You'll hear it from doctors and you'll read it in every parenting and development book out there: tummy time is essential. With children sleeping on their backs these days, they have fewer opportunities to develop the muscles necessary for crawling, sitting themselves up, and pulling up to stand. So, tummy time is a way of helping them develop these muscles. It also helps them develop the muscles for lifting the head and chest which allow a child to look around and observe his surroundings. Additionally, any time off of their backs gives children the chance to develop proper head shape avoiding the flat head condition.
But, for so many of us, we put our little ones down on their tummies and we don't get smiles or gurgles, we get screams! So what do we do when an essential developmental activity causes our children such frustration?!
After my little guy was born I began wondering about tummy time. I found sources that told me that I should start right away, but when you place a three week old down on his tummy on a mat, it's not usually a pleasant experience. So, we mostly let him spend time on his tummy directly on us, which he was fine with. After a few months, we tried to place him on his tummy more often, but he still absolutely hated it. After a minute he was in full distress. So we did it in small periods of time never letting him get too upset. If a minute was all he could take, a minute was all he would do. Over time and with some tricks, he began to build his way up to longer stretches of time, maybe five minutes or, occasionally, even ten minutes. As his skills increased, the amount of time he could last would increase.
Here are a few ideas I have discovered and read that make tummy time a little easier and a little more fun:
Explore different places. Some babies like the bed, some babies like the floor, and others like carpet. Move your child around and see where he likes it best.
Lay baby on his tummy on the edge of the bed and get eye level with him. This is assuming your little one is not beginning to crawl in any fashion yet. This is a great way to excite baby, and much easier to do than laying on the floor (although that's a great idea too). You can even hide and pop up if he likes peek-a-boo activities. You can also sing or dance or do any kind of performance you know he loves.
Lay baby on your chest or on the lower part of your legs in "airplane" position. Tummy time doesn't have to be on the floor. You can easily place your child on your body and let his motivation for lifting his head be to stare at your face. Making faces can be all the more encouraging.
Lay baby on a sheet on the floor and pull him around the room. Some babies love movement, so an activity like this can keep babies so entertained they are willing to stay in tummy position longer. However, if your child hates this, do not push it and move onto something else.
Toys can be motivation. My son loves this hand drum we purchased. It has a parrot on it that he loves to stare at. When I put him in tummy time and began playing the drum he would lift his head to stare at it and last much longer than he had before. I could also move the drum so that he would have to move his head, helping strengthen his neck muscles and help him practice moving in order to see and object. It also encouraged tracking (following a moving object with the eyes).
Brevity is fine, don't push it. Don't listen to how long people say your child should stay on his tummy for. Instead, focus on how long he can stay. Some sessions will be long and some will be short. And that's fine. If it's a short period of time, take a long break and try again later.
Peak your child's interest. As baby gets older and begins sitting or exploring crawling, find those things that he absolutely loves and place them just out of range while he's on his tummy. The desire to reach these items can encourage him to stay down longer and try harder. For my son, it's the dog. The first scooting he ever did was to get his hands on the dogs. Oh, and the computer. I always tell him, if you can reach it, you can play with it!
So, when it comes to tummy time, the key is to relax and go with the flow. Yes, it's necessary for development, but it doesn't need to be a battle. And as baby grows and gains in skill, he will grow in confidence as well. Work with baby and help him with encouragement and love. And don't worry what anyone says you should do.
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