Baby hates being on his tummy

[Eilz]

My LO is coming up 9 months and has always hated “tummy time” so didn’t bother with it. He is sitting up and able to stand himself when leaned against the couch. However, all of these positions he requires to be put in, isn’t able to sit up himself, roll on to his front, or pull up to stand. The minute he is put on to his tummy he will immediately roll out of it on to his back, I’ve tried toys but the most I managed to get out of him was maybe 30 seconds whilst he zombified himself in front of dancing fruit. I’m wondering if there could be something underlying that makes him really uncomfortable being on his tummy.

We took him to a physio because at 6 months he wasn’t even showing interest of turning to go on his tummy or reaching out to feed himself, the physio said he is really strong and has a longer trunk which can make rolling more difficult and did some exercises to loosen up his upper back muscles that she said felt stiff and it immediately worked and we noticed big changes, including rolling front to back and reaching out to feed himself, yet almost 3 months have gone by and he just won’t be on his tummy so I feel like we can’t further any skill development even when taking the advice online like manually putting him in to crawling positions. He just loves being flat on his back, will sometimes push against you to be on his back. I know most people will say “don’t compare to other babies” or “we didn’t do it and he was fine” but I want him to be able to progress as I’m sure most parents would want.

My DD hated tummy time, I think because of her reflux and constipation. I used to sit at a 45% angle and put her tummy to tummy, she was on her tummy but not lying flat. I think the warmth of being against my body helped her to. Id also do it on my legs with them bent at a 45% angle. It didn't stop her crawling or rolling though. Her brother never crawled. He has poor cross body coordination and low core strength, he still liked to lean against something when sitting until late primary school. He has always been very strong in terms of lifting or pushing, but not with sitting. He has other things going on so he's done a lot of OT and physio over the years. It's not the priority but we have done work on his core strength with their help. He also hated having his feet touch the ground as a baby, I think sensory thing.

You could try something to hold his attention during tummy time like doing it on a sensory water mat or try it on grass or in a sandpit or a ball pit. Maybe a different sensory experience or distraction will help.

Have you continued with the exercises? Tight shoulders or back could explain him being uncomfortable on his stomach and also not wanting to pull up.

What if he’s on his tummy on the sofa or over your legs or on your chest?

if the exercises from the physio worked are you still doing them

OP take a breath. Some babies just don’t like tummy time. Relax. Just like some kids don’t crawl they bum shuffle and some kids don’t ever wet the bed and some kids etc etc

Seriously take your own advise. Don’t compare babies - they haven’t read the manual about milestones that you have.

Thanks for everyone’s posts. When I say we tried everything, we’ve tried everything and only dancing fruit has managed to keep his attention. He seems to struggle with his breath on his tummy but I’m not sure if that’s due to tensing up because he doesn’t like it. Since posting he has started to roll on to his front to grab things he wants, still will immediately roll back, but atleast there’s some progress in that area.

We don’t really need the exercises from the physio anymore as he does them himself now (like twisting to reach) but we still pull arms forward to pull up, generally he just wants to get straight on to his feet now as wobbly as he may be 🤣

I would say though, my concern is less reaching the next milestone (which this post might insinuate) but more so could there be something underlying that makes him struggle so much on his stomach. I think it’s alright to be concerned when all babies you know are alright with being on their tummies and your baby gets seriously distressed to the point it can sometimes affect the rest of his day

I didn’t really bother with tummy time with dd. It seemed to make her sick and cry. Not remotely as seriously as your ds sounds, but she didn’t enjoy it so I just stopped. If it’s not working for you don’t do it, just make sure he’s got time not on his back, for example putting him in a sling. If you really think something could be wrong I think all you can do is trust your instincts and speak to your gp.

Oh and If he still (since your op) cant sit up at 10ish months I probably would just double check with your go or HV or back to the physio in case he needs a little more help strengthening his core, it might be new or different exercises they suggest now he’s a little older

He doesn’t have any issues sitting up, just the discomfort on his stomach preventing him for being on it for any longer than a few seconds without wanting back on his back. I mentioned it to my HV, she didn’t seem concerned, any HCPs that I mention it too don’t seem to really care that much. I’m just hoping there’s nothing underlying but I suppose I’m just going to need to wait it out

Sorry, I misread. Have you tried lying on your stomach holding your head up? It’s pretty uncomfortable. As I said it makes dd quite sick and she’s never normally sick and gassy.
If he can sit and stand and roll he’s controlling his head and not just lying 100% of the time and getting a flat head, so you’re meeting the two main purposes of tummy time anyway. Trust your gut though if you think it’s wrong get a second opinion

@Eilz my 8.5 month old really dislikes tummy time too, may I ask how your little one is doing now please?

Hey! So as of last week he started crawling, 2 days before his 1st birthday. We went to physio a second time and they gave us exercises and it helped so much and since learning to crawl he’s getting more and more speed and confidence!

Oh that’s fab news, thanks for getting back to me. What would you say was the most helpful exercise you did?! I’m willing to give anything a try at this stage 😆