Belly Time - Douglass,TX

I think all babies go through the I Hate Tummy-Time thing. My sister's little girl is almost 6 months old, and she still hates tummy time. My daughter hated it at first, but I had to learn how to let her cry! I am a SAHM too, so being with her all day made it hard to leave her on the floor screaming! Put a bunch of toys in front of her and let her get used to it. Let her cry for a little while, but I wouldn't leave her there for 30 minutes or anything. A mirror always kept my daughter's attention. Good luck!

my 8 month old was also in the same position. She hated her belly. What I had to do is get down there with her and get all sorts of loud, bright toys. She likes tummy time now. Make a big deal out of it. I mean praise her so much and get all the toys down there with you. I don't agree with not pushing it though. My daughter is delayed now because I was so scared of SIDS. She has physical therapy now, and if I had put her on her belly earlier then she might not be. A baby needs at least 15 minutes several times a day for just tummy time.
K.

You could try getting her a little baby gym that is designed for belly time. Something geared for her age with lot sof little stuff for her to reach for and play with. Once she gets used to playing on her belly perhaps sleeping on her belly will not be such a hard thing.

My 4 month old son has been the same way. At Christmas we bought a mat in the shape of a surf board at Wal-Mart. It has a pillow on it designed to prop them up so they can build those muscles. There are toys attached to it and fish to play with. The pillow is removable so they can try it on their own when they are ready. Our son loves it and turned over the day we got it. It has helped him. Maybe it could help your little girl.

Don't force it and make her scared. My daughter who is now almost 10 months hated her tummy too. and then just one day she decided she wanted to sleep on her tummy. She was probably around 5 months. They do it all on there own schedule. Then people said without tummy time the baby will not crawl or sit on own. My daughter sat on own and crawled withing one week at eight months and now we cant keep up with her. So you are doing fine, dont worry so much. Good Luck

I am in the same boat your are in. I have a 4 month old that just last week learned to completely roll over. At first she would get so frustrated and it would hurt us to hear her cry, but we had to ignore it for a little bit. The madder the baby gets the more determined they become. Trust me, in a week or two she will be rolling and creeping around. And as far as SIDS goes, a book I read says that if the baby has no episodes of breathing problems before 4 to 6 months, they are mainly in the clear for SIDS. Just relax and remember to breath. Good luck. Hope I helped.

My husband and I put our little girl in the middle of a blanket on the living room floor with her toys arranged all on the out skirts of the blanket. We get on the floor, on our bellies, and play with her. We make the toys dance and make music and we sing and laugh. We also lay her on her back and shake toys around and above her head to encourage her to roll over. She too hated being on her belly for play time until we started playing with her...and now she will play down there for 30 or 45 minutes. Now I will say, you can't put her in the floor and then pick her up just because she starts crying. When she starts crying, sing to her or make a stuffed animal start kissing on her...anything that makes her laugh and smile. It takes work, but I promise that it'll pay off. My little girl just turned 5 months on the 2nd and she already rolls from back to tummy and tummy to back and she just started pushing herself up into the crawling postion and trying to crawl!!
Good Luck!!!
C. B

Both of my daughters were the same way. They were most willing to stay on their bellies when I put a mirror in front of them and told them to "look at the pretty baby!" At first, it didn't last long, but eventually that is what got them crawling.

Good luck!

You can try putting her on your tummy first. Play with her and make it fun. Then put her on the floor, get down there with her and play with toys or read her the baby books. You can lay on the floor either in front of her or beside her to show her it is okay. Encourage her to reach for bright colorful objects and try to increase her time every few days. once she starts getting mobile you will have trouble keeping up with her. Don't force her to do it, just make it fun and it won't be a problem.
Good luck,
C.

I have a five month old also. He HATES tummy time. I have tried just about everything. He screams everytime you try to put him on his tummy. Or he will just roll over. Here are some things you can try though.

-Put toys on the front and on the sides of her

-Lay her on her tummy on the edge of the bed. You knee down on the floor. So that you are face to face with her

_Try to lay on the floor with her and play with toys.

