3 Month Old Hates Tummy Time!!

Since you are asking you obviously already know that tummy time is important. I am a pediatric PT and yes being gassy or having reflux can definately make it uncomfortable. We see alot of kids who dislike it this day. There is no proven study but we think it's bc kids aren't sleeping on their tummy's so they aren't used to the feeling. Anyway...just keep at it. Small bursts as many times a day as you can. Tummy time on you counts and the ball idea the pp gave is also a good one. Here is a great handout that can give you some more ideas/info. Just click on the tummy time link in the first sentence and it will give you a pdf handout that you can print out!

http://www.choa.org/default.aspx?id=4892

Most babies this age and younger hate tummy time. It will get better. If you have a boppy pillow, I used to prop up my kids on that. You put their front (chest area) on the rounded part and place their legs through the open side, tummy down. This allows for some angle, rather than just flat on the floor. Laying with them on the floor will also give them something familiar to look at.

My son hated tummy time but we kept putting him on his tummy. He did not have any gas issues. Eventually he decided it wasn't so bad. My youngest also hated it for maybe the first month. I think it took my son about 2 or 3 months before he decided it was okay. I would suggest maybe giving 5 minutes at a time first unless she really gets hysterical and slowly increasing the time. She might be better on your chest because she can feel and hear you.

My daughter just recently started to like tummy time...at 8 months, so I feel your frustration! My ped said that time spent on our chests also counted as tummy time, so long as she was lifting her head, etc. Relax, it gets better!

My pediatrician said that time on your chest (lifting her head like you said) or legs can count as tummy time too. It doesn't have to be on the floor!!

I totally agree with the 'mommy chest' for tummy time! That's what we did for the longest time. I would get in the recliner, lay back, then put my son on my chest and make the silliest faces, blow raspberries, you name it. We had a ball!

Laying your baby on your chest is tummy time. Not many babies do enjoy tummy time, so you're going to have to be creative. I got great advice from this site, such as laying in a recliner with the baby on your chest, laying a baby on the edge of your bed & kneeling on the floor entertaining them from below (kind of scary, but just be careful). I bought the lady bug thing that rotates with the toys underneath it & it was a total waste of money. You can also try using a baby carrier, that keeps the baby off their back & forces them to strentghen their neck muscles by holding their head up. Mostly, you just need to really interact with them to get them to tolerate it. If you do a little each day, it does get longer & easier for them.
Someone on here offered me a handout that I can email you if you send me your address.
Good luck & don't give up.

My daughter hated it too. I would lay down and put her on me instead of the floor. I didn't push the floor too much yet she rolled only a week behind her twin brother. She looked like a fish out of water until she was ready :)

My daughter hated tummy time too if she was on the floor, but remember that tummy time can be done in different ways.

Try laying her across your lap like you would do if you were burping her and rub her back gently or stand up with her and lay her across your forearm with her head in the nook of your elbow and your hand under her stomach. Support her with your other hand if you need to. Maybe walking around with her like this will be fun for her and encourage her to look around and use her neck muscles.

One other thing I did that my daughter really like was place her on her tummy on a big bouncy ball and rock her back and forth and side to side while singing an upbeat, silly song. You could try using a big inflatable beach ball or those big bouncy ones they sell at Target/Wal-mart.

Good luck!

Do you have a boppy?? if not roll up a blanket... Be sure baby can seeee things Lay down on floor with Baby show baby Look Mommy is on tummy too... Dont be WAY UP HIGH>>> get down but not LOWWWWWWWWWww just kinda ya know not totally on elbows work your way up... have your kids do it too.. and baby will love it in no time.. use a rattle or squeey toy that will keep them busy looking for the nose!!!

My son HATED it as well. What I did was while he was napping I would put him on his tummy after he fell asleep. (I would keep an eye on him to make sure he was ok) That was the only time he would not scream-A. ;-)

Our son hated tummy time too. Then at 5 mos he was diagnosed with low tone in his neck and shoulders b/c I wasn't giving him enough tummy time. So besided all the recos you see here I finally caved into the idea of a Baby Einstein or Baby Praise DVD. Literally, the first time he saw one of those he stayed pushing himself up for 14 minutes!!! That was like 13 minutes more than he would ever do tummy time before without crying a peep. I finally stopped that session b/c then I was worried he was going to get a sore neck from too much time all of a sudden. :) Anyway, we did a DVD session every other day for about a week and all of a sudden he figured out how to roll over on his tummy and then he started giving himself his own tummy time. You might try to help him learn to roll too. Best wishes!