Tummy time! Or . . . More things to feel guilty about.

[Anonymous]

My BIL sent us an article today about tummy time from the Chicago Tribune. You can read it here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-tummytime_bd27jan27,0,7315892.story. Just as the article suggests, we have attempted to get our daughter to do tummy time since almost the very beginning. The article suggests starting at least by the time the baby is five days old. We did this. This meant watching very, very carefully--because we are completely paranoid--as our daughter slept on her stomach for about ten minutes. Five days old! Our DD barely opened her eyes the first two months! Anyway . . . our 4 month old tolerates TT for about 45 seconds. Not an exageration. Am I supposed to let her fuss and scream? A real not rhetorical question. The good news is that I have found yet one more thing to worry about as a new mom. Thank goodness! If any of you have normal, happy, healthy children that only tolerated tummy time for a minute or less, I'd love to hear from you! Oh and there's another part of the article that goes into the evils of exersaucers. Just in case you were feeling okay about the tummy time.

[Anonymous]

A lot of babies don't like tummy time to begin with.

You may have to let her fuss some, she'll get stronger after doing it and then it won't be so hard.

There are things you can do to make it easier though-

You can lay down on your back and put her on her stomach on you. It still counts and a lot of babies like it better.

You can try rolling up a towel and putting it under her chest to lift her off the floor some, she may like this better.

Give her interesting things to look at(a mirror, a board book, whatever), sit there and talk to her/play with her. Lay on your stomach and interact. If she won't stay there long, just do brief periods throughout the day.

[Anonymous]

You sound like me!! We kept trying to do the tummy time thing, but our DD would last about 30 seconds and then either become hysterical and/or throw up. It was great. I kept trying but it never seemed to get any better. However, once she could roll on her own she was all over the tummy time and I am happy to report I have a 10 month old who has met all milestones either on time or ahead of schedule. Don't stress too much, maybe once the rolling happens things will fall in to place.

[Anonymous]

The child will eventually learn to crawl and walk and go to college without tummy time. Give yourself a break.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if it counts as tummy time, but we used to put our little guy on his tummy on our chests as we lay on the floor on our backs.

[Anonymous]

We didn't push tummy time when he fussed. He hated it, so we usually skipped it. (Lot's of time upright or slightly slanted against our chests though, which he liked). DS (10 months) is ahead of the curve on all his physical milestones, likely to walk any day now. I wouldn't sweat it.

[Anonymous]

Wow! Am pregnant with our second child and just read the Tribune story that you posted the link to. Thanks for posting it. It was interesting, but a bit stressful to read! It's so hard to parse the endless parade of studies and expert opinions these days and retain your sanity.

We did tummy time with our first for as long as she would tolerate it. It was not very long at first--maybe a minute at a time--but she grew more tolerant each time. We also used bouncy seats and exersaucers (which enabled me to take much-needed showers!!!) and allowed her to continue sleeping in the infant car seat when we finished a car ride and she was knocked out. She walked and crawled ahead of time and seems fine now. Keep trying with tummy time, but don't let it all stress you out too much. Your baby will be fine.

[Anonymous]

This may horrify some, but the only way one of my children would do more than 30 seconds of tummy time without screaming was if the tv was on in front of her. It could be the news or sports -- the tv screen captivated her. I would put her on an ottoman for a few minutes at a time and she lifted her head to 90 degrees! (Otherwise, she didn't watch any tv until she was almost three -- mostly because she wasn't interested in the programs, even Elmo.) With our other two, we propped them up on our knees facing out (as we sat on the floor with our legs bent), or used the crib ocean wonders aquarium to interest them to look up from lying on their tummys on the floor.

[Anonymous]

Our DD hates two things - the aspirator and tummy time.

So far so good though and all of us have survived the first 8 months.

We didn't start tummy time until she was about 4 weeks old. Cried and fussed after literally 30 seconds (like other PPs have noted). The ped. said that is normal and almost expected considering babies are developing and strengthening their muscles which can be uncomfortable. The ped. compared to it to us adults going to the gym for the very first time and getting a killer workout for muscles you never knew you even had - not fun and really uncomfortable and after 45 seconds we, too, probably would want to quit the working out.

As DD got stronger and older tummy time wasn't so bad. It actually encouraged her to roll.

When your DD is a little older, you may want to try putting her elbows on the boppy. That helped our DD a lot.

I think some PPs touched on this, but we considered tummy time as laying on daddy's chest too.

[Anonymous]

For variety, try rolling up a towel and putting it under her arms as she's on her belly - it will lift her head slightly and encourage her to look up (she will also love it if lie down face-to-face with her and make silly faces). Also, when she's on her belly without the towel, let her push against your hands with her feet and watch how far she can move on the floor or bed and how strong she is!

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry about tummy time too much. What I took away from this article is not to plop baby for hours on end in a bouncy seat or infant carseat as I've seen some parents do esp. parents of older children who are busy with them. My kids (now normal toddlers) would fuss when I put them on their stomachs. But just do it a few minutes a day and keep doing it. Pick them up when they get upset. When they were babies, I would also allow them to nap on their bellies (I was watching) and we co-slept, often with them on my chest. (bad bad mother)


Get a playmat and a boppy. Try propping them stomach down on the boppy as the PPs have said and rattle toys to encourage to lift their heads.

[Anonymous]

I wasn't able to get the link to work.

Tummy time is really important because it helps to strengthen the core. Once the "Back to Sleep" campaign began, physical milestones were pushed back. It used to be the norm for a baby walking was by a year, now it is by 18 months. People are often a bit astounded when they hear about my DD and how early she hit all her milestones. She was crawling at four months, cruising at six, and took her first steps at seven months, although she didn't start really walking until she was 8 months. These are milestones that used the be the norm (the early end of the norm) but today are not. Yes, I was a bad mom and let my DD sleep on her tummy, but it was the only way she would ever sleep more than ten minutes at a time.

What I would do to keep her interested in tummy time, was to prop her on a boppy and put toys in front of her. By three months I didn't have to use the boppy anymore, and I could even put her in a seated position, and she would stay like that and play with her toy of the moment. I did tummy time starting the day she came home from the hospital, not sure if that made a difference or not. Oddly enough I purposely didn't read up on many of these things, or try to compare my DD to friends children of the same age, it would have just driven me crazy.

You are the mom, and you have to do what works for your baby. Don't worry too much about it though, just try and increase the amount of time your baby does tummy time. While it is important, it isn't the end of the world if she doesn't do it.

[Anonymous]

Oh lordy. I am one of countless people who will tell you that my kids never did tummy time and walked by 10 and 11 mos. respectively. It's a slippery slope of keeping up with the Joneses, the less you buy into it from the beginning, the more happy and content parent you will be. Try not to stress!

[Anonymous]

We didn't start tummy time until about 4 months. And then only for as long as she tolerated it (a few minutes a day). She learned to crawl at 7 months and is baout to walk anyday now at 10 months. Don't worry--as someone else mentoned, when they learn to roll over, it gets easier.

[Anonymous]

What if your baby is 6 months and doesn't roll over?