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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

hated tummy time!

18 replies

debsagos · 03/08/2003 20:40

hello all,

probably just paranoid new mum thinking, but: my 12 week old absolutely hates tummy time....he gets really upset and gets his nose buried in whatever he is lying on (which of course makes him even more upset!!).

i have read that tummy time is really important and that it develops vital muscles in the neck, but surely i shouldn't MAKE him go on his tummy if he hates it!

also his head is starting to get a little flatter on the side that he prefers for lying on....is that normal??

experiences anyone??

thanks
debs

OP posts:

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anais · 03/08/2003 20:44

Noooo, if he doesn't like it don't do it - that's my take on it anyway - and as for the flat head - I think that's normal.

codswallop · 03/08/2003 20:46

What on earthis "tummy Time"?

OldieMum · 03/08/2003 20:47

My dd hated tummy time until she was about 4 months old. I hated doing something that made her cry, but my dh came up with the idea of 'surreptitious tummy time'. He would put her on his chest while he lay in bed in the morning and she enjoyed making eye contact so much she forgot she hated being on her tummy. Gradually, she became more tolerant of lying on her tummy and eventually she liked lying on her tummy on the floor.

codswallop · 03/08/2003 20:48

How long are you supposed to put them on there for? How come no one has ever mentioned this to me?!!(3 kids later)

OldieMum · 03/08/2003 20:55

It's quite a new thing. I read about it in the Guardian last year. Apparently, paediatricians are concerned that young babies now get very little time on their tummies, because they are put on their backs to sleep. This slows development of their neck muscles and can delay crawling. The advice was to put them on their tummies for a short time each day.

OldieMum · 03/08/2003 20:56

miranda2 · 03/08/2003 21:19

My son hated lying on his tummy. He had mats with squeeks, mats with pictures, etc. etc ., but wouldn't go face down without screaming. So we didn't put him on his tummy. So he never crawled. He sat up at 4 months to his great triumph, and then stood at 9 and walked the same week. No, I tell a lie - he would crawl, but only in the bath (it really freaked me out cos I kept thinking he was going to drown, but for some bizarre reason he really liked it).
Don't know if it's related, but the back of his head is really flat!!! Doesn't show now he's got hair (didn't have til 18 months).
don't bother putting him on his tummy if he doesn't like it would be my advice. Children survive most things - its the mummies surviving we've got to worry about

Azure · 03/08/2003 21:47

DS also hated tummy time, and I couldn't just leave him crying, face on floor. He crawled at 9 months and walked at 11 months, and is now almost 2, without any side-effects. I wouldn't worry about it.

gingernut · 03/08/2003 23:03

coddie, your nearly-crawling 4.5 month old doesn't seem to be suffering from his lack of `tummy time' !

Holly02 · 03/08/2003 23:52

debsagos, my ds' head was flatter on one side of his head too - he would lie on his back with his head tilted to one side, and that side of his head was flatter than the other. The back of his head was also quite flat as a baby, but this seems to run in our family, so I wasn't sure if it was a problem or not.

Perhaps you can rotate him around in his cot, so that he's not just lying on the same side all the time. Otherwise I wouldn't worry too much, I took my ds to a pediatrician when he was about 9 months old to ask about his head and he told me that ds' head would 'round out' a lot more as he got older.

He's 3 now and it's still a little flat at the back, but definitely rounder than it was. It seems to have a much more normal shape now - I do think part of it is definitely hereditary, though.

SoupDragon · 04/08/2003 07:35

DS1 used to throw up as soon as he was put on his tummy and then rub his face in it - we stopped doing it. He still sat/crawled ahead of his immediae peer group and had really strong neck muscles as he used to look around lots. He also had a flattish back of the head and a bald patch.

aloha · 04/08/2003 09:44

I really disagree with doing things like this if they distress your child. My ds hated it too so it also made me miserable, so we stopped. He is a very happy, lovely boy who is nearly two and running around fine. He never crawled. His neck seems entirely fine to me.

elliott · 04/08/2003 10:07

My ds didn't like it much either, so I didn't do it. he learnt to crawl at 8 months from sitting - he'd gradually lean forward mroe and more on his hands. He never did commando style crawling, so I think that is rubbish too. He did have quite a flat head at the back, but its covered in lovely thick hair now!!

GillW · 04/08/2003 10:32

Am I the only one with one who actually preferred being on his tummy? DS was never too keen on staring at the ceiling and always seemed happier the other way up once he could hold his head up and look around.

He did crawl quite early - commando crawling at 5 months, classic style at just under 7 months - which seems to fit the theory, but I'm not sure whether it was spending time on his tummy which was to thank(?) for that as he was always quite strong (he'd rolled at 8 weeks for example).

A little bit chicken and egg perhaps - he had the strength to be happy on his tummy, and hence to crawl, early, rather than being on his tummy creating the strength?

codswallop · 04/08/2003 14:39

thank you ginge - was feeling envious of these mothers who can choose to put their babies there. It is really annoying now. Went to princess peaheads the other day and even she noticed how you have to carry him all the blinking time to stop him rolling on to his tummy..........

Thetimmy time thing sounds unnecc. to me

Paula71 · 04/08/2003 22:06

Well I had never heard of tummy time either! It is like running up a sand dune trying to keep up with all the things the "experts" tell us to do!

Despite never hearing of it my ds twins (now 19 months old) did spend some time on their tummy, it may help to know that I would lie on the couch with one tummy to my tummy stroking his head. Both loved it and it was a great way to bond as I couldn't breast feed.

I would worry about suffocation any other way. It won't be long before your little one is lying on his tummy anyway, in the "sky-diving" position as he plays!

princesspeahead · 04/08/2003 22:11

do we care that they don't learn to crawl so fast? I'm quite a fan of immobility as long as possible! And they all manage to walk at the right time so.....
having never heard of it before, I will join the majority and say don't bother if they don't like it!

and coddy's baby is practically walking. spooky!!

Tinker · 04/08/2003 22:40

I'd never heard of tummy time either although my daughter did always flip herself over onto her tummy - and then throw up

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