Tummy Time

[kidsareok]

Hi! Just wondering if anyone has experience of their LO hating tummy time? He can hold his head up when we carry him and loves pushing up when we put him on a tummy time cushion. He can hold his head really well when we carry him like an aeroplane too! But when we put him face down on a mat he just lies there and cries. He isn't pushing up with his arms at all. Is that normal? Is there any way we can strengthen his arms? Thank you!

It's very common for babies not to like it! Don't worry! I work in a baby room from 3 months and it's rare a parents says a baby likes it. I have 2 of my own and they've never liked it either!

Anything that's not laying on his back is classed as tummy time. He doesn't have to be on the floor/mat

Thank you! I just worry he isn't using his arms at all to push up. I see people who's 10 week old babies are rolling and rocking and he's just lying there 🙈. His muscles are strong in other positions he just refuses to move during tummy time on the floor!

In the nicest possible way, don't compare your little one to other babies. He'll develop at the rate that is right for him and that is perfectly normal ❤️

OP my baby actually didnt mind tummy time. He sat and crawled 'early' I think, but by the looks of it he'll be walking at about the average age. It just goes to show that babies will do what they want, when they want regardless of the 'interventions' we make as parents.

It sounds like your little one is doing fine and you're doing a great job :)

Don't worry op. DD exactly the same, she's 19 weeks tomorrow and she just learned how to roll from tummy to back yesterday (proud mum moment, sent video of her rolling to everyone 😂) she likes it on the bed more than the floor or on me cause it's more cushioned I guess? I also got her the fisher price llama pillow that I think improved her a lot on the floor. But like others say, don't fall in the trap of comparing your baby to others cause that's when you start to worry and panic. Did the exact thing and felt I wasn't playing with her since I was just too focused on her tummy time. Now I just let her go her own pace.
You're doing a great job OP enjoy it while they're still little and don't have to chase them😂

Lie him over your leg. So his arms hang down and put something like a book or some toys to look at infront of him, otherwise they feel a bit abandoned.

Thanks everyone! I'm a FTM so haven't got a clue. I'll persist with different types of tummy time and I'm sure he will get there. It's hard not to compare but I know they're all different!

Yep, daughter (now 7 months) hated it on her floor mat. But we did lots of chest-to-chest cuddles while me or husband were slightly leant back on the sofa, which she was fine with, and that counts :)

@Letsallscreamatthesistene mine too. My oldest rolled at 11 weeks, and sat unaided at 4 months, crawled at 6.5 months plus still didn't walk until past 1.

Don't worry too much - my DD hated tummy time too and like your DC, she seemed to have strong neck muscles from birth! We have pics of her lifting her head up to look over our shoulders!
I was abit worried I wasn't doing Tummy Time enough because whenever we did it, she would just cry so it was never for more then 1-2 mins at a time - she hated it so I stopped doing it that way and just did it when she was on my chest amd on my knee, the midwife said this way is just as good, as they are still working their muscles.

This isn't a stealth mum boast btw, but to put your mind at ease, my DD started crawling just after 6 months old & was walking at 11 months.

My ds hates it too, he's 11 weeks now and when he's on the chest or being held upright his head is string, still wobbly but not flopping forward but when he's on his tummy he just lays there lol. my dd (now 2) hated it as well even more than he does and she was crawling at 7 months, standing a week later and walking by 10 months. She also didn't roll over til she was 6 months old so I wouldn't worry about it

My LO hated it so I very rarely did (only when I read MN and felt bad that others were persisting and getting 15 minute sessions done 3 times a day!)
On one of these guilty occasions, I put her down on her belly on her baby gym and she just rolled straight onto her back! She was 14 weeks old and I have never got her to do tummy time for more than 3 seconds again!

Hi!!
I’m just wondering if anyone else has this problem with ther little one, my baby is 12 weeks old tomorrow and the past couple of weeks my baby gets excited at playtime and goes sick, some times straight after a bottle too, I’m just wondering if this is normal?

My DS also hated tummy time so after a while I stopped doing it. He never rolled over! Our friend’s baby loved tummy time and was commando crawling at 5 months. But they both took their first steps within days of each other at 11 months old. Just keep trying him but don’t stress.

Mine was the same, and I didn’t do much tummy time to be honest. One day when we put him on his tummy he just lifted his head up and that was that, we never looked back.

We found one of the curved breast feeding pillows helped him - like this widgeypillows.com/products/widgey-5-in-1-feeding-pillow?variant=28625080090717&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyJT01Yyp7wIVj4BQBh2NDgbsEAQYAiABEgKs-_D_BwE

Oh, I should add he started crawling (fast!) at around 6 months despite not having much tummy time.

DS is 8 weeks and we switch up where we do tummy time with him throughout the day and use different toys and sounds as means of distraction / encouragement.

We use a tummy time water mat, pregnancy pillow or normal pillows, but also sometimes just pop him flat on his playmat or on our bed, and probably most often on our laps/ chests.

Sometimes he enjoys it, sometimes he doesn't so much. On the days where he doesn't enjoy it, we tend to have him on our laps / chests more as it's tummy time without it feeling like tummy time... If that makes sense?

If it's his arms you want to look to strengthen, could you help him by propping his arms under his chest, so when he's put down on his tummy he's already in the right position - iyswim? Might take a while for it to click he needs to do this himself but he might not cry so much when he's put down in this position.

Didn’t do it with either of mine- they were fine

Hi,

My little one wasn't the biggest fan of tummy time, but this website has some great ideas about half way down the article www.tamemytoddler.com/baby-development/tummy-time.php

My little one particularly enjoyed using the foil/emergency blanket. Hope this may help some others too :)

It’s very common, most hate it til they’re strong enough to do it comfortably.

Try a couple of minutes at a time several times a day, rather than long stretches. Make it fun by getting down to the same level and singing / making faces etc or using a mirror. And remember it still counts if it’s on your chest / over your legs etc, if your baby prefers that.

Both of mine hated it too so I didn't really bother.