tummy time

[maplekitty]

When do you start doing tummy time? How long is too long to wait to start doing it?
Right now my little one is 1 month. I tried putting her on her tummy and she just lays there face flat crying bloody murder :(
Is she still too young?

[krbb]

I don't think DS really started doing tummy time on the floor until he was a couple months old. Even that was only for a couple minutes. Before that I would lay on the couch and put him on his tummy on me. That he didn't mind.

[NYN]

i think you'll be hard pressed to find a one-month-old who enjoys tummy time. my DD hated tummy time too. at that age, we did tummy-to-tummy time instead. ;) same idea and more interaction w/ mom and dad and therefore more fun.

[Ericka_Jarett]

Easton had to start doing tummy time for 15 mins a day from the day I brought him home from the hospital (he was 10 days old) He didn't care for it at all, but needed it for head control and upper body strength. I put his boppy down and lay him down on that and lay on the floor next to him and show him a toy or play his musical lamb for him. When you lay Robyn down, turn her face to the side and lay next to her talking and soothing her, it will take time but tummy time is good for her. We also do the tummy to tummy time.

[Sophia]

Sounds just like DD2.

She's just now (at almost 4 months) doing several minutes of TT without wigging out. Her favorite place is the changing table, which means I have to hover over her and watch her like a hawk. :rolleyes:

[Renrel]

I dont remember when we started but I think they say the earlier the better. DS did hate it though. One thing that helped was bending my legs and leaning him agaist them, so he was upright. Then slowing lowering my legs over time until he was on his belly. This way he was so involved in looking at the world that he did not notice he was changing postion into a belly down position.

[kindermom]

I didn't. :o DD was not a fan. I did try it though when she was about 3 months old.

[dzmattie]

My pedi says start around 6 to 8 weeks for 5 to 10 minutes as they can tolerate it....

DD doesn't like it much though!

[PinkMartini]

Jacob is 11 days old now and I was wondering the same thing... He had a bit of jaundice so we layed him down on his stomach for like 10 min's for a few days last week and he did fine. We're going to buy an activity gym for him to do tummy time on, soon... I've heard/read the earlier the better

[Wrighty26]

My ped recommended it right away. DS hated it - and even now at almost 4 months can hardly tolerate it for more than 5 minutes. We did a lot of "tummy to tummy" lying down, which he didn't mind as much and I think that helped him strengthen his neck.

He still hasn't rolled over, and most of the babies in the July thread have. It makes me wonder if tummy time (or lack) has anything to do with it! His 4 month WBV is Friday, so I'll have to ask then.

ETA: We're going to buy an activity gym for him to do tummy time on, soon... I've heard/read the earlier the better

Just an FYI - My DS actually prefers to do tummy time on a regular old blanket or on his boppy. You definitely don't need to buy an activity gym for tummy time :D

[NYN]

wrighty: i often think that about my DD. she was very late to develop gross motor skills and i often wonder if maybe i didn't do enough tummy time with her. we did it daily but probably not long enough b/c i hated to hear her complain (and she always hated it -- never outgrew that hate for it the way most kids do).

[kmack]

i was never good about doing tummy time b/c DD absolutely hated it! of course when she was old enough i saw this (http://www.onestepahead.com/product/117/409756/117.html) in a catalog and wished i had seen it sooner, i know it would have made it more bearable for her. i did eventually get a blanket that had a bendy-mirror thingy in it and she was able to handle tummy time for longer periods b/c she was fascinated by the mirror. but i think if she had a little pillow to lay on and some toys to play with it would have gone much better.

cross-post with wrighty - interesting, i guess all babies are just different. DD hated just a blanket....

[Wrighty26]

kmack - that is interesting! Though, I have to say that gym mat is kinda cool! Sometimes I think they should make adult versions of all of these baby items.

NYN - that's how I feel about tummy time - we do it, but I hate to hear him complain. I'm not TOO worried about his motor skills at this point, but it's definitely something I'm keeping an eye on. I apparently hated being on my tummy when I was a baby too (and I'm still not that fond of it) and I both crawled and walked later than usual. I don't think it had any long term effects (unless you count being a klutz!).

[Sophia]

Wrighty, Lili hasn't rolled yet, either. I know she's strong enough, she just doesn't like being on her tummy long enough to realize she can do it.

Aside from highly supervised TT on the changing table, she'll also tolerate tummy-to-tummy and the boppy. When she was younger, it helped to bend her arms so that her fists were right under her chest--it kept her face from hitting the surface she was on.

[Sevilla]

We put DS on his tummy for a few minutes after each diaper change from birth, he did hate it and cry in the beginning but we kept at it. Whn he was a newborn we were dealing with a bad diaper rash so we'd put him on his stomach to 'air out' after each change even if he cried b/c his skin needed it. Since it became a regular part of his routine he got used to it. It takes awhile for them to build up the neck, arm, and torso muscle strength to push up and lift their head so its fine that she just lays there for now, with practice she'll get better.

We stopped doing tummy time around 4 months b/c by then he *loved* to be on his tummy to play and look around so it was redundant to do it with diaper changes. We would also lay him on top of us for tummy time which worked well. The key is to start early and do it a lot so the baby is used to it.

