Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Behaviour/development

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

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Tummy Time - how much per day?!

34 replies

GeorginaA · 18/07/2004 19:55

I'm getting a bit concerned about all this "tummy time" babies are supposed to get... particularly because I've just realised mine (9 wks) isn't getting any

How much time are they supposed to spend on their tummies. I know it's supposed to be supervised time, but fitting it in during the day is really hard work. I can't put him on his tummy straight after a feed (he needs to be upright for a good 15 mins or he sicks up everywhere - ditto if he's put on his tummy until about 30 mins after a feed) or before his naptimes as it just gets him tired and frustrated really quickly. That leaves an optimum window of about 15 mins about three times a day but that invariably clashes with getting food ready for my eldest.

Please tell me it's not crucial at this age and he won't still be lying on his back staring at the ceiling as a teen

Seriously though... is there supposed to be an amount of time I should be aiming for? 15 mins a day split into small sessions? 30? All play time (eep... the playmat will be permanently in the wash....)

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

colinsmommy · 14/07/2004 16:56

I couldn't manage any tummy time with DS, because he would scream any time he was put there. He is 10 mo. now, and is very strong. He rolled over and crawled right at the normal ages, so I don't think it affected him at all.

morocco · 14/07/2004 22:39

follow their instincts I'd say - ds1 hated it so I didnt bother and he never really got the hang of rolling over at all but went straight from lying on his back to sitting up to crawling and pretty much straight on to walking at 10 months; ds2 loves tummy time though (hated it at 9 weeks though, we didn't start til about 12 weeks I don't think) and looks like he's trying to crawl already so he spends all his time on his front
as for time - til he starts to cry or gets his nose permanently stuck to the carpet seems a good time to stop for us
I also don't supervise - just wait for the muffled shrieks
bad mummy!

mummytosteven · 14/07/2004 22:41

DS has (as of today) discovered rolling from his back onto his tummy - unfortunately he gets on to his tummy, realises he hates being on his tummy, and then gets hysterical, and forgets he can roll himself back again!

Bozza · 15/07/2004 20:54

Been doing it a bit with DD since I remembered. She is generally not keen but will tolerate if I lay down next to her. Its a bit pointless though because she doens't do anything with her head just sticks her bum in the air then straightens her legs out and repeat until she's had enough and starts squawking. In the What to Expect book it says the lifting the head when on tummy milestone is delayed because babies spend so litte time on their tummies these days.

Like others though DD is developing head control in other ways. She will lift it when being held etc. But maybe my lack of effort in this area is why DS never crawled. Although since he slept on his front from 4 months (very bad mother) he actually had quite a lot of tummy time. BUT he had a sleep association so if you put him on his tummy at playtime he got in a bit of a huff.

hewlettsdaughter · 15/07/2004 20:58

Didn't put ds on his tummy much at all to start with. Have tried a few times with dd - apart from one time when she fell asleep like that (on her changing mat) she hasn't been very keen.

CountessDracula · 18/07/2004 19:56

Erm, what it tummy time?

My dd is only 2 and I never remember it being mentioned.

Azure · 18/07/2004 19:57

I remember being worried about this, as DS hated being on his tummy, so never had any "tummy time". He walked at 11 months and is now almost three, so I don't think it has hindered his development.

motherinferior · 18/07/2004 20:00

Didn't bother with either of my two. DD1 did take ages to walk, but dd2 is already giving it a whirl.

mummytosteven · 18/07/2004 20:00

i was ordered by my hv to give s time on his tummy coz she felt his head control wasn't good enough - a few minutes a few times a day seemed to do the trick. i have read that being on their tummy makes their stomach stronger so los are less likely to be sick

SoupDragon · 18/07/2004 21:15

In the case of DS1 and 2 very little. DS1 used to throw up less than a minute after being placed on his tummy and he'd then fall forward and put his face in it. We stopped tummy time fairly quickly but this didn't stop him learning how to sit up and crawl or develop strong neck muscles.

hana · 18/07/2004 21:19

cute name! I used to put dd on her tummy from about 7 or 8 weeks for just a few minutes at a time and worked it up. Yuu can tell when they've had enough. I never really did it consciously - just something I knew my sister had done and I did it too. She crawled early at about 5 months but I don't think it was because she was used to being on her belly or not. She has always preferred to sleep on her belly as well, even now.

mummytosteven · 18/07/2004 21:19

My ds hates being on his tummy with a passion and screams his head off - am still tempted to put him on his tummy, leave him with HV and go to the shops . In fact he hates it so much that he managed to turn himself over at 5.5 weeks back on to his front!

