Tummy time fail!

[SallyMischievo]

4 month old DD really doesn't like being on her tummy and will cry after a couple of minutes of being placed on it. I dangle a toy or roll a ball whilst making encouraging noises but she squirms and sobs so I end up rolling her back onto her back or picking her up and giving her a cuddle. Consequently she still can't lie on her tummy with her head held up and I worry that she is not going to be strengthening her neck and shoulder muscles and won't enjoy learning to crawl. We are supposed to be focusing on massaging our baby's back at our baby massage class next week and I just know that DD will kick off! Any tips would be amazing and very gratefully received!

We used to give DS1 tummy time. He would stay there for a minute, throw up and then drop his head in the pile of sick. We didn't bother after that or with subsequent children.

DD hated it and refused to lift up her head. She would just lie with her face squashed into a cushion and scream regardless of what we waved in front of her. We gave up and she still managed to roll over and meet all her milestones. She didn't rush herself about any of them admittedly but she got there (anyway she was too busy learning to make herself understood so she could get people to bring things to her and thereby avoid the need for mobility).

Really, really don't worry about tummy time.

God it's all bollocks isn't it?

Ask yourself - what did women do 50,100,1000 years ago? Did they worry about tummy time and baby led weaning? Did they fuck.

So in the grand scheme of things, it's not important. The human race has survived to this point.

If it's 'delay' you're talking about, then they do catch up. Mine didn't do much tummy time - it wasn't a thing then. In the dark ages!! They all developed as nature intended them to. Eventually they will roll onto tummy if they like it. One of ours didn't like being on his tummy so he didn't.

I was worried about my DS and tummy time but now I don't care. He doesn't like to roll but will lie on his tummy a bit more at 8 months and kind of spins in circles slowly on his tummy! He doesn't have any interest it seems in moving anywhere yet but he sits up incredibly straight, like a cavalry officer on a horse :) and holds himself incredibly straight when I hold him on a hip, and he's got great head control so I have no worries there! My DH didn't walk until 18 months, and while he's not going to trouble any major sports records (and is dyspraxic as it happens, so probably why he took so long) he's a perfectly functioning adult!

I never forced mine to continue with it as they both loathed it.

DD hated it so I never bothered.

She is 19 months old now and running around. Doesn't appear to exhibit any concerns with her torso area

Mine all slept on their tummies.

the term 'tummy time' didnt exist 10 years ago so I wouldnt worry about it - mine hated being on his tummy

All rubbish. As pointed out babies managed without it for a very long time without any problem.
Fwiw my DGS refused to 'do' it but learned to crawl very effectively and speedily before he was one.

'Tummy time' isn't a new law that babies must have tummy time or else they'll never develop further than laid on their back.
It's just a new bit of advice that says lying a baby on their tummy can help their neck and arm muscles to strengthen. This isn't the only way they strengthen their muscles, of course. It isn't the end of the world if you don't devote set time to it everyday.
My DS quite liked being laid on his tummy, it was like a change of scenery for him. My friends DS hated it. They started rolling and crawling around the same time, I think my DS did it first, but there isnt a huge amount of difference between them.
Tummy time has existed longer than it's had a name or been talked about - if you ever laid your newborns on their front on your tummy (as lots of newborns like to lay on their parents), you did tummy time!