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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

Tummy Time

27 replies

BananaPie · 24/04/2011 04:52

I know that babies are meant to spend some time on their tummies, but my 8 week old doesn't seem to enjoy it. She lies with her head on one side and just looks stuck! She often ends up spitting up a little bit and / or crying after only a few minutes. Any tips? She's still not got much strength in her neck and can't really support her head yet.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

IngridBergman · 24/04/2011 06:29

Seriously, don't bother. They develop at different speeds in different things and if it is upsetting her, she can;'t tell you so just take the hint

It's not a problem - zillions of babies survived without 'tummy time' before2005 or whenever it was brought in. both mine hated it. I never persisted. Maybe try again in a month or two and see if she wants to do it then, but don't put her or yourself through it, she'll do it herself if she wants to!

Tee2072 · 24/04/2011 07:25

If she lies on you, chest to chest, that counts as tummy time. It doesn't have to be flat on the floor. You can be sitting up.

mosschops30 · 24/04/2011 07:52

Its bollocks, ds2 hated it so i never bothered. Life is too short to mske your baby do something they hate, just because its recommended in some book, amd you will learn this as ypu go along.
Use your instincts

Panzee · 24/04/2011 07:57

A few minutes is way more than enough. If you want to continue, that is.

Mahraih · 24/04/2011 08:03

We do tummy time when I remember and at first DS hated it, but now he's ok for a couple of minutes ... so that's all we force him to endure

Gemtubbs · 24/04/2011 08:09

I never really done tummy time with my DS, he's now 3 and I don't think he's worse off for not having done it. If they don't like it, what's the point of worrying about it?

buffy13 · 24/04/2011 11:12

I never did it with my daughter (now 15) - they didn't do it then! - tried with my son now 10 months and he hated it so I didn't bother, hasn't hindered his development in any way. Personally I think its cruel, don't like to see them struggling to try and lift their heads and getting upset so my advice is don't do it, at least not till she can hold her head up properly :-))

RitaMorgan · 24/04/2011 11:14

I didn't bother til ds could roll. he didn't like it. Hasn't done him any harm as he was crawling and pulling up on things at 8 months.

Lying on you, or being carried in a decent sling count as tummy time too.

beamel · 24/04/2011 12:55

My DD refused to do tummy time until nearly 12 weeks (just lay face down and cried). No way was I going to force her - I agree with buffy, its cruel. Now just 2 weeks later she is lifting her head and pushing up on elbows as well as other babies we know who have been doing tummy time all along. I figure they do it when they are ready.
I was never given tummy time and I can hold my head up perfectly well so there !

HoolaHooper · 24/04/2011 15:48

My little girl hated it and so we didn't do it much. SHe never rolled and learnt to crawl from a sitting position at 9 months so has avoided any need to be on her tummy (until she decided she liked to sleep that way). Hasn't delayed her progress or anything. I'd maybe try occasionally to see if shes changed her mind about it but leav it a few weeks until she can support her own head better.

Original poster

BananaPie · 24/04/2011 16:51

Thank you! I'll stop worrying about it!

OP posts:

bear1234 · 07/08/2011 13:00

Hate to say it guys, but my brother is a doctor and he totally disagrees. Told me it was really important. I used to use one of those rubber ring things which raised C off the floor and she much preferred it, but I have also tried a TummyWithMummy recently. Great, but not easy to get. Think amazon have some.

Tee2072 · 07/08/2011 13:03

What kind of doctor is he? And did he tell you specifically to find 4 month old threads to 'spread the word'?

RedHotPokers · 07/08/2011 13:04

Mine both hated it. I occasionally persisted for a few minutes but it did seem cruel. They were both slow crawling and walking but it made no diference in the long run imo.

Roxy33 · 07/08/2011 18:02

My little girl hated it until she was about 4 months. I didn't really persist with it, tried it maybe once a week to see if she had changed her mind but then suddently at 4 months she just seemed to get the hang of it and enjoyed it for a few minutes - Also I did start to use a rolled up blanket (about 3 cm thick) under her front arms to help her get the idea - wouldn't bother buying any of those specific pillows etc....unless you have cash to burn!

Hmmm, one doctor's opinion is not a medical consensus - in my humble opinion.

breatheslowly · 07/08/2011 20:08

I know that this is an old thread, but for what it is worth...

Holding a baby in your arms with their tummy along your arm does the same job as tummy time (strengthening neck and back). You can do this standing and swaying slightly and many babies seem to like it.

WanderingSheep · 07/08/2011 20:19

I think most babies hate Tummy time, don't they? A HV told me to do it with DD1 and I never really bothered, she's 4 now and it doesn't seem to have suffered

A volunteer at my local Children's Centre has just done some training about something or other and was talking to me about the importance of tummy time - I told her that DD2 (now 5 months) hated it - volunteer put DD2 across a sausage shaped beanie cushion (her chest and arms over the cushion) and DD loved it as she could still have a right old nosy at what everyone was doing

I struggle to see how it has much importance as children seem to develop fine without it, but if anyone is worried about it then the cushion method is worth trying

WanderingSheep · 07/08/2011 20:20

Oh, bugger! Sorry, didn't realise how old the thread was

WanderingSheep · 07/08/2011 20:21

And I have just noticed that Roxy has just given a similar tip, sorry! [gets coat]

bear1234 · 09/08/2011 00:00

Tee2072 - aren't you friendly? And I wonder what caused you to comment on such an old thread?

Actually didn't notice 4 month old thing - just trying to be helpful and have not figured out the site yet. You might want to check my other comments to keep me right about the timings on those threads too? although I'm pretty sure there's no time limit on any of these topics and they are still pretty relevant.

Fyi - He's a pediatrician actually (ie i suspect more qualified in his opinion than you) but don't take mine or his word for it, NHS is pretty vocal too:
www.scotland.gov.uk/resource/doc/170857/0047857.pdf
www.wirral.nhs.uk/document_uploads/Health_Challenge_Wirral/TummyTime.pdf
www.solihull.nhs.uk/Help-and-advice/Motherhood-and-pregnancy/Back-to-sleep,-tummy-to-play

To the rest of you, apologies for being so obviously irritated by the rude response.

orangehead · 09/08/2011 00:18

Just to wreck your consnsus, ds1 loved tummy time from a very early age , he started crawling at 4 and half months. But in the long run cant see how tummy time has benefited him.

bear1234 · 09/08/2011 00:28

I suppose it is hard to tell. I think my kids are perfect anyway lol - well, except for bedtime tonight!! :-(

I've heard the flat head thing is actually popular in some countries too, although personally I am glad mine have lovely round ones.

Sleepglorioussleep · 09/08/2011 09:51

Both of mine disliked it. But I'm sure if we'd bought a special tummy time mat it would have been a different story . They have both enjoyed pushing up against my chest/shoulders, though.

WanderingSheep · 09/08/2011 10:38

I think that once they learn to roll over they have to spend time on their tummies anyway because they get stuck and can't roll back

Original poster

BananaPie · 09/08/2011 19:38

Dd is now 5 and a half months and doing much better on her tummy - not doing it at 8 weeks doesn't seem to have caused problems!

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