My pediatrician said to put him down and even if he fusses let him. I dont know if I am a fan of this. I sometimes let him cry for about 5 minutes but that is about it. And I am right there with him. I just think every baby is different!!!!!! I am also concerned about his development also! I am a member of babycenter.com which is a forum for moms. They have a few babies already crawling! But then again all babies are different and I try not to compare my little one to other babies! Hope this helps

T.,

I have a 7 month-old little girl and she HATED tummy time when she was 3-4 months-old. I got her something called "Happy Hippo" from Target (they have it at Wal-Mart too) It is just a tummy time mat that keeps their face from being flat on the floor. When they are not strong enought to hold their head up or if they tire easily it's great for helping them keep their face up. I started putting her on her tummy 5 mins a day for a week, then 10 mins, then 15 and so on until she got comfortable with it. It got alot better by the 3rd week. Hope that helps!

mine hated tummy-time too! the important thing is just to be there with her, so she doesn't get scared. we did ours in ten-fifteen minute sessions, three-six times a day. she'll get used to it eventually and onceshe gains the motor skills to move herself it won't be as big an issue.

I have a 7 month old and she hated tummy time and she still isn't much of a fan, but I don't feel that it has hinders her development. In fact, she has no desire to crawl, she so rolls across the room until she gets to something she can try to pull herself up on. Don't stress about it. As long as you are stimulating her and helping her sit up to strenthen her neck she'll be fine. Babies crawl when and if they want to.

Good Luck!
A.

I really wouldn't worry about getting in belly time if she doesn't like it. Many babies her age don't feel comfortable with it. My son cried too so I didn't push it until he was ready. I found it didn't make a difference that he didn't have a lot of tummy time. I hope this helps and congratulations on your new baby!

I also have a 4 month old and he wasn't a fan of tummy time. He would cry every time I flipped him over on his belly. What I found that worked was to put him on his stomach and then get down on the floor with him. I would talk to him and put a toy in front of him give him something else to focus on. Eventually he stopped being fussy and he was able to push himself up. He is even starting to roll over by himself. Good luck!

my daughter was the same way, never spent time on her tummy, she went from laying- to sitting(while playing)-- then she just pulled herself up into a standing position-- then walked, she never did scoot or crawl, maybe this is because we never laid her on her tummy to sleep, maybe it is because this is typical of some babies, i don't know but i would suggest that you not become alarmed because my daughter walked- spoke- understood things on a early schedule. maybe this is what your child is doing. i always thought it was important for babies to crawl, and it worried me that she didnt but now i am o.k. with it because she is just fine- even better(speaking like a mom, ha ha)

Hi, T.! My name is L. Beth. I am a mom to a beautiful three and a half year old ( who HATED her tummy!) and an Early Intervention Specialist. I work with children under three who have developmental disabilities and delays in Southeast Texas. You might be surprised how many babies do not like being on their bellies. A few reasons they get so upset is because they do not have complete head control yet, so it is work for them to lift their little head to see the world. Another reason is that thier little ribcages compress their lungs, making breathing a bit more challenging for them-- it doesn't hurt then or impair their breating abilities-- there is just added pressure on their chests.
There are several things you can do to increase your babies tummy time. If you don't have one already, invest in a Boppy pillow. Place your little one over the back of it on her belly-- it is softer than the floor, she doesnt have to work as hard to keep her head upright to look around and it provides a great deal of stability. Another great thing to do is to lay down and place her on her belly on your chest. She will raise her head to look at you and you can have special bonding time-- if she doesnt like to lay with you flat, start at an incline and gradually go flat. Musiacl toys and toys that light up might distract her if you place them in front of her also. Start her out a few minutes on her belly a few times a day. Don't let her cry and get extrememly upset-- she will remember and resist even more! It only took a week or so to get my little one adjusted to tummy time! Even working with babies as I do, I never put her on the floor-- I just wanted to hold her the entire time she awake! The other therapists used to yell at me to put her down! I hope this helps! E mail me if you have any other questions! xoxo LB

I went through the same thing with my daughter (she's almost 7 months old now). I purchased one of those hanging toy gym tummy-time mats, and she liked to look & play with the hanging toys, and look at the designs on the mat. She's used it since she was about 3-4 months old, and still enjoys playing with the toys hanging from the two flexible cross bars. I also had to just sometimes "grin & bear it" and let her fuss it out. Your daughter is probably just frustrated, which happens to all babies. Mine used to scream extremely loud.

Don't be surprised to find her rolled over on her tummy in bed, either. Emily was 3.5 months old when she rolled onto her tummy for the first time in her crib while sleeping. Soon after that, whenever I would put her to bed on her back, she'd roll right over onto her stomach. No matter how many times I flipped her onto her back in the middle of the night, I still found her on her tummy the next morning.