Tummy time

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redheadmommy
redheadmommy Posts: 908 Member
We all been told about the importance of tummy time right? So what do you do if a baby resist it every single time? My daughter always hated tummy time and only tolerated without hysterical crying upto 10 minutes. Now she learnt to roll over from tummy to her back a couple of weeks ago.
Since that moment she doesnt spend any time on her tummy whatsoever. I put her done on her tummy, and she rolls to her back immediately. I put her back in the tummy , she rolls back . I flip her again, she rolls again. After 3 times, she gives me the evil eye. If I insist and keep flipping her back, she just start to cry from frustration.
How is she going to crawl without tummy time? What can I do?

Replies

  • rosy003
    rosy003 Posts: 251 Member
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    My oldest was like that. She never crawled and learned to walk just fine. Don't sweat it, but keep trying. :)
  • redheadmommy
    redheadmommy Posts: 908 Member
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    My oldest was like that. She never crawled and learned to walk just fine. Don't sweat it, but keep trying. :)
    Actually this is exactly what i am afraid of. I do not want her to skip crawling. Crawling is a very important in brain development as helps the brain integrate the left and the right side. Although not always , often skipping crawling lead to learning problems down the road.
    I had one child who had some delays, and I really want to do everything to prevent similar problem with my second child.
  • Lacey_Cakes
    Lacey_Cakes Posts: 223 Member
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    My baby fought tummy time all the time but just keep at it and itll come. Lily started crawling at 8 months and walking at 10. Even 10 mins at a time is good, stay positive :)
  • ks4e
    ks4e Posts: 374 Member
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    There are other ways to do tummy time, like if you often hold your baby up vertically. This helps strengthen their necks. You can also have baby lie down on your tummy instead of on the floor, which they usually prefer to do because of the warmth and familiarity. Try a Boppy pillow if you have one too. They can't easily roll over in those things.
  • DragonSquatter
    DragonSquatter Posts: 957 Member
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    My son hates tummy time too unless I lay on the floor and put him on my tummy. He's doing great though. Almost sitting up unassisted at 5.5 months.

    Just do your best.
  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
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    My older son hated it, and this one (2 months) is not a fan, either. I forced it on the floor as much as we both could stand but did it on my chest mostly. My older one crawled just fine, "on time," and was walking by 11 months.

    I recommend it on your belly and holding your baby horizontally over your body (like she's flying), which gives you some arm work, too. You can raise her up and down, giving her kisses and raspberries when she comes down to you, until your arms get tired :)
  • Jenny_Rose77
    Jenny_Rose77 Posts: 418 Member
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    We had our big breakthrough at 3 months when we were on vacation. We were outside at the beach. Gideon was on a chair, and I propped him up on a rolled up towel. I'm not sure if it was the total change in location, the towel giving him a big boost in vision, or just that he had finally reached a point where he was ready to be on his tummy, but after that, he actually preferred to be on his tummy. Prior to that moment, he would cry just about the second we put him on his belly.

    He started crawling (army-style) at 5.5 months, and I totally think that tummy time is responsible. That said, my aunt (who researches these things obsessively) recently told me there is research that shows that tummy time isn't all it's cracked up to be, and that children will progress just fine if they don't do it. My two older stepsons never did tummy time (because they were born when they were telling people to put kids on their backs, but hadn't started telling people to do tummy time). Neither of them crawled. They went from scooting on their butts to walking, and they're both fine--actually fairly accomplished athletes for two Jewish boys from Long Island. :-)
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
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    Eventually she will realize that she has the potential to move herself around, and she'll want to move around so badly that she will embrace being on her tummy. It will happen, don't let it worry you!
  • Rosered3333
    Rosered3333 Posts: 171 Member
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    My baby girl hated tummy time until we started putting her up on the boppy pillow.

    My daughter hated being cradled by the time she was about three weeks old and would scream if she was cradled. So she got a lot of practice holding her head up, looking over my shoulder. Much less cuddly but she has a nice strong neck now.

    She just rolled over for the first time on Tuesday and seems to progressing just fine even though she hasn't done a lot of traditional tummy time.