Hulababy · 18/07/2004 21:41

DD hates tummy time and much prefered to be able to see instead. She has very good head and neck control from the utset though so it wasn't really a problem. DD was far more interested in what was going on and prefered to be propped up, and sat unaided by 17 weeks - so nosey she was!!!

Hulababy · 18/07/2004 21:41

Meant to say hated (past tense).

twiglett · 18/07/2004 21:48

message withdrawn

prufrock · 18/07/2004 22:06

Haven't doen it either - except when doing massage after bath. But he does spend quite a lot of time lying on my chestpushing up, so I'm not really concerned. I think as long as you give him opportunities to control his head it's notan issue.

californiagirl · 19/07/2004 08:47

We used to put DD (now 4.5 months) on her tummy for tummy time periodically. We found her tolerance highest if we put her on a pillow on the bed and she "accidentally" rolled off onto her stomach so it was kind of her idea. When we felt really guilty we'd then sit on the floor so she could see a face, which kept her happy an extra, oh, 30 seconds. She never got above 5 minutes in any one day, and rarely got any time 2 days in a row.

Why am I using the past tense? Because she learned to roll over back-to-front at 3 months, and still hasn't gotten the hang of consistently rolling front-to-back, so she gets herself marooned on her stomach at least once a day these days. She still never gets above 5 minutes in a row, and she still tends to spit up and then drop her face in it, but at least it's her own fault when it happens, not mine -- the effect is the same but the guilt is greatly lessened. Anyway, she's always had brilliant head control and when the Dr. congratulated me on it, and assumed it was because I was careful about tummy time, I just shrugged modestly. As if I had anything to do with it!

Ghosty · 19/07/2004 09:30

DD (5.5 months) absolutely detests it ... she can manage about a minute and a half before screaming ... I think because her tummy is so fat that balances on it and it isn't comfortable.
DS was the same ... he didn't roll over until he learned to crawl at 10 months ...
He is now 4 and a half and plays soccer for a little team so the lack of tummy time couldn't have affected him that much!

Grizzly · 21/07/2004 22:07

Hv told me I should be doing it when ds was 10 weeks old. He used to scream blue murder after about 30 seconds. I chickened out and left it to my mother when I had to go into hospital when ds was 4 months old (She was in charge for 5 days)- she put him on his front once in the morning and once in the evening. He's now 11 months, crawling, standing, climbing the stairs and trying to walk. Who knows if my mother should take the credit or if he's have done it anyway without her help?

johno · 21/07/2004 22:08

my son 14 months and hates being on his tummy

johno · 21/07/2004 22:10

he walks holding your little finger and bum shuffles

mummytosteven · 21/07/2004 22:10

Grizzly - lo screaming blue murder after 30 seconds on his tummy - lucky you with ds more like after 2 seconds....

Grizzly · 21/07/2004 22:51

mummytosteven - hv really made me feel as if I was a negligent mother by not putting him on his front. He was slow to roll and slow to sit up but now he's crawling and climbing stairs. If I'm lucky enough to have a second child, I'll trust my own feelings next time.

mummytosteven · 21/07/2004 23:12

Grizzly - I think we must have the same HV - she didn't seem to think that DS screaming blue murder was a valid enough reason for me avoiding doin that. odd thing was that DS rolled tummy to back at 5.5 weeks, and back to tummy at 18 weeks - so i think he is just a stroppy little soul who just does what he feels like. The HVs all seem to have the same textbook - now just don't get me started on HVs.... anyway it doesn't matter when they walk/talk/sit up etc as long as they do it! problem is that HVs are all so into their standardised textbook babies...

Grizzly · 21/07/2004 23:33

mummytosteven - it's off the topic of this thread, but ds went off on one of his screaming fits (no apparent reason)at about 8 months while being weighed at clinic, HV said 'whatever is wrong with him'. The obvious answer was - if I knew what was wrong, I'd do something about it. Just another illustration of how they will do what they want when they want and HV or other professionals cannot necessarily help very much. In the end it's down to us as mums to get on with it and do our best. Mostly we do a pretty good job. Time for sleep. Night all.

Flip

1 2