I distinctly remember one visit I had when I was working with a set of twin girls. They were a few months old but had been born prematurely. They were working on catching up on many milestones and in my role as an Early Intervention Provider, I checked in on all of their development, not just speech, language, and feeding milestones. The girls’ mother said that they were doing decently well in most things but that they hated tummy time. I probed a bit to see if I could find a reason for this resistance on the girls’ part. Finally, I found the problem.
“They’ll do just great for several minutes but after about half an hour they’ll just start wailing!” their mother told me.
!!!
Half an hour!!? Yikes! These little peanuts did NOT need to be doing tummy time for that long!
It was time to explain what tummy time was…and what it wasn’t…to this family.
I share this story not to disparage this mother who was doing her best to raise her itty-bitties but to highlight just how hard it is to try to understand all the information that is thrown at us as parents-information that we’re told is “vital”, “important”, and “not to be overlooked”. There’s so much of this information but it’s implementation is often not fully explained. Or, it might be explained but we have so many other vital baby care practices we’re trying to process that pieces get misinterpreted or forgotten.
Tummy time is definitely one of these misunderstood and thus mis-applied concepts.
Our doctors, neighbors and social media peeps ask “have you been doing tummy time? Make sure you’re doing tummy time!” So, we put our babies on their stomachs to do tummy time. (And then we hear “but don’t let them sleep on their tummies!” So then we take them off their tummies…but that’s a topic for another day). But why? How? What’s it’s supposed to look like and for how long? Let’s break it down a little.
What is tummy time and why is it important?
Simply put, “tummy time” is core strengthening exercises for your baby. Your baby gets this workout anytime you place them on their belly. And this baby workout is vital to helping them to get the strength they need for achieving further milestones.
The Mayo Clinic states that tummy time “can help your baby develop strong neck and shoulder muscles and [it] promote[s] motor skills. … Tummy time can …help your baby build strength needed for sitting up, rolling over, crawling and walking.” (How Much Tummy Time Does Your Baby Need?, 2020)
That sounds super important! No wonder everyone encourages us to do tummy time with our babies!
However, just like with any workout, it can be overdone. And with babies, it’s very easy to over-exercise them. They haven’t yet built up their stamina for this task and even though it seems very simple to us, it’s super hard for them!
Betsy Jensen, a Life Coach for Chronic Pain and Disease and a Pediatric Physical Therapist, states that “about 20-30 minutes of tummy time per day is advised to help strengthen the neck and arm muscles, and to prepare for crawling. But tummy time for 5 minutes, 5 times a day can be as beneficial as 25 minutes straight. And there are modifications that can be made to promote strength in the neck and arms if your child gets fussy when you try on the floor.”
Five minutes at a time! That’s generally all (or less!) that a new little infant can handle. And this isn’t boot camp. If they get fussy, pick them up! Change position! Comfort them! As important as tummy time is, it’s not so important that you need to leave your precious baby screaming on the floor.
So, what kinds of modifications can be made to tummy time?
Betsy said “the most common mistake I see parents making about tummy time, is thinking it should look a certain way… A very young child may struggle with tummy time. It is not until about age 2-3 months that children are able to lift and control their head when laying on the floor. If your child is under this age, and fussy with tummy time, then consider modifying. Tummy time on a parent’s chest, pushing down on the hips of the child, or tummy time with a blanket roll under the chest can be good modifications for this age. … Remember a child will do better when distracted, so practicing next to a mirror, or putting the child on a couch or bed for tummy time can be good modifications to encourage visual stimulation.”
Here are a few examples of what those modifications can look like:
And here are some examples of commercial “tummy time distractions”:
Betsy continues “some children learn to roll off their tummy as soon as you put them on it. With those kids, I prefer teaching them to kneel at a couch cushion or bottom step where you kneel behind them and keep their knees in. That way they can still learn to push through their arms and lift their head, but without the fight of trying to keep them from rolling.
“[Additionally], if your child does not attempt to lift her head, goes to sleep, or will not push through the forearms or hands (at 6 months-[this isn’t for newborns!!]), then you could try tummy time on a therapy ball. Placing her on the ball and rolling her forward could encourage her to raise her head and push through her arms.”
Finally, remember that you are your child’s favorite toy and their best distraction. While your baby is on their tummy, lay down next to them. Place your face next to theirs and sing to them, talk to them, make silly faces. Engage with your baby and help tummy time be a positive experience.
Tummy time doesn’t need to be full of tears and it doesn’t need to be a huge daily ordeal for you or your baby. If you follow these suggestions and guidance, tummy time can be an enjoyable experience AND help your baby get the strength they need for exciting milestones just a few months down the road.
What’s your tummy time experience been? Let me know in the comments below!
My thanks to Betsy Jensen for her contributions to this post. You can find more about her and her work as a Life Coach for Chronic Pain and Disease at Bodyandmindlifecoach.com or at her podcast Unstoppable Body and Mind
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