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Parenting

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Original poster

Tummy Time

26 replies

Writerwannabe83 · 15/07/2014 20:01

Can I ask you all to share your stories about your babies and tummy time.

My DS is 16 weeks and admittedly I don't do it as often as I should but he just seems to hate it.

When I put him on his front he seems to just prefer to lie there with his face squished against the floor as opposed to trying to lift his head up.

Apart from tummy time he has excellent head control.

I was with my friend the other day whose baby is 6 weeks older than mine and when he was on his front he had his palms down, was pushing himself up, resting his weight on his elbows and his head was really high off the floor. He seemed to be doing this really easily and was enjoying it.

I have bought one of those Tummy Time cushions from Mamas and Papas but I can't seem to get on with it. DS looks very uncomfortable even he is on it.

Can I ask what your baby could do at 4 months of age in terms of tummy time? I'm worried my DS is lagging!!

And how often did you do it?

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workingtitle · 15/07/2014 20:17

My DS is nine months. He has always hated being on his tummy and used to just face plant and scream. Even now, if you put him on his front he immediately rolls over. He won't lift his head or push up on his arms. He is very strong though and is nearly walking solo. I think he's going to miss out crawling altogether, imagine that's related.

jessiemummy28 · 15/07/2014 20:33

6 weeks is quite a long time in the life of a baby. My DD absolutely hated tummy time until she learned to roll from her front to her back suddenly at 6 months. Once she knew she could get out of it, she didn't mind being there so much! Now at 8 months she's always launching on her stomach as she's trying to crawl. I wouldn't worry, persevere with the tummy time and your baby will get there eventually.

CountBapula · 15/07/2014 20:49

Lying him on your chest or carrying him up on your shoulder also count as tummy time, IIRC. DS2 doesn't mind it but he nearly always pukes

I wouldn't worry about it.

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Hedgehogging · 15/07/2014 21:11

Mine hates it too but she spends a lot of time on my shoulder and has good head control at 10 weeks. I'm pretty sure they didn't have tummy time when I were a lass but thankfully my head still ended up mobile and securely attached to my body. I'd say let your LO carry on as he is and he'll be sound

MiaowTheCat · 15/07/2014 21:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ElephantsNeverForgive · 15/07/2014 21:28

DD1 screamed
DD2 I forgot all about it.

Children meet their physical mile stones when they are ready, nothing to do with tummy time, slings, bouncers, time car seats or whatever this weeks fad is.

greenbananas · 15/07/2014 21:29

I loathe the phrase tummy time, and think it's probably just another of those fashions in child rearing. I've never really been sure what it's supposed to achieve. Is it about head control? Surely having your head constantly sticking out the top of a sling while you are being carried is much better for that?

Mine hated being on their tummies so, after a few tries at various ages, I didn't bother. This very much alarmed the folk running the baby group at the children's centre, but they are both completely fine and are very agile little boys.

greenbananas · 15/07/2014 21:33

Yes, children meet their physical milestones when they are ready. Mine were constantly in slings, but I wasn't being faddy, honestly - it's just that they hated being put down, and I liked being able to get on with life while I carried them. I figured that children were carried in slings for millennia before pushchair s were invented, so it probably wouldn't do them any harm.

Tummy time, on the other hand, is a fairly recent invention!

WineSpider · 15/07/2014 21:35

My DD is 9 months and hates being on her tummy even now. Always has done, and she cried so much for at least the first 4 months of her life that I sure as hell wasn't going to add to both our miseries with tummy time.

She's trying to crawl but when it doesn't quite work she face plants onto the floor and cries until she is rescued. At least it'll be a little longer till I need to baby proof the house!

Try not to compare your baby to others, they really are all so different with their development and will get there in the end.

MoominKoalaAndMiniMoom · 15/07/2014 21:38

DD isn't keen on tummy time. She's good at holding her head up, doing mini push ups etc - she just doesn't like it and isn't anywhere near rolling over yet. She prefers being held up in a standing position, she's great at bearing weight on her legs, and loves sitting up - she just hates tummy time. My brother missed out rolling over etc and went straight to crawling; several family members have skipped rolling and crawling altogether and gone straight for walking!

fledermaus · 15/07/2014 21:40

DC1 never liked being on his tummy on the floor until he could roll so I didn't do it - I had him in a good sling a lot though and would lie him on top of me tummy to tummy.
I think he rolled about 5 months and crawled at 8 months.

DC2 has always been happy on her tummy so I tend to always put her down that way. She was rolling from front to back at 3 months and now at 4 months can roll both ways, gets herself about on the floor by rolling, can hold her head right up and pushes herself up on her arms/brings legs up under her.

