Help! Tummy time at 5 months

[Zaplolly]

My baby is soon coming up for 5 months and he is RUBBISH at holding his head up on his front! I see some of the other babies in the classes and they can hold up like eerxats but he holds for a little then gives up and sucks his hand (he's teething). If not he will cry a little....
What should I do? Keep trying and leave him on tummy?
To be fair as soon as he starts whinging I pick him up so should I just leave him to it and hopefully will strengthen his neck muscles?
What about a jumperoo or some other kind of bouncy, might that strengthen do you think?
Thanks in advance mummies!! X

Ok, firstly don't worry. My lo was 10 weeks early and I spent so long worrying about all aspects of his development but he's totally caught up now at the age of 2. Tummy time is good but I've never heard of a baby who doesn't hate it. Do it when you can but don't beat yourself up if you don't do it all the time. I would avoid bouncers if possible as they aren't great for development; better go for cushions and toys that might help with tummy time and supporting your lo while they do it.

You can try laying him on his tummy on your chest or laying on the floor next to him or pop him in a sling.

As above, putting your baby on your chest still counts as “tummy time” also playing games where he sits on your tummy. Try putting a boppy feeding pillow underneath him, he may tolerate tummy time a little better this way. Also my daughter really enjoyed playing with a water filled mat that distracted her enough from the task in hand! So maybe something like that would be good for your LO too?

I adopted a policy of "start off with tummy time EVERY TIME the baby is put down." So.... every single time (well, pretty much!) I had to put the baby down for a moment, for whatever reason, on her front she went. And then when she started fussing, I'd give her a minute then move her to another position, but it meant that she was building up a fair bit of tummy time throughout the day simply because she was doing little bits really frequently.

Also, do it on the sofa belly to belly.

My 5 month old hates tummy time but I found just sitting him up when playing with him really helped his neck. I would hold him up to my face or just sit him on my lap and his neck has got stronger. Now he will go onto his tummy for longer periods and is able to lift his head up. Also, I make sure I position his arms underneath him to help prop him up!

My DS of a similr age used to whine but now he can hold his head up seems to enjoy it, I think it's just persevering with lots of short bursts until he gets to that stage. Us getting down on the mat too, a mirror to look at and a concertina book of black and white images all give him a reason to want to hold his head up.

Being in a sling or carrier when awake helps too, as he likes to look around..

Tummy time is just another modern invention designed to get mums beating themselves up for yet another thing they’re not doing right. I never did it with my now 4yo as I didn’t even know it was a thing!

Most babies protest about being put on their tummies. There has been loads of good advice on here. Babies seem to tolerate it better if you are holding them in some way. With my 5 mo I recline on the sofa with him on his tummy on mine. Or I carry him round over my shoulder so he’ll look around. Another good trick is to sit in a split position on the floor with him between your legs, then turn/roll him so he’s lying over your thigh with something to play with at the outside of your leg. Support his feet with the opposite leg and keep a hand on his bottom for support and to stop him nose diving! When the baby is lying on a mat on his tummy it also helps to put your hand on their bottom - it will give them more strength to lift their head. Hope that helps!

I really wouldn’t buy anything like a jumperoo as I’m not convinced they’re terribly ergonomic

Could you try swimming? Apparently it's great for bubs who hate tummy time, according to our swim school teacher!

I never did tummy time, don't really buy the idea to be honest. But my baby spent a lot of time on my chest (on her tummy) and also read somewhere that being in a baby wrap type sling counts as tummy time which we did a lot of.

"According to Ergobaby, if a baby is in an upright carrier, they are able to exercise the same neck and core muscles that get a workout during tummy time. In other cultures, babywearing advocates claim, there is no tummy time, but because mothers tend to wear their infants more often, they develop fine."

Tummy time is anything other than being in their back. So you'll probably find you are actually doing lots of tummy time.

And as someone said above, swimming is great exercise if you feel lo needs extra help with building strength.

Being in a sling is great for promoting control of their heads, shoulders, backs etc. but their arms and legs will not be getting much of a workout in a sling.

In cultures where babies develop motor skills at a good rate without tummy time, mothers (and other carers) are typically doing things other than tummy time that perform similar purposesbaby exercises, basicallyto strengthen their babies' limbs, so they are not JUST doing sling time. These kinds of baby exercises make sense in environments where you can't really put babies down on the floor for hygiene and safety reasons.

www.psych.nyu.edu/adolph/publications/AdolphRobinson-inpress-LearningToWalkPreprint.pdf See page 11--v. interesting stuff.

I also do these kinds of baby exercises, they are great fun and definitely help babies with their motor skills.

Thanks everyone! Been training him up daily for just a week now trying a range of ideas and he's doing amazingly now! X