As a new mom, I was told that I needed to make sure I did tummy time with our first child. Which is great advice but no one explained WHY tummy time was so important to our little ones’ development or HOW tummy time could benefit our baby or WHEN to start tummy time.
Well in this post, I will explain the basics of tummy time but for further details I have a few resources you can use under Helpful Resources.
When to start?
If your baby was born full-term, you can start tummy time in the first week of life. This may seem surprising but in small doses tummy time is a large part of a baby’s development journey. When starting tummy time with a newborn, you want to make sure you are not overwhelming them so it is important to keep things simple. Place your little one on a blanket for one to two minutes to start and eventually work up to five minutes at a time. Once five minutes is a breeze, you can continue adding time slowly over the next few weeks until you work up to twenty minutes a day (around two months old). You can always tell your little one has had too much when they start crying or when they are simply not even attempting to lift their head. When this occurs you will want to take a little break.
What to do during tummy time?
You do not want to overstimulate your baby, but you do want to keep them engaged. For us, the best practice is to give your baby a high contrast image to study while they are on their tummy. When your baby is a little older, another option is to change their perspective. I like to place our little one on a yoga ball (I hold her the whole time) but the yoga ball is soft and sits her a little higher, so she enjoys it. I am also able to make eye contact and connect with her on a different level which makes tummy time more exciting.
Another option could be placing a blanket on a table, and with you next to your baby at all times, placing your baby on top of the blanket. Get creative! There are many ways you can try to make tummy time more fun and tolerable for you and your baby but always make sure you are there to assist them.
But why is tummy time important?
Tummy time is the best foundation your baby will have for strengthening their neck and back muscles. Babies’ heads are very heavy and it will take time for your baby to strengthen those neck muscles so that they can lift their heads with ease. At first, your baby may only lift their head once and want to stop tummy time and that is fine. Eventually they will work up to a few minutes and then one day you will notice their head is not bobbing at all and those muscles are now able to sustain the weight of their head with ease. It is quite an amazing milestone.
There are other benefits as well.
For one, you can help your baby reduce flat spots with tummy time. Tummy time also promotes motor skills and the strength your baby will need for rolling, crawling and walking.
What to buy?
Although you do not need any specific products for tummy time, blankets are useful. When your baby is a newborn to roughly a few months old, high-contrast images typically will keep your baby engaged. Once your baby is older, rattles and other toys that your baby plays with can keep them busy too. Below are some of my favorite products that I have used for tummy time in the past and currently use with our youngest baby.
Aden and Anais Dream Blanket
Black and White High-Contrast Cards
Lovevery Black and White High-Contrast Cards (Pack of 4 Card)
https://lovevery.com/products/black-and-white-cards
Lovevery Organic Quilt
https://lovevery.com/products/organic-baby-quilt?variant=34635657642117
Sources
“Tummy Time (for Parents) – Nemours Kidshealth.” Edited by Mary L. Gavin, KidsHealth, The Nemours Foundation, Oct. 2019, https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/tummy-time.html.
American Academy of Pediatrics. Back to Sleep, Tummy to Play. (January, 2017). Retrieved August 28, 2018, from http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/sleep/Pages/Back-to-Sleep-Tummy-to-Play.aspxexternal link
National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, MedlinePlus, Infant Newborn Development, December 2019.