ETA: I think regular tummy time has something to do with certain motor skills. I know DS had good head control, did 'push-ups', and crawled all on the early end of normal and i think all the time he spent on his tummy (an hour or more a day from just a few weeks old) had a lot to do with it b/c he had to use those muscles a lot. Rolling tummy to back is a lot easier than going back to tummy (DS rolled tummy to back starting at 2 months, but didn't do back to tummy until 5 1/2 months, when he was starting to crawl).

And as an added benefit, he didn't get a flat spot on the back of his head since he wasn't on his back a lot during the day. And he started loving being on his tummy around 6 weeks old. So there were 2 or so weeks of him hating it and then he was fine - once he liked it we'd sometimes leave him on his tummy for a half hour at a time if he was content.

[jesseybell]

Our pediatrician has wanted us to do it since Day 1. At 3 months DD hates traditional on the floor, but she loves tummy-to-tummy. I wish I had been doing it more before now. Of course when the ped "tested" her at her 2 month WBV she pushed herself up more than normal.

Now that I am back at work I am going to encorporate tt in our nightly routine.

[dionysia]

DS is 5 weeks old and we try to do tummy time every day since we got home from the hospital. At first, he'd last about 2 minutes before screaming. Now he'll do tummy & back time on the Gymini for about 10-15 minutes.

Di

[Hula1974]

We've done it every day since he came home from the hospital (about 8 days old). He doesn't always love it but he's getting so strong. His neck is getting strong just from being over my shoulder for a burp, but I think tummy time is helping his torso and arm muscles. During 2 sessions at 4 weeks old he rolled over from his tummy to his back. Surprised me, so definately watch them like a hawk!

[Chimichanga]

My ped told me to start tummy time after the cord/stump falls off. We had been doing it since the day we brought DD home but stopped until the stump came off.

She actually likes it for the most part. After awile she'll scream, but she can go a good 10 minutes per time.

When she was younger, we'd put her on her boppy for Tummy Time. Now that's she's almost 3 months, we'll change it up and sometimes just lie her flat on a blanket on the floor. She holds herself up well.

We still do tummy to tummy time which she loves.

[SiValleySteph]

We hardly did any tummy time with DS as a little baby. Every time I put him on his stomach, he spit up. Bleh. I just tried every now and then and didn't worry about it too much. I held him all the time, so he was getting quite strong in the neck that way. He still started rolling over at 12 weeks and turned out perfectly fine. My theory is that he rolled over from stomach to back first because he hated being on his stomach! :D

[LeslieR]

Luke hated being on his tummy. And he was also a huge spitter. I didn't force the issue. He's a big kid and held up his head pretty much right away. He rolled over late (IMO) at around 6 months or so and that was also back to tummy. I'm sure this is due to the hatred of tummy time. If she hates it, I would just do it for as long as she tolerates it.

[Kate&Joey]

Another idea for TT is to use an exercise/yoga ball. Put a cloth diaper down to catch the inevitable spit-up and slowly roll it back and forth. DS loved this. It didn't seem as traumatic to him as laying with his face down on the activity mat.

[maplekitty]

Okay well we do do tummy-to-tummy time atleast once a day. Mostly because I love snuggling her like that, so I didnt' realize that "counts" as well ;)

I'll have to try her on the boppy, maybe she'll like that better than perfectly flat on her tummy.

So far she's been really good with her head control when I hold her up on my shoulder. She always lifts her head up and around eally well looking at everything.

[MidwesternGal]

My DS seems to love tummy time. Sounds like he's in the minority though!! He can lift his head up fairly well, and has great leg muscles. . . . maybe if you had something intresting for your DD to look at to give her an incentive to not mash her face into the floor? Our dog is usually what DS looks at.

Good luck!

[Sophia]

Here's a link I came across today that may be helpful.

Making Tummy Time fun (http://sparkplugdance.org/tummy.php)

I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, though. (Yes, DD2 is almost 7mo and still hates TT)

[Wrighty26]

I know I posted in here before -- but I wanted to report that after a lot of consistency and dedication to tummy time, my DS now actually rolls over to be on his belly! He just started doing this -- and I am amazed :) We did A LOT of time on the Boppy and trying to distract him when he was on his tummy. There was still squawking - but it wasn't as bad and it got better over time.

Oh - and a note about rolling. I asked my ped about it and she said that rolling from back to belly is generally a 7 month thing -- turns out she was right because DS will be 7 months old next week.

[msnicolea]

We've tried to do it daily since he was about 4 weeks old. Lucas doesn't love it, but he's becoming more and more tolerant of it--he can last about 10 minutes before getting annoyed ;->

[rosa727]

I guess my DS is in the minority too - he loves it! And he is not an easy baby that loves everything. We started at about 2 weeks. We mix it up - do it on the Boppy, the little pillow that comes with the playgym, and just flat on a blanket. He tolerates the flat down on the blanket the least (fusses after a while), but I think it is important for trying to roll over. We also do tummy-to-tummy all the time. He spends half the day like that :p It is better for him than on his back since he has reflux. A few times we have let him nap on his belly while watching him and he actually sleeps much better. I wish it were safe to always have him like that. The poor guy spits up in his sleep and would just sleep so much better on his tummy.

[mobox]

My Pede also recommended it starting at 2 weeks. At 6 weeks I told her that he doesn't like it on the blanket but loves tummy to tummy and she said that's a great way to start. So, about three times a week I put him on the play gym or boppy. He'll hang for about 5 minutes. At least that's something!

[msnicolea]

My little man loves tummy to tummy, too--it's the playmat tummy time that he doesn't dig too much!