Tummy Time is Torture

I think I've seen this question here before so forgive me if this is annoying...but how do you deal with babies who hate tummy time? Dalia cries starting immediately upon being placed on her tummy. Jonah will tolerate it for 5 minutes or so but that is it. They are 3.5 months. I read that you shouldn't leave them there once they get frustrated, but on the other hand it is so important for their development. Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

OMG it is soooo important. I realize that now because like yours both of mine hated it and one more than the other. One of my DD's isn't walking yet (at 17 months) due to a couple of reasons and one being low-muscle tone. I never really "forced" her to do tummy time and she never gained a lot of strength in her neck and upper body either. Which is all helpful when learning to crawl and pick themselves up for walking (she never crawled either...she shoots). My husband thinks I'm crazy for putting the two together but I will always wonder.

Some tips that helped were putting moving toys in front of them...anything that distracts them from what their doing. And adding just a minute each time.

GL!

 

My kids all HATED it! I just kept putting them on their tummies for as much time as they would tolerate as often as I could, but they never enjoyed it!

 

My tummy-time hater (who was IUGR and sooo tiny) would either fall asleep or scream bloody murder. I kept up with it, just for a few minutes at a time several times a day even if he fussed. If he got super frustrated I'd end the tummy time and do it again later. And wouldn't you know it: he ended up being the first one to crawl and the first one to walk by several months!

But tummy time is not just leaving them on a mat; you can do tummy time with them lying on you! I called it "mummy tummy time". Or you can hold them upright and let them raise their heads off of your shoulder. Anything that gets them supporting their head and strengthening their neck/torso muscles counts. You can also lay them on their backs, grasp their hands, and pull them gently into a sitting position and back down. This will teach them to hold their heads up so they don't flop back.

Keep up the good work!

 

If tummy time is torture, then don't do it. Seriously, everyone says it's so important but I'm not convinced. One of my daughters had severe reflux which meant that she could not tolerate being on her stomach or back. She had to be upright almost all of the time. She even slept on a special wedge to keep her head elevated. So she got virtually no tummy time until she was six months old. My other daughter did the typical tummy time routine and didn't especially like it but didn't fight it too much either.

All that said, my girls started sitting unassisted at five months. They crawled at eight months. Walked at 14 months. They hit every milestone within a week of the other. And one had tummy time but the other didn't. So I'm just not convinced. I wouldn't recommend leaving your babies lying flat on their backs all the time, but they'll get exposure to all sorts of positions in normal life. A great tummy time 'cheat' is to sit reclined on a chair and prop a baby on your lap so that they're sort of standing on your legs and climbing up your body. Or use a foam wedge or rolled up towel to position the baby so she's not flat on the floor.

 

I am one who pretty much did tummy time with one baby at a time. I would lay on the bed/couch/whatever and put them on my tummy. That way I was their entertainment!

 

Neither of my LOs really liked tummy time until shortly before they started crawling. For DS that wasn't until 9 months and for DD it was at 8 months. We never really forced the tummy time issue. We just did it when we thought of it, and for however long they would tolerate it. I also tried to put them on my tummy.

 

I used to call Tummy Time, torture time. Both of my kids HATED it. Basically DH and I would do as much as they would tolerate. We would lay down on the floor and have them lay on their bellies on top of us, our couch is also right by the window, so we would also lay them down on their bellies so they could see out the window. I think at the most they would do a couple of minutes at a time.

 

I've never heard anyone whose baby liked tummy time. It is not always comfortable and most of the time scary for them until they feel in "control" of their actions and can roll back and forth.
Yet supervised tummy time as long as they can tolerate it, even if it's for a few minutes at a time I think is important.

 

My daughter would tolerate tummy time longer if I put her on a boppy pillow with toys laid out in front of her...

My kids didn't like tummy time for a long time ! Now my son will roll over from his back to his front so he can be on his tummy all the time!

 

DS hated tummy time until he hit 4 months and figured out that he could roll to get off his tummy. DD is more content to be on her tummy so she hasn't even tried to roll yet! We would do just 5 min at a time and get down there with them so that they were distracted...it also worked to use the boppy to prop up DS because otherwise he would put his butt up in the air and put his face into the blanket and fuss until we flipped him over! Fussing never hurt a baby. Just think, if we quit everything that frustrated us, where would we be?!?

 

My first son hated tummy time and it broke my heart to do it. Then I bought a beach ball and I would hold him on top of on his tummy and roll him gently back and forth. He seemed to like that and I did a few times a day for about 10 minutes each time.