty]

My DD is 5½ months and a tummy sleeper but hates tummy time!! I think she associates being on her tummy with bed  I do find propping her up on a breastfeeding cushion in front of a Baby Einstein dvd really works but I don't do this everyday. The other thing that helps is to lie on my tummy so we are facing each other while singing and chatting. She hardly ever comes up onto her hands and yet every morning when I go to get up she is in that position waiting for me!! She can sit very well though I do support her with cushions but hates to roll over and has only done it a couple of times. I must say that TT has got better as she has got older though so I am sure it will improve even more soon 

[Cornish smiler]

Do you know, I had no idea how important Tummy Time is!  Think I'd better get busy!!!!  I do sometimes put Sam (16 weeks old) on his tummy and he sort of grunts and struggles to lift his head but does try to pull his legs up under him so hopefully we're on the right track.  I'm sure it's been said before, but how long should we be aiming for on this?

Ali

[Erin M]

I *think* the recommendation starts out at about 20 minutes a day, which at the beginning I would break up into small intervals as my LOs have both hated it in the beginning.  As they were able to tolerate more, I would put them on their tummies for longer until they were up to an hour or so -- eventually they get to the point where they can roll themselves back over and then it becomes more of a challenge!

[Aly Mac]

HI everyone - I must say the more I do TT with Lilly the longer she can do it.  She doesn't always like it, but she likes it more often than not (where as before she never liked it....)  She scoots around the mat now (we have wooden floors).  Amazing how she can move around.

good luck and perserver...(sic)

[cyarker]

Hi,
Sorry, I'm joining this thread from a slightly different angle - my dd is now 6 months old and has NEVER liked being on her tummy. She will tolerate it, but you can see she doesn't *enjoy* it. I've regularly tried to give her tummy time like I did with my first daughter (who was rolling front to back by 12 weeks, and back to front not long after). But this time, dd#2 has had one week about a month and a half ago when she rolled from front to back lots, and hasn't done it since! And she hasn't ever even bothered going from back to front. On the other hand, she is a very upright baby instead - she has been sitting unsupported since 5 1/2months old, and loves standing holding on to my fingers.
Is this really weird? It's so different from last time that I can't get used to it. I'm getting to the stage where I just want to give up on tummy time because it seems not to be making any difference; besides I think she should be trying to rolll back to front by now!! Should I be prepared for her to be a late crawler/walker?

Charlotte.

[Aly Mac]

HI Charlotte - my lo is 5 1/2 months & hasn't rolled yet (I think she did the other day when we weren't looking but that's it!)  I still perserver with tummy time & have found that the more I do it , the more she likes it.  I only do a bit at t time if she complains, but many times in the day.  I was reading a book on Activities the other day and it had milestones in there & it was odd that rolling over was not a milestone.  Maybe it's not and we worry too much about it!!! 

Sorry not much help, but wanted you to knwo that you are not alone....

[Erin M]

I would persevere with tummy time, just so she has the experience of it and so she gets used to being on her tummy, but not worry about it.  All babies are going to develop differently -- mine have been way more interested in being upright like yours which is fine.  So many of the "traditional" milestones are based on tummy-sleeping babies too, my old ped mentioned that realistically, a lot of babies don't roll until 6 months at the earliest, just b/c of the reduced amount of time on their tummies. 

[OnyxRayne]

We tried tummy time with Ella's boppy a couple of times, and within seconds, she was screaming. She's happier sitting up, or laying on her back and rolling over to her tummy by herself.


Oh, and that boppy? It is now my husband's pillow. *laughs*

[thoosier]

I am new to this site and the EASY method. I am just getting it together enough to find time to read the book! My son Duncan is 7 weeks old. Is this too early to try tummy time? It should be a real treat trying...especially since he happens to be a Grumpy baby

[Erin M]

Never too early!  You might find that you're most successful if you hold him on your chest/tummy when he's that small.

[Bryony]

Hi - just wanted to post that I have finally found a way that Katie (5 mo) tolerates tummy time - she's hated it forever. However she is quite happy having a back massage while lying on her tummy as part of her bedtime routine.  That's my girl!!

Don't know if that's helpful to anyone else?!

Bryony

[Elvira]

This tummy time has me really amazed.  Do not know anything about it (raised my child a long time ago).  However one thing I do know and there,s very valid research in the US about it.  Babies under 3 months of age should NOT be put to sleep on their tummy.  The recommendation, made during years and years (decades) to put them to sleep on their tummy to avoid suffocation and sudden crib death was all WRONG.  Sometime in the 90,s, american doctors tried with two groups of babies, to put them to sleep as always (tummy down) or tummy up, for the first months.  They were large groups.  The amount of crib deaths in the group sleeping tummy down was so much bigger than in the other group that they discontinued the study and reversed their position: babies must sleep tummy up. They cannot move their necks well, and cannot get easily rid of reflux, etc.   And when I had my daughter, I did try to put her tummy down and she hated it, even though she supported her head on her neck very well from day one, and the upper back too.  So much she hated it that she actually "tried" to roll sideways (but could not).  Therefore I decided to trust her (scared about going "against the norm") and when I read about the research many years later I was glad of it.

So I suggest that children 3 months or younger may have a very good reason to "hate tummy time", a survival reason to hate it, and that doing it for short times on your belly would be better, and safer.  As for trying to crawl, doing anything positive about it seems very premature before four/five months (they are not normally ready till about 6/8 months although there will always be exceptions).  Unless, of course, baby loves it.  My daughter could support herself seated at 4 months, when she was ready to crawl she did it from the sitting position, like other children here have done. 

And she did have "tummy time" the natural way (without my knowing of such recommendation or worrying about her neck....could not worry, she was competent from day one): lying on my belly, with me not even lying down entirely many times, it is just that you support her with your arms to see her beautiful face, make noises, she responds, you let her lie on your breast/belly....all these things that are done naturally after feeds, etc.