8 week old dislikes tummy time

[RubyWooRose]

As the title suggests, my 8 week old DD doesn't like tummy time. She will lift her head when on my chest and generally has good head control when I sit her up but when I lay her flat on the matt, she just lies there and eventually cries. Am I doing it wrong?

Also, when did your baby start grabbing things? DD grabs things like my necklace or objects within reach but I don't think she realises she's doing this yet.

Just after some advice as I'm a FTM so not sure what to expect.

Thank you 😊

Mine both hated tummy time so tbh we never really did it. Just held them upright instead to help with head control. They're 11 & 13 now, totally normal development - you'd never know!

Tummy time on your chest is fine if that's what she likes. If you use an outwards facing sling it also works the same muscles.

For tummy time on the mat lay down with her/put something underneath her like a mirror (they sell them for this purpose, not just a normal mirror obviously!), something that makes a noise, or that has an interesting texture.

Mine hated it so we didn’t bother. They are 2 now and perfectly normal!

My relative is a midwife and told me not to worry about it.

@NuffSaidSam thank you for your reply. I will give the mirror a go 👍

Thanks for your replies. My mum never did tummy time with hsr kids as it wasn't a thing then and we all turned out fine. I will keep going with it and see what happens and try not to worry too much 😊

One of mine would just go straight to sleep when she did tummy time, so we stopped doing it, she never crawled and maybe that’s why but she walked at 9 months so clearly wasn’t held back overall!

The other had a massive head so would push up then the weight of it would just flip him over so I guess he rolled at only 7 weeks but really it was just a counterbalance thing! So he spent no time on his tummy either. Crawled at 7 months, walked at 11 so very average really.

So long as they’re not always lying on their head in the same way and causing it to get misshapen then I really wouldn’t worry. Can’t for the life of me remember when they grabbed stuff but I do remember that they can’t usually put their own dummy back in until about 7 months (do not miss the 3am dummy runs at all 🤣) so random grabbing at 8 weeks I reckon is pretty normal!

My dd hated tummy time but she was more than content to lift her head up when she was on me so that's what we did.

I don’t know how old you but if you were born in the 1980s babies were still often put down on their fronts so no need for ‘tummy time’ as it was the default position. I’m ‘89 and my mum was baffled by it too! The back to sleep campaign was 1991 I think.

She hates tummy time, so don't bother with it. She lifts her head when lying on your chest and that is all she needs really.

There was, as far as I can remember, no such thing as tummy time when my three were babies. All are now in their twenties and totally unharmed by their lack of it. 😃

My 8 month old didn't like tummy time on the floor until she was around 4 months. I just had her on me for tummy time. She rolled over at just turned 5 months and is trying to crawl now. She is fine developmentally. My mum said she did tummy time with me and I was born in the late 90s

Totally normal. Most had it - can you blame them? Stuck with your face on the floor unless you desperately strain with all your might to lift it...

Anything to strengthen her neck/back is fine. If she's happy on your chest then do it on your chest. When she is 4/5 months and is stronger you can return to doing it on the floor. In the meantime she can do I on your chest, or you can do superman flying in your legs (great fun!) Or across your lap.... lots of different positions that give them a better view than a lonely bit of carpet 😆