DS hates tummy time with a passion and its starting to concern me. We keep being told at mothers group how important it is to do tummy time but DS hates it so much that I dont want to do it too much as I feel that he will hate it more. He just buries his head in the blanket and cries. He is very strong, and is a big boy so therefore he has a big head but for some reason he hates tummy time. He lifts his head a bit but needs me to put his arms in the right place so that he can lift up, he wont do it on his own. He has pretty good head control when upright.
Iv tried a mirror, propping him up with a pillow so that he is up a bit to see around, toys, talking, singing, lying next to him, tummy time on my knees, tummy time on my chest ( he used to like this but not anymore) but nothing has worked. He just screams and screams. Although on the plus side it is a good way to tire him out if I want him to have a nap!
Does anyone else have any suggestions for how to make him like it? Is he going to be behind developmentally if we dont get on top of this soon?
I don't really know much about this but I can't imagine it would affect his development...
My theory is (right or wrong) they will do things in their own time.
But if you are concerned, maybe have a chat to your doctor next time your there.
DS hated tummy time. he had no proble holding his head up, he just hated it. the only way he would do so happily was if he was skin to skin with DH or myself, so thats what we did.
But you say he doesnt like that anymore..
What does your mchn have to say? oirs suggested even just leaving him on his tummy for a few second was OK if we did it a few times a day.
One hting I was told to do, this was somehow b/f related, was to put him on his tummy, arms by his sides, and get him to move his arms forward on his own. he hated it, so at first id not leave him for more than a few seconds, but he did get the hang of it eventually.
Jazz HATED hated hated tummy time with a passion. She'd scream like I was torturing her!!!!!
That stopped at about... 4-5 months. I'm not really sure WHY she started liking it... I did start laying her down in front of a mirror, and I really needed her to have more tummy time cos of her head (plagiocephaly). And she just seemed to start liking it.
You could also try rolling up a towel and putting it under his arms and chest to prop him up a bit so he can see?
But apparently its very common, a lot of babies hate tummy time untl they can hold their heads and chests up off the ground and look at things. Just a little bit at a time until he gets upset and he'll get used to it eventually. Don't stress
The nurse at mothers group was watching him on wed and she said that because he is such a big boy (nearly 7.5kg) he needs to get worked up and angry to get up!!! Well I dont like watching him get worked up and angry. There is another boy in the mothers group that is similar and he is also bigger so maybe its a big boy thing??
One thing that he is doing now is when he is on his tummy he tries to roll but only manges to get his legs half over but cant get the top half of his body to go with them so he ends up going in circles. It is quite funny if not for the screaming!
Strip him naked, sometimes its the nappy they don't like.
An excersise ball can be fun. Lay him on that and roll it slowly back and forth so he has to adjust his head.
Try on your chest, Start sitting upright, then go back and forth slowly.
Have a bath together, lay back and put him on your tummy. Sometimes the comfy and relaxing environment can help.
As for the 'big boy' theory, all my boys were big, with Ash being the biggest at 11 pounds (now he is 10.2kg) and he loved tummy time so I don't think that is right. Keep trying. Some babies just don't like it to begin with. Good luck!
Isabel, it might be related to him being bigger - DS was born 4.64kg, so he was bigger as well, and did things like rolling, sitting, crawling later than the other kids. I did feel at times like his head was probably heavier to lift up compared to the other kids at mother group.
DS absolutely hated it with a passion. So i didnt bother with tummy time for him. He is no and has been no different to any other baby of child his age. He met everyone of his milestones, some even earlier then expected. DD i didnt really bother too much either. She was a little happier to do it so i would give her a little time on her tummy, but only when i remembered. There is no difference between the two of them, in fact DS actually crawled earlier than DD.
So really honey if its stressing both you and your DS out that much, dont bother. You can maybe give it a go with time to come but honestly, in my eyes, it really doesnt make a difference if they do it or not.
rayray his head might have been bigger, I know Ashtons was (39cm at birth) but they also have bigger everything elses too I think it is just each baby is different, some love tummy time, (Ashton slept on his tummy from very early on, rolled at 3 months, crawled from 5 months), others hate it. I am very doubtful that it has to do with size as he was 5kg born.
Have you had anymore luck trying anything written here Isabel??
one thing that helped me and DD overcome the tummy time dilemma was to approach it with a more whole approach. tummy time doesnt just have to be on the mat on the floor, it also includes the time when they can lie across your lap with you holding them up a bit at the front. this way they use the muscles but still feel secure that you are there to help them out ITMS.
also having them lie on their belly while straddling your arms is also considered 'tummy time', and i found that DD liked this best...
HTH
and try not to worry too much, sometimes ppl place way too much pressure on us mums and bubs to 'do the right thing' when sometimes the right thing is to do it differently IYKIM.
My DS#1 also hated it to begin with... we used to hold him on his tummy over our arm (in the crutch of the arm IYKWIM) with his head facing towards your elbow and his legs stradled over your wrist... Am I making any sense???? ... this position is also good for colic and reflux but allows them to develop head strength.
DH and I put DS on his tummy today and lo and behold he lifted his head right up craned his head around and then rolled over onto his back We were shocked. He still wasn't too impressed about it but at least he didn't scream the whole time. We lavished attention on him when he did this and he looked pretty shocked at himself to be honest. Looks like he worked out that this tummy time business isn't going away so he took matters into his own hands!
I tried the rolled up towel under his arms yesterday like leesha suggested which helped a bit but he still buried his head in the towel and screamed.
I wont stress too much about it, the nurse at mothers group showed us a dvd about the importance of tummy time and when I watched this it made it seem that if we didn't do it he would never crawl, walk etc so that freaked me out. Hopefully over the next few days he will get better at it. I have noticed that when we hold him in positions such as on his tummy in our arms he has really good head control so perhaps as Cassius stated he just likes doing it in a different way.
Hmm im not sure many babies do like tummy time. I rarely gave my DD's tummy time and they turned out fine and developed the same as other babies and hit milestones at the rough age that is in books. So far DS hates it too so he hasnt had much time either.
DD hated tummy time and it didn't affect her at all. She even HATED lying on her tummy on DP's chest which just about broke his heart, poor thing. Anyhow, she was one of the earliest crawlers at Mothers Group and walked at 12 months.
I haven't read the research so I shouldn't make generalisations but all I can say from my experience with DD is ... it's a croc.
I actually question the relevence too. I know lots of babies who hate tummy time so their mums didn't do it and they were fine? It would be interesting where they link the 2 things. I can see it helping with other issues, like flat heads, but once they can roll which is usually done before crawling they can roll to their tummies to crawl anyways.
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Can you make a baby like tummy time??
I think it is just each baby is different, some love tummy time, (Ashton slept on his tummy from very early on, rolled at 3 months, crawled from 5 months), others hate it. I am very doubtful that it has to do with size as he was 5kg born.
We were shocked. He still wasn't too impressed about it but at least he didn't scream the whole time. We lavished attention on him when he did this and he looked pretty shocked at himself to be honest. Looks like he worked out that this tummy time business isn't going away so he took matters into his own hands!
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