Tummy time worries

[RubyWooRose]

I started a baby sensory class today, and all of the other babies in the class could lift their head & chest up with tummy time. There were a few babies that were 12 weeks of age, like DD and some a month or so older.

DD has really good head control when sat up and lifts her head when lying across my lap or chest. I think the problem is that she hasn't worked out that she needs to use her arms to push herself up.

Anyway, I'm now stressing out that she isn't meeting her milestone which makes me not want to return to the class at the moment as I'm comparing DD with others. I really don't want to do this but I'm a bit of a worrier.

I'm going to try and up the amount of tummy time (recommended is 30 mins a day). I have done it with DD, but she tends to cry pretty quickly so I haven't been doing it nearly as much as I should. DD is quite long for her age and was 9 pounds 8 at birth. I'm wondering whether her head is quite heavy, too, although it's in proporion with her body.

Just after some reassurance of others' experiences at the same age? thank you x

Bump

It’s really worrying when you feel like your baby is behind others of a similar age.
If you’ve noticed something and are concerned then the best thing to do would be to ask your health visitor. They can offer you reassurance and you should be able to have a physical appointment with them so they can also see you DD and how she’s doing.
However, she’s really really young and every baby does things in their own time.
My son is nearly 14 months and I have learnt that you just can’t compare babies. I wish I had spent less time comparing his development to other babies, and more time encouraging what he could do and enjoying that. Because eventually all the babies will be at the same stage and you’d never know if one lifted their head early or late, or if one baby sat at 5 months and another didn’t sit until 7.
I’ve just recently commented on another tummy time post about my son basically not doing it for ages and he’s absolutely fine. He ended up walking at 9 months and never crawling. Now at 14 months a lot of babies his age are walking and you’d have no idea which of them walked first, if they crawled or not etc. They developed at different rates and in their own ways.
Your daughter will get there - my son never really lifted chest off the ground until he was about 10 months, that’s when he started rolling from back to tummy so that he could then lift his body up to stand up.
I promise you that there will be babies in that sensory class that aren’t doing things your daughter is doing. Some of them may be lifting themselves well now, but they may be slower at something else.
My health visitor said to me that some babies concentrate on physical achievements and others on communication. It does seem to be fairly true - my son walked early but isn’t interested in talking. I know babies of a similar age who aren’t very interested in walking yet but can say a few words and make their needs really well known.
If you think going to the sensory class will cause you to worry a lot then maybe don’t go. But, please don’t let comparison stop you from doing fun things with you baby. Plus babies can learn from each other, so if she’s seeing other babies doing things it might encourage her to try to copy.

@Row23 thank you so much for your reassuring post 😊 I really don't want it to stop me doing things with her and enjoying her so I will try and go to the class next week. You're right that all babies are different and develop differently.

I will give it a few more weeks of practice and contact the HV to see if she has any advice. Thank you.

I can totally relate to this, I was so worried about my sons head control at a similar age. Sat up or on my chest he was fine but on the floor or over a tummy time pillow he didn't lift his head at all. I was constant comparing him at classes and googling.

One day we went swimming and he spent over an hour sat in a float, which I think really helped with his neck strength. The next day (the same day he turned 3 months) he was lifting his head up amazingly and he then did his first roll). They honestly change so quickly but continue with the tummy time, try and get one of the water tummy time mats or even put some water in a shallow oven tray on the other side of a tummy time pillow with some toys floating in to encourage your daughter to lift her head.

I think with my son he had the strength but didn't necessarily know how to coordinate himself when laid flat, I'm sure you'll see real progress with your DD quickly.

@TTCJJB glad to know I'm not the only one. Did you continue going to classes even though you were comparing your son with other babies?

I've just ordered a water tummy time mat for her and we are going to take her swimming in a few weeks. I will get her a sit up float and hopefully that will help!

@RubyWooRose I did, we still do loads of classes each week because he enjoys them and they're great for his development. As time as gone by (he's almost 5 months now) I've realised they all do things at different times. I'm sure there'll be other parents looking at your daughter and noticing how well she is doing at certain skills compared to their own children.