Anyone's LO HATE tummy time??

sescms2004 · October 2010

Hi ladies,

We are having a really tough time with giving the babies tummy time. DD does ok....she'll squirm around for at least 10-15 minutes before she starts to whimper. DS, however, screams hysterically the entire time. It is heartbreaking for DH and I. We are having to force it though, b/c DS was born with torticollis and our physical therapist says he can't stress tummy time enough to help strengthen his neck. I know he needs it...but it brings me to tears seeing him get so upset each time. DH and I think it's partly because he can't turn his head very well to the left side b/c of the torticollis, so it may be somewhat painful. But, DS also has a very different temperament than DD and gets SO upset SO easily. Whenever he has a tough crying spell, he "huffs" for a really long time afterwards (sometimes an hour) trying to get over it. Needless to say....knowing that tummy time makes him so upset makes it even harder to do. Any tips??

sommerrayne · October 2010

I'm pretty sure every baby hates it. We tried to combat it by getting down on the floor with her and making funny faces, sounds, and interacting with her. But all in all, its not fun for them.

GuitaristsGirl · October 2010

Yep, DS hated it until he was old enough to roll over onto his stomach on his own accord. The thing that worked best for us was putting the boppy on my stomach/ legs, so that it was at a bit of an angle - maybe 40 degrees?, then putting DS on the boppy. Flat on the floor - forget it. He'd scream until he spit up and stuff cane flying out of his nose

GL!

howleyshell · October 2010

Not what your PT would probably recommend but we ditched the whole concept of lying on his tummy on the ground and instead put him up on our shoulders looking over our backs.

nicolita14w · October 2010

i agree that they all hate it at first. we just keep at it in small increments. eventually they come around!

AvaLikeLava · October 2010

Yeah, G HATED it. He screamed bloody murder each time we put him on his tummy. We could at most stand a minute of it before we would quit.

But I did try to be creative. Like putting him tummy down on my chest and then I reclined back. It's not the flat floor, but it worked better (except for when he would spit up down my neck). So... just get creative too.

PS. DS is now a tummy sleeper. Go figure. From no-tummy-time kid, to 100% tummy sleeper.

qtpa2t · October 2010

I think all babies seem to hate it. Howley had a good suggestion. We'd also put her on our chest. The point of the exercise, as I understand it, is just to force them to pick up their heads and strengthen the muscles. We just started with small increments, even a minute or two at a time.

BRSaugust20 · October 2010

A few other options:

1. If you have a yoga ball, lay LO on it holding under their arms and facing you - have ball near wall the first few times or have another spotter, sit on the floor in front of the ball and roll it back a little, gravity will work with LO to help raise their head and he will have you to look at.

2. Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in a V, have LO "kneel" again your leg (inside facing out) and put his arms on your leg to have him do tummy time that way (my DS barely grunts with this method and great if you need him to burp more!)

3. We do a minute or so with every diaper change on his diaper pad on the dresser - keep on hand on him but stand in front of him so he can look at you. With how many times you change a diaper, the tummy time adds up quickly.

Our LO has torticolis too and isn't tolerating us stretching his neck anymore so I've been trying to increase tummy time a lot.

MonkeysGirl05 · October 2010

Yay, henry was NOT a fan of tummy time. We just kept up with it. I tried to lay on the floor with him to entertain him, but that usually didn't help much either. Sorry, I'm not much help, but you definitly aren't alone.

leslies75 · October 2010

DS hated tummy time majorly, and also had torticollis. Our PT gave us some alternative ways to hold DS to stretch his neck while also giving him tummy time in another way (in our arms). He can also get tummy time while laying on your (or DH's) belly.

Talk to the PT about some holds - Good luck!

ETA: Like a PP mentioned, DS is now a tummy sleeper too!

gramos1128 · October 2010

DS could not do it much because he hated it and had really bad reflux. He laid on my chest a lot on the couch so I counted that. FWIW he didn't do much tummy time and it has not affected his development at all. He has been crawling and cruising very confidently since like 6-7 months. My advice is not to stress about it.

LucyPevensie · October 2010

They all hate it. Do it anyway - it is so important for neck strength and preventing plagiocephaly (flat head syndrome.) You can do tummy time by having baby lay across your legs on their tummy too. Oh gosh, just read your post more clearly about the tort - yeah - your guy is very much at risk for plagiocephaly - so I hate to be mean - but do the tummy time. Your PT is right. Hang in there mama! And get a special tummy time mat - there are some that prop up their chests/heads a little - and just keep at it. He needs it.

armywife76 · October 2010

Ditto PP's. My DS has hated tummy time since he was born. He's definitely a slow developer in terms of rolling and pushing up onto all fours, but is a great sitter! Unfortunately, he developed flat head syndrome even thought we forced tummy time as much as we possibly could. He usually just screamed, spit up, and then tried to fall asleep face down. Try this mat, though, he seemed to tolerate it better than without anything to support. GL!

gramos1128 · October 2010

I'm sorry. I didn't see your comment on the torticolis. I would definitely keep working on it because of that. GL! It will get easier and will soon be a thing of the past when he gets past it and rolls and is on to moving and new things.

Want a personalized experience?

Anyone's LO HATE tummy time??

Re: Anyone's LO HATE tummy time??

Choose Another Board

Search Boards