As a new or expecting parent, you’ve probably been told over and over the importance of having your baby sleep on his back. But don’t let your baby spend all his time on his back. This can lead to a flat head and delay your baby’s development of motor skills. Counterbalance time spent on his back with, you guessed it, tummy time.
Source: pathways.org
After several hours lying on her back sleeping, your baby needs to spend some time each day on her tummy. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting tummy time with your baby the day she comes home from the hospital, as long as your baby wasn’t born premature and has no health issues. Start out doing it two to three times a day for three to five minutes at a time. You can then increase the amount of time and frequency of tummy time over the next few months until your baby works up to about one hour of tummy time a day.
Whether he’s spending five minutes or an hour on his tummy, tummy time is pivotal for your baby’s physical development:
The AAP suggests starting tummy time when your baby is only a few days old, but how do you do tummy time with a newborn? Aren’t they too little to lay on the floor and play? Yes, newborns are too little for that, but they’re not too little for tummy time.
The best way to do tummy time with a newborn is laying down with your baby belly-down on your chest, placing her belly-down on your legs, or doing the tummy down carry as you take a short walk around the house. This keeps your baby feeling safe and comfortably close to you while also letting her get used to this position.
Once your baby is out of the newborn stage, you can start laying him down on his stomach on a soft, but firm, flat surface to play. Any awake time your baby spends on his tummy (supervised of course) counts as tummy time.
As you may learn, tummy time isn’t always a favorite awake time activity. Some babies scream and cry in protest when placed on their stomachs. It’s a new, uncomfortable position, and one where gravity is working against them so they have to work really hard to keep their head lifted to see you. Your baby will probably be cranky the first several times you do tummy time. If your baby doesn’t seem to act any better at tummy time, it’s OK to do it for only a minute or two at first and then work up to longer time periods as you can. You can even take a day off and see if it helps.
You can also try these tips to make tummy time more enjoyable:
However you choose to do tummy time, remember to make it a fun, regular part of your day so you and baby will both enjoy it.
Along with keeping it fun, you want to make tummy time safe. Follow these safety measures:
Did you know that you can use baby carriers for tummy time? Babywearing with an upright, ergonomic baby carrier works your baby’s head, neck, and core muscles just like tummy time does. So if your little one is really protesting tummy time on the floor, try putting him in a carrier.
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