Tummy Time?!? - Eagle Pass,TX

I only do tummy time 1-2 X's a day with my 3 month old. He prefers on the boppy pillow or laying on my stomach/chest. I think he likes on my chest the most since he is face to face with me. He also only last's for a couple of minutes. My 1st baby loved tummy time, 2nd disliked, and now #3 likes it some but not very long.

I think 8 weeks is a bit young to be forcing tummy time. I would wait until she has more control of her arms legs and is a holding her head up with no problems. Maybe try ti once a week to see how she is doing, but otherwise I would not stress about it. I don't know any baby that loves tummy time, it's not supposed to be enjoyable. It's so that they can learn to use their muscles to push themselves up and roll over. Eventually when they can roll it's less frustrating for them and they find it more enjoyable.

Good luck!

She's 8 weeks old. Still pretty new. She might not like being on her tummy on the floor face down because she knows the rest of the world is going on behind her. She's not quite old enough to engage with any toys or anything on her tummy.
Lay on your back on the floor and let her have tummy time on your tummy or chest. That way, you can engage her and pat her and do little exercises with her. They start enjoying it more when they can hold themselves up on their elbows and hold their heads up and look around a bit.
She's awfully young still so don't worry.
My kids didn't always like tummy time either, even just for a few minutes, but it doesn't hurt them. Getting mad and learing how to roll over is all part of it. At 8 weeks though, let her lay on you and she will get more used to it.

Best wishes.

Tummy time with an angled baby mirror on the floor helped my twin boys who HATED tummy time as well...also as previously mentioned, tummy time on your chest is helpful, or with a towel roll under her chest. Baby Einstein also has a great colorful star with music that my son liked, and we would clap and praise him when he turned his head to look at it! Good luck and it will get better!

hi~
great ideas below! Part of why it is so hard is that gravity is pushing down full force - it is A LOT of work!!
In addition to a mirror, tummy time on your chest, try the following:
* boppy pillow
* place your hand under the chest to support some of the weight
* place over your legs
* allow for breaks and encourage her to tolerate longer and longer

Remember that tummy time is one of THE most important positions to practice. It helps:
* form the rib cage
* bring the tongue back on the mouth
* works on back strength
* works on fine motor development (babies learn to isolate individual fingers, turn their forearms back and forth ("pronate/ supinate" their arms)
* strengthen the shoulders
* form the neck
* strengthen neck muscles
and so much more!!

GOOD for you for working on it - it is not easy but it will get easier the more she works at it :0)

PS Here is a nice handout :)
http://www.orthomerica.com/pdf/tummytimetools.pdf

You can do tummy time on your lap. Or play airplane with her. You can lay with her on the floor with little finger puppets to distract her. She will get it eventually.

I tried really hard to not have my kids stay in any one position longer than half an hour excepting when asleep of course. I moved them from, swing, tummy, bumbo, bouncy, jumper, excersaucer, high chair, floor on back, lap, then repeat.... I tried to make tummy time before a bottle so the tummy was empty & reduced spit up or reflux. I truly think this rotation helped my kids to develop muscles neccesary for upward mobility, since my daughter walking by 8 months & my son 9. My daughter was 10 months old when she climbed onto our dining room table!! I would think possible genetic thing, but my daughter is adopted, so has to be environmental, i would think. Hope this helps....Oh also, if you put her on her tummy, but with a little pillow or folded towel under her top half, kinda making a wedge with her head up a bit, this will help prolong the session. best of luck.

my daughter hated tummy time also. i found that the carpet area she seemed to enjoy more. also in her crib she would not cry as much. five mins at a time and then i would go get them. we did this about three times a day so it was not awful for any of us.

My son hated it too when he was a baby. We just didn't do it very much bc he would get SO upset. He ended up not really ever crawling but he wanted to pull up and stand very early and walked quite early! My daughter is the opposite. She liked tummy time, crawled early, and now is not too interested in walking bc she crawls so well! I'd say don't worry about it too much!! They are all so different.

Hi K.M. - both my boys were just the same. Maybe try it with a little blanket rolled under their armpits to prop them up a little bit. You could also do tummy time with them laying on your tummy or even laying on your lap looking out.

My son HATED tummy time. We would lay on the couch, or floor (on our backs) and put him on our chest. He was happy to be laying on us and would push off us. It worked really well and was the ONLY way he'd do it. He had great head control and started crawling, at 4 months.

Put her on top of one of those adult yoga type balls. They're up higher and can see more, so they're not so scared w/their face smooched in the ground. Hold her w/you hand on her back and roll is around a bit. My boys both loved it. OR put a mirror on the floor, they like looking at themselves.

It made me sad to read "still though she just screams until she eventually just falls asleep." Ouch. So tiny and tender, only 8 weeks, and you're letting her scream on her tummy till she's worn out. Please give her time. She doesn't need to be an Olympic champ over night. My 3rd little one is 5 months and wasn't so excited about tummy time until very recently. Now she's exploring toys like crazy and I have this great mat that has all these textures she likes. Still though it's only about 5 mins at a time. So try again in a month or so...no big deal.

Try a boppy for het to lean against so she is a little up instead of flat.

My son hated it too so I didn't do it. I really could never get him to enjoy it until he was able to turn on his own.
C.

My daughter hated tummy time too and I didn't force it at all. Around 5 months she started to turn herself over and then she didn't mind it so much. By six months she was rolling all over the place, cruising by 7 months and walking by 10 months. Yes, the pedi told me to put her on her tummy, but I didn't and my daughter developed fine on her own time. I think the only time she was on her tummy was if she was falling asleep on me or her her daddy and then it was cuddle time. Go to the library and get the Gymboree book about playtime with babies. It really helped me as a first time mom. I see them at Goodwill and resell shops, too.

My older daughter also hated tummy time - she would scream to the point of throwing up. At around 3 months, her legs got strong enough to where she wanted to stand up (obviously with help), so we hand "stand up" time instead. She liked that a lot better!

It's OK if it's just a few minutes at a time.
Put her on a boppy pillow or on YOUR tummy.