Tummy time?

[Indadhanu]

I haven't really given DD much tummy time, as she just seems to hate it, she never lasts more than a minute, then she screams her head off. She's 7 weeks. I've heard a lot of babies don't like it. What do you do to get them to like it? She has a few favourite toys shes likes to watch and listen to - a rattle and a singing ladybeetle - but nothing can calm her down when shes on her tummy. I don't want to let her scream just so she gets tummy time, but I don't want her not to learn to hold her head up and all that either.

[Liz]

Yeah my bubs never liked it that young. They got most of their tummy time on me.. lying on my chest and lifting themselves up to look at me. I was only reclined a bit.. not lying on the floor or anything. And then once they could hold their head up better they enjoyed tummy time more. But even then, not really. I wouldn't stress too much about it, you'll know when she's ready to play better on her tummy. Don't feel that you need to force her

[~Trish~]

Yeah, don't stress too much about it. Both my boys hated it at first so I never pushed it, I just tried it every now and then. They worked it out when they were ready. Putting her on your chest is a good suggestion and you could try tummy time on the edge of your bed so you can sit on the floor and be at eye level with her. Even try her on her tummy when you're drying her off after a bath.

[Arimeh]

I agree with Liz. DD never gets much tummy time cos she doesn't like it either (although she does sleep on her belly).

I'm not too concerned about it.

Just lie her on your belly - thats what we do here as well..... and there is nothing wrong with her head control (had her checked yesterday with the child nurse and she said she is developing beautifully - even without tummy time!!)

[MantaRay]

Leasha, as the others have said, don't stress. Try to put her on her tummy at least once a day, but if she gets upset roll her over (or pick her up). Even a minute at a time is enough at that age anyway. And if she doesn't even like that, don't worry, she will later. It's helpful if they like it, but it's not the be all and end all.

[Kmn]

We also did a lot of lying on our chests, or over our shoulders. At 2 months our MCHN suggested that he also needed a bit of time on the floor, since while he was lifting up his head OK (part of the reason for tummy time) he had no sign of the foot-scrabbling that was apparently the other thing that should be developing. He lasted a couple of minutes in front of the floor-to-ceiling-window, watching the tree - and he did that each day for another month or so. Then mysteriously he started to not mind it much first thing after waking up - so he would have a long session then and that was it.
After that poor bub learnt to roll from his back to his tummy - and it took him 2 months to learn to roll the other way. So he got a very large amount of tummy time from 4-6 months...

From the "flat head" point of view, anything that is not lying on their back will be helpful - so your sling or cuddle time is important here.

[Karina]

Claire hated tummy time that age as well! I ended up just doing tummy time for her in short bursts, and usually on my chest so she could look at my face. I'd lie on the couch so my top half was elevated a bit and have her on my chest and make faces at her and sing her songs. She still wasnt keen on it, but she was happier to be on my chest that on a rug on the floor.
She was able to roll from her tummy to back around 3 months old so i dont think the lack of tummy time was a big problem for her.

[Ezz]

DS hated tummy time until he learnt how to roll over (from back to tummy) - once he got there himself, he was happy to be there!

As others have said, I used to give him tummy time on my chest.

[Nicambhar]

Arabella has tummy time straight after her bath each day. I give her a massage while she is on her tummy and she usually falls asleep after she has had a bit of a look around.

[~clover~]

I've always done tummy time either on us, after a bath with no nappy, or just with no nappy.
DS loves having his nappy off, & always has (well not the first few days), so that helped us.

[Butterfly_Princess]

I found that if you roll up a towel and place it under their arms across their chest - kinda holding them up from the floor a bit - helped a lot.

Yup i was gonna suggest this one!!
Also another thing that I find is good...is when im sitting on the couch, ill put my legs together, and place her on her tummy on my lap, facing outwards so her tummy is in the little indent between my legs IYKWIM ??

Isabell wasnt keen on tummy time at that age either, but once id started using the towel idea, she slowly started liking it, then slowly i took the towel away.
Also my MCHN told DP and I that starting tummy time is good before 12 weeks, but its not essential, its at 12 weeks and after when tummy time is of its most benefit. That could be wrong, but its what MCHN told me.

[Laranna]

As the others have said, tummy time doesn't have to be on the floor. Lay her on you, across your lap or hold her face down across your arm.

I also second the rolled up towel, it made a big difference to DS's enjoyment of tummy time. I wouldn't worry about her not learning to lift her head up, she'll do it. I'm going through this at the moment as DS has great head control (checked by paed today) but he's not pushing himself up...he's had heaps of tummy time...so it's just a wait for him to get stronger.

[Jewel]

DS2 hates tummy time too when he's on the floor or anything by himself. He too carries on until we turn him over or pick him up. Takes a while to settle down sometimes. He even hates it when I turn him over to massage lotion on his back after a bath.
He loves when he's laying on our chests though.

[Indadhanu]

Okie dokie girls, am gonna try the towel thing. Thanks, hopefully she likes it a bit better.

[Dragonbub]

We tried everything with Caden to get him to like tummy time to no avail. He finally got it at around 6 months when he could roll well back and forward, then crawled at 8 months and walked at 10 months, so I really think that he just developed in his own time. My sis has just had her 4th bub and is amazed at how much has changed since her second youngest who is five. She says tummy time was not such a big issue then, and her bub crawled at four months, so although it is important, if they don't like it then it is not the be all and end all.

Good luck!

PS there are "tummy time nazis" out there that harp on about how important it is. But I believe a happy bub is more important, so ignore them if you can

[amberj]

Sounds like tummy time problems are pretty common. My bubs JUST started kind of liking it, like literally in the past couple days. He is 3.5 months (almost 16 weeks).

Just wanted to add my other favorite variety of tummy time position, and I hope I can explain this right.... you lie on your back on the floor with your legs bent 90 degrees at the hip and at the knees (so the lower part of your legs is parallel to the floor), and then rest your baby tummy down on your shins facing you and hold their hands. Their head extends beyond your knees so they have to hold it up, but they can look down on you- my baby thinks that's HILARIOUS. Requires a bit of balance, but I manage it with a 7kg+ baby, so it can be done!!