    I was worried about it a lot too but I think things will progress just fine even if they don't love tummy time right now.
  • sunnydayz71
    sunnydayz71 Posts: 44 Member
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    My son didn't like it either as a young baby. Then around 4 months he learned to flip over from back to stomach and slept that way every night since. When I'd get him in the morning he'd be wide awake doing 'tummy time' on his own... but still didn't want to do it for me. Last month, at six months, he learned to sit up and now he does from sitting to stomach and back up again all on his own. I wouldn't say he's crawling at this point, but he does move backwards and in circles... just not forward, lol. It will all come in time. I understand though why you are a bit more concerned.
    My first child didn't walk until 16 months. But this little guy of mine, he just turned 7 months old and I'm scared he's going to start walking before his first birthday. He loves standing and pulling up. I've been finding him sitting up in his crib the last few mornings. And I'm hoping he won't try to pull up on the crib rail. I'd prefer him to slow down a bit. Though I bet the really early walkers are so darn cute.
  • chickybuns
    chickybuns Posts: 1,037 Member
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    My son also hated tummy time at first. He didn't roll over until 6 1/2 months. I put him on there but didn't force it too much. he would even just roll to belly to grab something and then go back to his back. Now, only 1 1/2 months later he gets up on his hands and knees and is probably going to be crawling soon and he even sleeps on his belly now. So don't worry about it too much, just keep trying. Like Pepper said when she really wants to move she will figure it out.
  • redheadmommy
    redheadmommy Posts: 908 Member
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    She is actually very strong and I am not afraid that she will be late of walking. She is sitting on her own, and she just started to trying pull herself up. She LOVEs to sit on our legs horsebackriding style - legs on two sides as her legs touching the floor. She bounces herself up and down in that position and practically she stands up on her legs for a couple of seconds before she bounces back
    I just really do not want her to start walking prior to crawling. I have read a lot about it and it is very controversial isssue. Although some expert says skipping crawling is no big deal, there are many researchers showed correlation between skipping crawling and learning problems and things like lack of wrist stength when holding a pencil at school.
    Since my son had some minor developmental delay I met many children occupation therapist and all of them were very interested whether he crawled or not and how long etc.

    I 'll try do tummy time on me and just lifting her up as an airplane she hopefully can not wiggle hrself out of that position. I always used to lay down with her at tummy time to make it more interesting for her anyway.
  • smb0701
    smb0701 Posts: 234
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    My oldest was like that. She never crawled and learned to walk just fine. Don't sweat it, but keep trying. :)
    Actually this is exactly what i am afraid of. I do not want her to skip crawling. Crawling is a very important in brain development as helps the brain integrate the left and the right side. Although not always , often skipping crawling lead to learning problems down the road.
    I had one child who had some delays, and I really want to do everything to prevent similar problem with my second child.
    i don't that goes for every baby my 2 year skipped crawling and she is very intelligent. i had never heard of skip crawling causes learning issues. where can i find out about that?
  • redheadmommy
    redheadmommy Posts: 908 Member
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    i don't that goes for every baby my 2 year skipped crawling and she is very intelligent. i had never heard of skip crawling causes learning issues. where can i find out about that?
    You can google it and there are tons of discussion about it . There are many articles say it is not an issue, but as i see it they often tend to be just parenting blogs . I find that medical portal discussion usually saysit is very important especially people in a pediatric therapy community seems to encourage it quite a bit.
    Here is a few link
    http://www.medcentral.org/main/Whatssoimportantaboutcrawling.aspx
    http://www.babble.com/baby/crawling-is-crucial/

    Again it is very controversial issue and I didn't mean to argue about it. Also i just want to point out that kids/ people with learning or developmental problems are not stupid , in fact they often very very intelligent. Plus it is not just about learning problems , but things like spatial coordination, wrist strength, balance, sensory development etc
  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
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    The one important thing my dad (almost 40 years as a practicing pediatrician) told me about tummy time was that it helped keep me calm when my son decided he liked to sleep on his stomach. Once he rolled over in his crib, I didn't sleep for a week, just watching his baby monitor and listening to hear him breathing! My dad told me to chill out, that if he had the strength to move his head around while on his belly, I should have no concerns that if his face is in his mattress he should be able to move his head and breathe properly.

    Not to say babies who don't do enough tummy time are in danger when sleeping on their stomachs, but point being it was pointed out to me as a source of comfort that a baby has the strength to put their head in a safe sleeping position. Considering how much of a basketcase I was about that the first time, I am putting a lot of emphasis on tummy time! But that's just me being paranoid.