tummy time - my 11 week old hates it! Any advice?

[jammydodger]

I put my 11 week old ds on his tummy every day, but he generally hates it. He'll lie there looking around for a minute or two, suck his fist, then start screaming! He shows no signs of lifting up his neck, he just lies flat and yells!

I was just wondering how long do you think is a good length of time for a baby to be on his tummy during the day (5 minutes? half an hour?) Should I persist with it if he really hates it that much? And should I be worried about his inability to lift his head up from that position? (He has good head control when he's upright).

Sorry, overanxious new mum here! Thanks in advance for any tips.

[Clayhead]

I tried this once with dd (my mum insisted it was a good thing), dd hated it and I never did it again. Never bothered with ds.

Why put them in a position they obviously hate?

[Clayhead]

Sorry, that last bit was rhetorical!! Didn't mean it to sound so harsh .

I just despair at my myself when dd was young, worrying about her hating her tummy...it seems odd to me now.

If it's any consolation to you, I hardly put ds down when he was a little baby so he got no back or tummy time!

I would just put your ds in a position where he was comfy and happy.

HTH

[Papillon]

you could get down on the floor with him and get some eye contact going and see if that helps.

Otherwise like Clayhead say... don´t bother with it if he hates it. My dd did not like to be on her tummy nor to roll onto it until she was around 10 months... she decided when she was ready

[SoupDragon]

Erm... don't do it?

DS1 used to throw up within seconds of being put on his tummy so we didn't do it and it certainly didn't delay his development in any way.

[spots]

My dd hated it until she could actually do something with her head; it sort of happened back to front IYSWIM. ButI have found that if I lie on my back with my legs up and my knees bent, and hold her on my shins, so that she is looking down on me, she'll enjoy it much more. not very much good for encouraging crawling movements, but might get the neck used to looking in different directions.

[GeorginaA]

I found that propping ds2 up with a cushion so his front half was slightly raised helped. However, he still isn't a great fan of his tummy. I did/do about 2-5 mins a day on his tummy, depending how well he tolerates it. He much prefers being helped to sit or stand and as a result has got superb neck control from that.

[motherinferior]

I only realised I was supposed to do it after my dd1 had started walking (story of my inferior life, really). I honestly wouldn't worry. Didn't get round to it with dd2 either and they seem really quite competent in the moving department.

[SpringChicken]

Oh Dear - am i meant to be doing this???
How crap am i, i didn't even know there was such a thing as "Tummy time".

[PicadillyCircus]

When DS was small he hated being on his tummy and I thought he'd stay on his back for ever. I didn't put him on his tummy as he hated it so much.

Now (10.5 months) he never wants to be on his back (makes nappy changing fun ) and I occasionally look back to the old days of him lying on his back kicking his legs in the air.

He crawled at 8.5 months so I don't think hating being on his tummy when small was too much of a problem.

I'm a first time mum too and have a lot of overanxiety!

[jammydodger]

Wow, thanks for all the replies!! You've all reassured me and now I think I'll just forget it for the moment...Or just do it as and when I remember, and not stress about it!

Cheers m'dears!
(There's enough to worry about already isn't there?)

[prufrock]

Definately don't stress about it. We do the cushion, and lying on my shins (sit- ups with a baby on your shins is a realy good abdominal exercise ) I also lie him on my birth ball and roll him about which he seems to really like - a beachball would be big enough.

[jane103]

nver heard of it
all mine walk and never had tunmmy time