Encouraging Tummy Time

So many of little buddies come into early intervention with motor delays.  Often these are babies that may have had delays in their development anyway but the delays have likely been exacerbated by a lack of time to practice on their tummies. We all know tummy time is important.  The benefits (strengthening their little muscles so that they can roll, sit up and crawl) are all over the brochures at the pediatrician's office and we hear about it just about any where new moms are discussing their babies- the park, the Internet, the line at the grocery store.  But so many babies don't like it and may even cry to protest it.  It's no wonder that new parents don't always comply with tummy time recommendations- after all, as parents we are programmed to prevent our babies from crying.   Here are a couple of my developmental therapy tricks to help your baby enjoy tummy time. 

 

 

 

Start early and do it often. As soon as your baby is born you can start to introduce them to tummy time by laying the baby on your chest while you are laying down.  You can also lay the baby on your legs while you are in a sitting position.  Start with for short tummy spurts (2-5 minutes) several times throughout the day.  As your baby gets a little bigger, add a a minute or two each day.  This way, tummy time isn't a novel and scary activity later on.  If your baby is a little older and already hates tummy time, you can use these strategies to help her get used to tummy time, too. 

Use your baby's favorite toys as motivation. Maybe your baby really likes a certain rattle or stuffed toy.  Lay the baby on a blanket on the floor and shake the rattle directly in front of their little face.  Once the baby is able to lift his/her head up off the floor for a second or two (look for this by 2 months) you can begin to very slowly lift the toy higher to encourage the baby to push up on his or arms.  You can also move to the side to encourage the baby to track the toy with his/her.  This also helps the baby to learn to visually track objects, too (an important fine motor foundation). 

Present new (to the baby) and exciting toys.  Babies look longer at objects that are novel to the them or surprising.  You can use to this to your advantage by waiting to present a toy that they haven't seen until tummy time.  My favorite tummy time toys are: A cage bell rattle, the infantino bendy bug rattle, bright starts barbell rattle, a cube that lights up and plays music, the infantino activity triangle (3 different sides of fun things to look at and attempt to reach out a touch!), the infantino activity ball, and a mirror.  One of the things that I love about all these toys is that they are interesting enough that the babies will want to reach out and touch or grab them. 

Use yourself.  Most babies love nothing more than looking at human faces- especially the ones of people they know!  You can lay on the floor with your baby and sing a silly little song or even just narrate what you are doing in a sing song voice ("Look at you playing on your tummy!  That's mommy's girl!").

Remember, a little frustration can be motivating. I can't tell you how many times I've put a baby on his tummy only for him to start fussing immediately.  This is usually when I have to stop caregivers from giving the baby the toy or picking the baby up.  As long as the baby isn't red faced screaming or very clearly distressed, the frustration he's feeling motivates him to try and tell his body to move his body.   I usually let the little guy fuss for no more than minute  or two.  If the baby is able to push himself up on his arms, I  then move the rattle or toy as close as it needs to be for him to grab it himself (sometimes this means sliding it right to the baby's hand).  This way, the baby has to work through the frustration in order to get what he wants. If the little one is still learning to push up on his arms, I will usually pick him up or even pick him up and lay him across my lover legs so that his chest and head are supported and he's able to get a better view of the toy.