Tummy time

[Maries_s]

My baby is almost 5month and she doesn't roll over. I'm trying to encourage her to past time in her tummy but she doesn't like it. What can I do? It is necessary to do tummy time even is she doesn't enjoy it? Can I wait? I waited too much?

 

[Spudtastic]

Every baby develops at different speeds. I wouldn't worry at all. I see your baby's adjusted age is 4 months. My eldest didn't roll until 4.5 months.
If your baby hates tummy time I wouldn't force it on her. Just give her some normal back time.

 

[SarahBear]

Please don't worry about tummy time. Tummy time is ridiculous. It is basically designed to counter the time that some infants spend strapped into seating devices. Babies don't need tummy time; they need freedom of movement. Your baby will roll and will crawl when she is ready. All you have to do is make sure she's having fun and limit use of anything that straps or props her into place. So that means limit:

* Bumpo seats
* bouncy seats
* car seats outside the car (I never took mine out of the car)
* doorway jumpers
* exersaucers
* Old style walkers

If you place your baby on her back, you'll notice her wiggle around and kick and feel the ground. At some point she may arch her back to look above her head. All these things build muscles and body awareness. When she decides that mobility is important, she'll learn to scoot along the ground, pivot, roll, et cetera. By a year she'll be getting around in one way or another and eventually pulling to stand. I never forced tummy time on either of my kids and I feel like it's counter productive as kids just don't like it. One day will just decide she likes the position and will be happy to play that way. I believe that it is best to follow the child's lead when it comes to physical development.

 

[Maries_s]

Thank you so much for all you replies!

Where do you put your baby then? I recently moved so I don't have the bouncer with me or much things of my baby so she past a lot of time in her carseat. I do have a playmates with me but she doesn't spend much time in it. I think that I'm a bit of scared to put her in the floor or something. But I know that she need free space to play and I open to any suggestion. Is my first baby and I don't know what can I do with her to make her have fun I guess.

She loves to kick and recently when I change her diaper she loves to talk for some reason with the bottle of cream that it's behind her.

 

[crownest]

The floor is probably best place for her I move my little man around so he has different views. A car seat is probably a little confining but I'm a ftm as well so what do I know. You can do tummy time while she lies on your chest as she still has to work her muscles. My DS hated tummy time but my health visitor said I had to do it more. On day 2 he had enough and rolled over so that was end of tummy time if he doesn't want to do it.

 

[jessmke]

We do tummy time A LOT, but that's only because DD likes being on her tummy. She hates being on her back and figured out very early how to roll from back to front, so even if we put her down on her back she immediately rolls to her tummy. I wouldn't force tummy time if you LO doesn't enjoy it. My DD spends a lot of time on the floor, also on her tummy in her pack n play.

 

[minties]

What SarahBear said! Also please don't be afraid to put baby on the floor, it's good for them .

 

[SarahBear]

Thank you so much for all you replies!

Where do you put your baby then? I recently moved so I don't have the bouncer with me or much things of my baby so she past a lot of time in her carseat. I do have a playmates with me but she doesn't spend much time in it. I think that I'm a bit of scared to put her in the floor or something. But I know that she need free space to play and I open to any suggestion. Is my first baby and I don't know what can I do with her to make her have fun I guess.

She loves to kick and recently when I change her diaper she loves to talk for some reason with the bottle of cream that it's behind her.

Where do I put him for what? Play? Sleep? Floor for play mostly and rocker or carrier for sleep. Before my babies were mobile, I'd put them on the floor on a blanket to play. After mobility, I just ditched the blanket. I don't have a bouncy seat but I do have an infant-to-toddler rocker. When Leo was a little baby, he sometimes wanted to be held and sometimes did not. When he did not want to be held, he would sometimes be happy in the rocker and sometimes be happy on the floor. I put him where he was happy and that made for a lot of floor time. The floor would be where he'd want to be for play. The rocker was a place to rest. I always kept the car seat in the car and never took it out. I'm not sure what you mean by "playmates." What are you afraid of when it comes to putting your baby on the floor? In terms of what to do so your baby has fun, one thing to remember is that if your baby appears content, you're doing enough, even if you're not doing anything! Also, at this age, the world is entertaining. They don't need big fancy toys or bright flashing lights. Learning to reach for and move as well as learning what this world is all about, provide lots of entertainment. Of course you do want to interact with your baby, but don't feel pressured to entertain your baby every second. It's important for them to also follow their own internal drive to play and explore things. It is OK and healthy for your baby to spend some play time alone.

Edit: Oh, your comment about fun was because I said to make sure your baby is having fun! I just mean that if your baby wants to be on the floor, put your baby on the floor. If your baby wants to be held, hold your baby. If your baby doesn't like the position, don't force it. Listen to what your baby wants and don't force things your baby doesn't like. That's all I meant by that.

 

[_Meep_]

We used to pop ours on a play mat with arches and dangly toys, on her back, and she did a lot of reaching and wriggling with that. We never did any scheduled tummy time - but she spent a lot of time lying on her front on top of me, and I think that helped her use her neck muscles, as she would look up at me quite a lot. Holding her like this just felt natural and right for us I guess.

