Tummy Time!

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What is tummy time?

Tummy time is letting your baby lay on their stomach. What happens after this is up to baby. Tummy time helps baby develop muscles, starting with the ability to lift their head and gradually for sitting, crawling, and walking. Make sure your baby is always awake during this.

When can we start?

As soon as you feel comfortable doing so. Some parents start as soon as baby comes home. Others wait a few months. Generally speaking, you don’t want to wait to long as the muscles involved with tummy time help other forms of development.

How often can we do this?

Every day. Start smart and work up. Try a few minutes once or twice a day and see how your baby responds. The goal is to work up to longer amounts of time. In no time, your baby will be able to do 10-15 minutes at a time and do multiple sessions per day. The trick is finding the right amount of challenge without burning your little one out. Always perform tummy time under the watchful eye of a responsible adult.

Sounds great. How do I start?

The best time to start tummy time is when baby is awake and refreshed, such as in the morning or after a nap.

Pick a clear area on the floor.
Use a towel or playmat if you prefer.
Put baby on his/her stomach.
Set out a few toys in different places around baby.
Let them stay for a few minutes and watch them go!

Infants being on their stomach is no problem for a few minutes at a time. Never ever put your baby down for sleep on their stomach. Doing so is a risk factor for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Don’t do it. Your baby may flip over and become a stomach sleeper when they are ready. No need to rush it.

How can we get more out of tummy time?

There’s lots of things you can do as a parent to keep it interesting for your baby!

Use toys to entice baby to reach and crawl. This helps with muscle development. They have to use muscles to get them!
Get down on the floor with them! Go face to face and encourage them to push themselves more. Put baby on your stomach or do baby benches as you play with your child.
Grab a toy mirror so baby can see the baby in the mirror. Babies are fascinated by the face watching them.

Why is tummy time important?

Tummy time has several major benefits-

Allows baby to develop different muscles that will be needed to sit up, crawl, and walk.
Serves as a foundation for motor skills.
Avoids baby getting a flat spot on the back of their head.

Great, baby keeps fighting tummy time. Now what?

Don’t fret! Plenty of baby aren’t on board with the new routine. Sometimes our little ones just want to be lazy. They will come around eventually.

Change the scenery. Find a new place to do tummy time.
Make the sessions shorter. Even a few minutes may simply be too much to start with. Cut it down to a minute or two, but don’t cut the number of sessions. Baby needs to understand that this is now part of their day.
Give them a fresh face. Switch up who does tummy time with baby. Make sure it isn’t just one parent doing it every time. Invite siblings to join.

Keep your eye on the end goal. Tummy time helps foster exciting breakthroughs for your baby. Many babies begin to hold their head up around 3 months. This just gets better and better over the next few months. Some babies start to crawl around 6 months, others a little later. Some babies practically skip the crawling phase. Whichever path your baby takes, tummy time is an important foundation.