Baby has gone off tummy time?

[Daisymae55]

Hi, has anyones child gone off of tummy time before?

My daughter (11 weeks) used to love tummy time. She’s always been strong and was lifting her head from 5 days old. She used to keep her head lifted for ages during tummy time. But the last week or two every time I’ve put her down to do it she just starts sucking her thumb until she gets fed up and cries.

I usually get one good head lift out of her a day and when I’m burping her or wandering around with her over my shoulder she always has her head up having a look around, so I know that she’s still strong and able to do it. I’m just worried that without tummy time she won’t develop at the right pace.

Has anyone else’s baby done this? Is it a phase? Any suggestions how I can make her enjoy it again?

Never heard anyone say their baby liked it before tbh. I expect her world looks quite boring from that angle she can't use her hands much, do it's a bit limiting. If you are desperate to make her do it, just turn her over sooner than you have been.

My DS hated tummy time and barely did it. He still developed fine. It's good she's liked it for so long tbh, I wouldn't worry. One tip I did have from the HV was to put DS on his tummy on my lap with his head over the side and a toy/book under his head. That helped abit.

Yeah my daughter never liked tummy time, so didn't really bother doing it much with her. She's absolutely fine now!

Tummy time hadn't been invented when my DC were babies. I would ignore it, virtually all children grow up to be adults who can hold their heads up.

Tummy time isn't really evidence-based. It was thought when they brought in the "back to sleep" advice that babies were going to end up with permanently flat heads unless they spent good amounts of time on their fronts but that's never been shown to be the case. From the perspective of strengthening neck muscles, they don't have to be flat on their bellies to "count" - if you're ever holding her with her tummy against your body she'll be using the same muscles to look around, root for the breast (if breastfeeding) etc.
Janet Lansbury has some good info on this IIRC.

I did it was my first and she hated it but I did it anyway, I had another baby a year later and she got zero tummy time. There is absolutely no difference between them. If anything my younger child is more coordinated! If she doesn't want to do it there is literally no point.

Most babies hate tummy time. It's unnecessary and babies naturally strengthen their necks just being held by you or lying on your chest. I personally wouldn't bother forcing it.

My ds wasn't a fan so we didn't bother pretty quickly (he's 3.5 years old now). He got a medal at Preschool Gymnastics today.

My dd is a similar age to your dd and we haven't even attempted any tummy time.

Just relax and enjoy your child!

It was a buzz word when mine were young. They hated it, we didn't bother. No detriment.

Congratulations! 😀

OP tummy time at that age means they can do SFA. Get her a baby gym and put her under it on her back she will have more fun trying to grab and kick things.

My ds had severe reflux and couldn't do tummy time without throwing up everywhere. He's 7 months now and can army crawl and is rolling around mad.

Never met a baby that ‘loved’ tummy time.
Imagine tying your hands together behind your back and then laying face down on the floor. Sound fun?? Nope.

haha clearly she’s an oddball! She used to quite enjoy it as she’s a nosey baby who want to look at everything. Guess the novelty must have worn off

Thanks everyone who’s posted reassuring me her not doing tummy time isn’t a big deal. The health visitor seemed concerned she wasn’t doing enough the other day and it panicked me. Glad to hear it’s not a big deal and won’t do her harm! Going to keep trying as she was doing really well but if she shows no interest I’ll stop quicker and try another day

If she's holding her head up while walking around, or lying on you that's fine. Mine HATED tummy time (read we didn't do it) and she started crawling the day she turned 8 months and is nearly walking now at 11 months. It'll be fine

DS used to love tummy time, however he rolled tummy to back quite early (8 weeks) so could roll when he didn't want to be on his tummy anymore. DD despises tummy time, I get about 1 min before she starts grizzling, I ordered a tummy time water mat from Amazon for £6 and she really likes it, I get about 3-5 minutes out of her now before she gets upset. Also she likes a mirror so I put her little one from her gym underneath her and she likes that too, I have to work for the tummy time! But if she likes laying on your chest that counts as tummy time too!

Oh jeez she’ll be fine! My first child rolled to the left once, ticked it off his to-do list and never did it again. He sounds like yours, born very strong.
My newest baby (8 weeks) is unable to do tummy time at all because of a temporary medical situation, she’ll be totally fine in the long run. So I wouldn’t worry about your DD!

I did tummy time with dd religiously when she was small. She never crawled and was a v v late walker.

3 years later with ds I barely did it at all - in fact I don't know if I ever did?! He was crawling at 7 months and walking by 10 months. I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you think she is regressing or you start noticing other things that concern you.

We never had tummy time in the 80's when I brought my son up, we just used to put them wherever they wanted to go. On their back, on their front, in a bouncy chair - didn't even think about it. Eventually they get big enough to roll over and do what they want, then crawl, then stand. I never saw any three or four year olds with big heads that they couldn't manage to keep upright because their necks were so weak 😂
Don't worry so much.