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My bub is 4.5 months and absolutely HATES being on her tummy. As soon as I put her on her tummy she immediately rolls onto her back. I didn't put her on her tummy much when she was a bit younger as she had reflux and would be sick but I'm now trying to get her used to it. Has anyone had this problem and been able to help their baby get used to and enjoy tummy time?
Yes. Milo hated tummy time until he was able to lift his head 90 degrees (so looking up and ahead) and now he is a bit better. I would put him on his tum a couple of times a day, and roll him over as soon has he got upset/frustrated.
I found it helped if I placed a hand on his bottom, he could balance better.
I have something from MCHN with ways to encourage tummy time, I will have a look for it, but mostly I found he didn't mind so much if he was lying face down on me, just hated it on the floor, so we had lots of tummy time lying on mums chest/tum.
Today he rolled from front to back for the first time. \:D/ He hasn't gone back to tum yet.
Carrie, i wouldnt worry about it too much. Jackson was never a big tummy fan when he was a lil' bubs, would stay there a couple of minutes if that before getting cranky. if it does bother you, maybe you could try a play mat with really bright colours and some different textures and things on it, or something with mirrors that bubs can see herself in, most babies love mirrors.
Hi Carrie, My son hated it with a passion as well. It's only relatively recently that he has taken to tummy time for more than a couple of minutes (5 months corrected age).
We accidentally stumbled onto a way to get him to stay on his tummy.... heavily decorated sheets. We have some with animals printed on them. I discovered by putting the top sheet down on the floor over the top of a sheepskin rug (so there was extra padding beneath his little tummy) he was happy looking at the animals for a while and trying to poke them. This distraction seemed to help to delay him from rolling onto his back for a little bit longer.
The other thing is that he seemed to tolerate tummy time more on the change table. Not sure whether it was the extra height of the table, the padding on the mat or the fact that he was usually getting a massage when in that position....
Kynan went through a stage where he disliked tummy time and refused to hold his head up too. I had to come up with ways to make it more enjoyable for him like lying on my back and have him lie on my legs and lifting him up IYKWIM? Another thing that worked really well was putting him on a fit ball on his tummy and rolling it back and forth or in circles, or having him by the window whilst on it so he could look outside. The CHN also suggested going for a walk in the garden and having tummy time in the pram but Kynan hates the pram so that wouldn't have worked for him LOL.
If you know someone with a Baby of a similar age who likes tummy time, sometimes it helps to put them down together - so your little one can see how its done I guess!
Thanks for the great advice everyone - we've been out most of the day so I haven't been able to try your suggestions yet, but i'll let you know how they go!
Bella absolutely hated tummy time. the MCHN suggested laying her down on her tummy but with a rolled up nappy under her arms for support. We tried it and after about three weeks she started to like it more.
Olivia hated it and I tried everything with no avail: she still hated it. She subsequently learned to sit on her bottom unaided pretty early, which I believe is quite common.
Charlie is a huge roller and only stays on his tummy with distraction........but he is now at the point of crawling so I think he sees the benefits of tummy time.......
Logan hates tummy time. Sometimes I can encourage him by lying on the floor with him, my face in front of his and cheering him on LOL eg: "You're such a smart boy. What a cute and smart baby you are! You're doing so well, just a little bit longer. Wow look at how high you can hold your head up" :oops: I feel a little silly some times, but it's the only thing that works, otherwise he just lies there with his face pressed in to the mat and gets cranky.