I think so long as you don't just leave your baby lying flat on his back all day on a play mat or in a pram he'll be fine. Vary positions, seats, slings etc.

geekaMaxima · 15/07/2014 21:41

Tummy time is encouraged partly to counteract laying babies to sleep on their backs to reduce SIDS risk - both in terms of neck control and head flattening. Hence it wasn't around when we were sprogs and being laid to sleep in our fronts.

Time in a sling or on your shoulder does the same thing as tummy time in producing strong necks and non-flat heads. As long as she's not flat on her back all day, do whatever baby likes best!

fledermaus · 15/07/2014 21:42

greenbananas - "tummy time" as a catchy phrase is a recent invention, but until the early 90s most babies would have spent a significant amount of time on their tummies.

xvxvxvxvxvxvxvxv · 15/07/2014 21:46

Mine hated it but I persevered as the more they do when they're that age the better posture they'll have as adults.
I found she would last longer if I got down on the floor with her chatting and making eye contact.

ElephantsNeverForgive · 15/07/2014 21:48

Also DD2 spent so long on her side BFing, she learnt head control that way.

DCs who BF past being very tiny babies much prefer to move their own heads to where they can breath and get comfy. I think they practice head control and strengthen their necks without needing to lie on their fronts.

Pointlessfan · 15/07/2014 21:52

She hated it for ages on the floor/mat etc but was quite happy lying on her front across my lap, I think it helped her to get rid of wind. On day (I forget when but it was only a few weeks ago so maybe she was about 10 weeks) she suddenly got the idea of pushing up on her little arms and now she loves to be on her front. She also likes to be held parallel to the floor with her arms and legs free to wave about although this hurts my back after a couple of mins!

greenbananas · 15/07/2014 21:59

Ah yes, of course, I do see that if babies spent nearly all their time on their backs in cots and prams, they would need turning over occasionally.

Like I said, mine were in slings and with the second one I didn't even own a pushchair or a cot, so this hadn't occurred to me neither did the children's centre staff explain this to me, they just kept repeating the phrase "tummy time" over and over and over again and telling me of four not doing it, even though ds1 cried every time I put him on his tummy.

Original poster

Writerwannabe83 · 15/07/2014 22:16

Thanks everyone for your varied and reassuring replies. I'm happy to read that tummy time isn't as big a deal or as necessary as perhaps we are led to believe.

I do worry about DS getting a flat head, it is a little bit, but I always make sure he doesn't spend prolonged amounts of time on his back.

Like I said, his head control is amazing, it has been from a very young age so now I know, after reading the replies, that I don't need to worry about strengthening those muscles.

I will relax about it all now

OP posts:

moomin35 · 15/07/2014 22:52

When are you supposed to start doing it? My baby is 4 weeks old and has been on his back almost all if that time..

callamia · 15/07/2014 22:59

DS didn't enjoy it much when I put him on his tummy. He spent a decent amount of time in slings, so I wasn't too fussed. However, he sat up unsupported at four months and as soon as he could call roll into his front, he did and was crawling by 7 months. I don't think 'tummy time' had anything to do with it, it was just the way he's developed.

MoominKoalaAndMiniMoom · 16/07/2014 08:49

You can start from the start, moomin35 :)

Littlef00t · 16/07/2014 11:17

I would just roll up a blanket into a small sausage and put under his chest, so face isn't on the floor.

If you'd like to do alternative tummy time, you can put him on your legs with his face over your knees then raise your legs. You can whizz him around, up and down etc (good excersise!) or hold under his body and do 'superman' round the room.

hedgehogy · 16/07/2014 11:24

DD hated tummy time. She'd scream after 30 seconds, if that. We did it most days, but not for long at all! At 10-11 months she suddenly decided that she wanted to be on her tummy most of the time! She'd been able to sit confidently from 6 months so I'd assumed that she'd be a bum shuffler but she wasn't - she decided she did want to crawl after all. They do it when they're ready.

DD never had a flat head, but she spent a lot of time on her side (feeding). She had pretty good head control from birth.

TheTravellingLemon · 16/07/2014 11:34

My DS didn't like tummy time. we went swimming from about 10 weeks and this really helped to strengthen those muscles and it got much easier after a few weeks of that.

WhatsMyAgeAgain · 16/07/2014 12:18

We discovered quite early on that tummy time really helped with trapped wind. Maybe that's why DS didn't mind it. We coslEep, and in the ealrly hours he would get wriggly so I'd lay him on his front, across my belly, so he can have a good fart and we'd both get a bit more sleep.

Can't say he hit any milestones particularly early- 8.5 months and just perfected crawling, been rolling both ways about a month.

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