I tricked mine into rolling over for the first time (front to back) at about 4 months by dangling a toy and dragging it round so she naturally tipped herself over. It wasn't until closer to 5-6 months that she learned to roll over fluidly both ways with intent. This is a perfectly normal age for these milestones to be reached. She used this method for a good while to get around, before crawling at 8.5 months - walked at 12.

Don't worry too much - a friend's baby the same age didn't roll at all until 11 months or walk until 14, and he now walks and runs better than my (admittedly hypermobile) little lady - he can jump too, which mine can't!

 

[Bevziibubble]

Tummy time used to upset my daughter so much. In the end I decided it wasn't worth traumatising her so much over it so I just stopped doing it. She didn't roll over until she was 7 months, but she walked at 12 months and has always been so mobile and active since then. I don't think the lack of tummy time held her back at all.


With my son I don't do tummy time. He's been on his tummy maybe twice so far. He spends a lot of time upright in a wrap or a swing.

 

[Maries_s]

Thank you for all you responses!

That help me a lot, I was so worried about been a bad mom just because I don't like to force my baby to do tummy time. I'm going to spend more time in the floor with her but if she doesn't like to be in his tummy I'm not going to force her. Is just that his grandmas are so insisting in "put the baby in the floor" "you need to force her to do tummy time" "she eventually going to like it but you have to do it" etc ... is just so annoying.

 

[Maries_s]

We used to pop ours on a play mat with arches and dangly toys, on her back, and she did a lot of reaching and wriggling with that. We never did any scheduled tummy time - but she spent a lot of time lying on her front on top of me, and I think that helped her use her neck muscles, as she would look up at me quite a lot. Holding her like this just felt natural and right for us I guess.

I tricked mine into rolling over for the first time (front to back) at about 4 months by dangling a toy and dragging it round so she naturally tipped herself over. It wasn't until closer to 5-6 months that she learned to roll over fluidly both ways with intent. This is a perfectly normal age for these milestones to be reached. She used this method for a good while to get around, before crawling at 8.5 months - walked at 12.

Don't worry too much - a friend's baby the same age didn't roll at all until 11 months or walk until 14, and he now walks and runs better than my (admittedly hypermobile) little lady - he can jump too, which mine can't!

I put my baby in his play mat few minutes per day but she doesn't like to spend much time in there. So I ended up putting her in his carseat and let her play with his toys. She still sleep more than play so she just play for a few minutes and then fall asleep.

 

[_Meep_]

I remember the sleepy days well ... wish mine still slept! Lol.

 

[SarahBear]

You might want to look into why it isn't recommended to let a baby nap in a carseat. I don't know the specifics of it, but you're not supposed to use it as a regular thing for safety reasons.

 

[RaquelDee]

If your baby is having lots of sleeps in her car seat, it's probably a good idea to give her more time on the floor when she is awake, so that she can spend some time wriggling around. If you can make a comfortable safe space with some playmats and give her lots of things to look at, she will probably like it better. Try putting a mirror and some propped up picture books somewhere she can see them. My girl also liked it when I got down on the floor with her at eye level and sang to her or spoke to her.

Tummy time can work well with floor time to give your baby the chance to build the neck, arm and chest muscles that she'll eventually need to roll and crawl. You can just start with a minute or two at a time and build it up once bub gets more comfortable it. Again, giving her things to look at or reach for will help her enjoy it more, and lying down face to face with her might keep her happier.

 

[SarahBear]

Another tip: Your child doesn't know what toys are yet, so any safe household objects will do. The kitchen usually has lots of interesting things - a colander, a cooking spoon, a spatula, a pot lid, et cetera.

 

[_Meep_]

The car seat thing is because babies have quite soft, floppy airways and heavy heads on a weak neck - apparently, the position of the seat can cause their airways to collapse and close, and a young baby will lack the strength to change position. They can suffocate, basically.

It's rare but has happened to a small number.

Car seats, which are usually crescent shaped, are also terrible for their spines ... you're not advised to leave your baby in one for more than an hour without a break.

 

[Maries_s]

Oh my! Thanks for the advice about the carseat I need to figure it out what else she like. She doesn't seem to enjoy much time in the floor but I guess I need to change that. Can I have her in the carrier in the house with me. It would be safe? or do I need to buy one of that cutes wrap carriers?

 

[_Meep_]

I wouldn't analyse it all too much ... she's still only little and probably still figuring out what she likes herself lol. Mine pretty much just got on with it at that age - either she slept or she pratted about on the floor, while I tried to make her smile, and mostly failed!

Her own little personality started to shine through soon enough, and now I can't ever catch a break!

Lots of babies love being in a wrap, as it's comforting for them to be close to their mum. It's especially convenient if you are breastfeeding, but want to get things done.

I'm sure it would be ok as long as you didn't leave her and she has plenty of time to stretch out. You could even buy something like a Snuza clip on breathing monitor with an alarm to alert you if she did stop ... though, like I said, it's really rare.

 

[Maries_s]

thanks for the advice! Today she stayed in his play mat for an hour! But, she got sleepy and don't fall asleep until I put her in his carseat.