Tummy Time

How often do you have your twins on their tummies? And for how long at a time? Mine tend to not like being on their tummies, so we don't do it often as we don't want them to turn upset. However, I know that the only way they'll get used to it is by doing it. Just wondering if anyone else has trouble getting tummy time in during the day.....

 

I always had trouble getting them to do tummy time for play. Try propping their chests up on a Boppy as see if that helps.

 

We started out with tummy time on their boppy pillows. Lauren was fine, but Emma hated it. I did do it everyday, but started out in very short increments. Gradually she increased the time she wanted to be on there.

 

I would try doing tummy time daily several times a day. Eventually the time they will tolerate it will get longer and longer. Like the pp said, try propping with a boppy or a towel/blanket underneath them for added support.

 

every day, even if it's several short bursts throughout the day. it's okay if they fuss a little. you just want to get them up off of those heads when you can.

 

DD has never been a fan of tummy time but we did a little each day then did it less as she would just cry and cry and it wasnt worth the meltdown. When we started doing it again, she´d cry and roll over. Now, she holds herself up really well, and better than ever, for a few minutes without crying. My LOs are almost 11 months and DD is showing no desire to crawl but I know she hits her milestones when she´s good and ready.

 

I'm going to admit that tummy time was my greatest struggle the first 6 months. Yes, I could handle the witching hour uncontrollable crying, but face me with the task of tummy time and I was a flop. Both boys hated it and I did not do it every day. At 3 months the boys were evaluated by EI as a prevention (set up before they even left the NICU) and I got chewed out by a doctor for not doing tummy time enough. I started trying to do it every day, but honestly it didn't happen. I did everything else I could to keep them off the backs of their heads. Ryan started to get a flat spot and that kicked my rear into gear! I started with the Boppy with them facing each other w/ books/toys on the floor for them to look at. I went 30seconds of crying. Later that day, I'd let them cry from 1min. The next day I did 1 min and in the afternoon 2mins. It took about a week, but they stopped crying. They still hated it (see avatar) but they tolerated it.

 

Mine hate tummy time & I have to admit I don't do it everyday. I work M-T but on weekends we do do it everyday. I prop their chests on the bobby pillow. They like this better than being flat on the floor.

 

we don't do actual tummy time everyday. one of my girls doesn't really mind it but she is really good at hold her head up and is in the process of rolling over. my other girl HATES tummy time. she will scream her head of immediately even if she is doing belly to belly with me and if i burp her over my shoulder. she doesn't like to be held that way either. the boppy seems to help a little bit. we find that if we place her on it just for a minute here and there it's less stressful for her.

 

My girls are 2 months old today and I've been a little more consistant with tummy time over the past week or so. They were 32 weekers that spent 4 1/2 weeks in the hospital and I know they really didn't do tummy time in the hospital. Really it comes down to me remembering to do it. I found my girls really like it and I use their boppys right now. They usually wind up falling asleep, but I'm always an arm's reach away when they are sleeping. I saw the need for it as one of my girls is getting a bald spot on the back of her head!

 

I was terrible about it with the twins, until they started getting flat heads around month 4. At that point they were on their tummies almost full time whether they liked it or not! Keep at it, they will get used to it.

 

when my girls were that age, i had a routine that after every diaper change i put them back on the floor on their tummies - as soon as they started crying (not just fussing/whining) i would roll them over onto their backs. some days it was literally within 5 seconds of putting them down, others they'd be fine for a couple of minutes. as they got stronger & better at holding their heads up, they started to like tummy time more.

 

Yea.. i agree with pp about the boppy.. Mine didn't like it until i started them on the boppys.. they started to tolerate it more.. I wasn't really dilligent about tummytime either until probably 2 weeks ago... Now i try to do it after the girls are done being propped up from being eating.. I put them down and on being on their tummy.. on a blanket.. I found that i remembered to do it more when i left a blanket in the living room to remind me to do it

 

My pedi told me to work up to 60 minutes a day on their tummy. I usually did it for 10-20 minutes, or as long as they would tolerate it. I kind of got aggravated with tummy time because they would always spit up, even when we had waited for a good 30-45 minutes after they ate. However, I did it because I knew it was important. Now that they can roll over by themselves, they love tummy time. I find it very hard to keep them off of their tummies. They still spit up, but I just consider myself the cleanup crew. My girls were 12 weeks premature, but they are hitting physical milestones at a "early age" and I think the tummy time really helped develop those muscles that they needed to roll, sit up, push up, etc.