STMs: tummy time?

ifwisheswerefishes · July 2012

my MIL commented to me today that she noticed on my registry that we didn't have a tummy time mat or blanket.

first of all, i'm not very familiar with the purpose of tummy time. i've heard it mentioned, of course, but i guess i've never educated myself on it. can someone educate me?

second of all, do i need a special mat or play station for it? i wasn't aware of this either. am i really this ignorant, or am i misunderstanding something?

hmp1 · July 2012

You don't need a special mat but tummy time is important. It helps build neck strength and gets the baby off their back (can cause a flat spot). We have a simple play gym with a mirror and tummy time pillow that DS loved. Not necessary but we got a ton of use out of it.

https://www.amazon.com/Infantino-Twist-Fold-Activity-Vintage/dp/B002DWALTI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1342734699&sr=8-3&keywords=baby+play+mat

CarlySara · July 2012

hmp&mrj:
You don't need a special mat but tummy time is important. It helps build neck strength and gets the baby off their back (can cause a flat spot). We have a simple play gym with a mirror and tummy time pillow that DS loved. Not necessary but we got a ton of use out of it.
https://www.amazon.com/Infantino-Twist-Fold-Activity-Vintage/dp/B002DWALTI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1342734699&sr=8-3&keywords=baby+play+mat

Tummy time also helps the baby get the upper body strength and the desire to crawl. We were given hand me down play mats, but those were more for when DD was on her back. I'm usually just lay a blanket on the floor and either lay with her (before she had the strength to hold herself up to play) or put out some toys for her to try to play with.

CarlySara · July 2012

Yes! boppy for tummy time is great before they have the arm strength! I started DD with tummy time within the first 2 weeks. Short periods of time then, getting progressively longer the older she got.

Tarta · July 2012

You do not need a special tummy time mat. I ended up returning the play gym we had for DD because she hated it and far preferred tummy time on a bright quilt. Also I sometimes let her do tummy time propped partly on the boppy pillow for short spurts so she could see around her even more when she held her head up. It doesn't take anything special. You can put them on their tummy anywhere safe for the same effect.

Demedoll · July 2012

We ended up rarely using the play gym and using our DD's Winnie the poog blanket and a baby einstein toy mirror that is designed to go in the car but we actually used it on the floor. boppys are good for short periods but if you have one of those neck roll things people fly with, you can use that too.

damabo80 · July 2012

You don't need anything special for it. You can even just lay down and put LO on you, on their stomach.

DD hated it, but would tolerate it if I propped her up with a boppy or rolled up blanket/towel under her chest and put a mirror under her with a few brightly colored toys on it.

bosha711 · July 2012

Tummy time builds neck strength for head control.

You don't need anything special, but it's nice to have a cozy clean spot to put baby down with toys right near them to keep their interest, like an activity mat.

A boppy is also good for tummy time

Nita2603 · July 2012

Our son hated tummy time, but is important to do it. You won't need a special mat for it, however, if you end up with a baby who really dislikes being on their tummy, it make it bare able. We bought one after a while. It had a mini boppy to hang out on and a mirror and some other toys. Necessary? No. Made it a bit easier? Oh yes!!!

bosha711 · July 2012

oh yes, and it is good to not have them on teir back all the time so they don't get a flat spot on their head.

Most babies hate tummy time at first, bit it's good to do it in short spurts throughout the day. I think we started at a few weeks old.

terri_doula2010 · July 2012

Important for the reasons stated. DS hated tummy time so I'd lay him down on a blanket sometimes but I also did tummy time by putting him tummy-to-tummy on me while I was laying down. Same concept, but he'd be a lot happier.

We have a mat somewhere but I never used it specifically for tummy time since in my case everything was above his head. We had cats then and I didn't want to put a tiny baby on a cat-hair carpet, so I just put him on whatever blanket we had out at the time.

(Before anyone says anything, we had to re-home our cats because DS is severely allergic and was having respiratory distress living in our home. I love my kitties, but my son's health is more important. Also they are really happy in their new home and I still get fb updates about them from their new mommy.)

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