6MO refusing tummy time - any tips

[Figgygal]

Hi

My DS was 6 months this week he sits on his own, wants to be stood up alot, is developing well except he hasn't yet rolled back to front and just bloody well refuses tummy time to the extent im worried it'll delay crawling.

I dont even let him go b4 he's rolled over to his back, i can sit in front of him, give him toys ive even put him in front of tv in desperation but he still rolls over. If i put a cushion under him to stop him he cries until eventually hes contorted himself so much he must be in pain.

Sooo any ideas? How much should i keep pushing him?

Thanks

do you use a sling?

Don't stress about it too much. Have you tried lying him on you? If you lean back and put him tummy down on you he might be more receptive. Lots of eye contact.

Hi

I use a sling sometimes as hes a chronic pushchair refuser but hes a monster baby at 22lbs. he's fine lying on me maybe ill push that more

Don't worry about it. Crawling isn't a development stage.

tips? Yeah don't bother with tummy time

Absolutely don't bother with tummy time. He won't miss out on anything he needs to do.

He'll roll when he realises he can use it to get to things he wants and he'll crawl when he's ready. Even if his crawling was a little delayed it would make no difference to his development.

He clearly hasn't suffered for lack of tummy time up until now if he's sitting independently. If he's sitting up lots or being carried round plenty of the time he'll be developing the same muscles he would while lying on his front anyway just by holding his head up and maintaining his balance.

He'll be fine.

Some babies.bum shuffle instead of crawling, maybe he'll be one of them?

Agree, don't bother with it.
DD is nearly a year, on the verge of walking, a confident crawler and has a lovely shaped head

We never had tummy time.

Tummy time is actually very important. It starts the shaping and strengthening of the spine, neck, hips & shoulders (helping to prevent injury later on). Helps to develop a felt sense of, and strengthening in, their upper body where dextrous hands (and thus writing etc) begin. It also tends to lead onto bellycrawl (rather than going straight to a proper crawl), which is a very important stage - it stimulates the centre of their bodies, helping them to come out of nappies more quickly, develops 'open hands' important for fine motor skills & writing. Develops their eye movement so they can track side to side which is important for reading and lots of other stuff :)

A few things that help to achieve some tummy time....

• doing it on a bed then progressing to the floor
• lying them on your chest looking at you
• casually putting things in front of them (rather than 'giving' them to them)things they aren't normally allowed to play with (mobile phone, things out of the kitchen, remote control etc)
• pile of cusions with a blanket thrown over it (like a mountain), place toys/interesting items in the nooks and crannies and most babies will be interested/distracted enough trying to get to them that they will not notice they are in fact on their front
• rolling games - you place them on your front and roll over and over - it sounds scary but it's actually quite easy in practice!
• lying opposite them chatting and playing, building towers, finger games, silly faces etc

It's not easy - so Good luck :)

Both DD (now 2.11) and DS (16w) were serious tummy-time refusers and both have severe reflux which compounds it.

I play aeroplanes a lot - lie on my back, legs bent in air with hips & knees at 90 degrees. Place baby on legs (may be easier sitting up first & holding baby then lying back). Hold baby's hands/wrists, arms outstretched. Fly! It's not a bad workout for you either especially if you do some curls/obliques as you fly.

Both my kids love this, DS gets the giggles every time. He's a big strong baby - just under 18lbs - and though he hates mat tummy time he sits well with support, for a few seconds without support, pulls himself to sitting, rolls both ways etc. And my core muscles are strengthening nicely after the 2nd CS, it's the only resistance exercise I do! Anyway it's an idea for you.

I used to put DS1 on the bed then sit on the floor beneath/in front of him which he found quite amusing.

Also, I used to put him on his tummy on a gym ball and roll him around. He also thought that was great fun.

Christ, how did mine ever grow up normal without "tummy time".

Agree with chipping tummy time is very important.

Mine, hated it too. He did without. Took longer to crawl than my friends' DC but walked at an average age of 16 mo. And he did not roll over either.
I would not fret over it.

For all the supposed benefits of tummy time, if it causes distress don't try and force him.

Eldest DC HATED it. She sat up at 5 months and walked at 10 months. I don't feel her physical development was in any way hindered by refusing tummy time.

But if the dc is sitting up then surely he doesn't need tummy time?

For what its worth never did tummy time (dd had reflux), crawled at 6 months and walking by 11months

Oh and mine didn't crawl either. TBH I think she hated being in that nose to floor position because she's so blinking nosy. Thought she might miss something interesting.

DS is now 9, today he had sports day where he came 2nd in the 60m, 1st in 200m and 4th in 800m....................he never did 'tummy time'. He hated it, he rolled, he crawled, he walked.....and now he can run. Relax.

My first ds didnt crawl was a bum shuffler and walked at 10.5 month. He hated tummy time so i didnt do it much.

When he started school he really struggled to write. He was seen by a specialist in co-ordination and a physiotherapist. who said he had weak shoulder muscles due to not crawling/tummy time. They said they were seeing this more and more and that a big campaign was starting to encourage parents to do more tummy time.

Anyway they gave me exercises to do with him and his writing improved.

I really would recommend tummy time even if it only for a short time each day

My dd hated tummy time too, I tried persevering with it to start with but it stopped abruptly when she learned to roll from front to back as she'd just roll back over. She hated lying on her back too unless under the baby gym - just wanted to be upright all the time. She did learn to crawl though at a pretty average 9 months - went straight to proper crawling from sitting and leaning over onto all fours, no wriggling on the floor or commando crawling. From crawling it took her a week to be up on her feet and cruising round the furniture. You could try encouraging him to reach/twist while sitting, and lying him on your tummy as others suggest. Don't worry!

My DS is 6 months too and has always hated tummy time. We never did push hard enough when he was younger as he has reflux but admittedly we are trying to do it more a little at a time now he is on solids. We do it whilst distracting him as much as we can, including when I brush my teeth using an electric toothbrush! Gets at least 2 minutes of tummy time out of it!

Tummy time didn't exist when my two (13 and 11) where babies. They just played. Didn't stop them developing normally..
Don't stress the small stuff x

I have three kids who all crawled, walk, run, bounce, climb all the time and I've never even heard of tummy time. Chill out and enjoy your baby. Don't worry till there's actually something to worry about. Maybe he has tummy ache, maybe he's read a new study stressing the importance of back time

Tummy time is a fairly recent push and we don't have generations of adults and older children with weak core muscles and poor motor skills because they didn't have enough of it.

I can imagine that if a child is already prone to some sort of slight delay or weakness some tummy time might be helpful but healthy, active babies who are held and carried lots and have lots of opportunities to move around on different surfaces don't need to be placed in special positions to develop normally. Mother Nature is much cleverer than that.

Professionals really need to present this advice a little more carefully so that parents are not made to feel guilty if their baby won't follow their rules.

I'm quite shocked at a parent being told that their child has muscle weakness because they didn't get enough tummy time as a baby. That is unfair and unethical. The baby would have to be seriously inactive almost to the point of neglect to do that sort of damage! Too many professionals find it easy to blame parents for their child's problems and never consider the impact it has.

Yes tummy time is a modern 'phase' but it was introduced alongside the 'back to sleep' campaign so whilst the previous generation of dcs didnt do tummy time lots of them where probably put to sleep on their tummys which would acheive the same results