- As a parent of a newborn or baby,
you know how important tummy time is.
But in this video,
I'm gonna cut straight to the chase
and talk about what you never get told about tummy time.
But before we get into that,
make sure you click on that free PDF document
in the description box below
to get that free developmental milestones,
which will give you an invaluable piece of mind,
as you'll know when to be expecting certain skills
and when to be concerned.
Now the first thing that you just don't get told
is as a parent,
you are not going to like tummy time.
Your baby is going to be crying and screaming
when they first start doing tummy time
and it is going to hurt your heart
to see your little one go through these emotions.
Now your baby isn't crying or screaming
because they're in pain.
It is generally because the tummy time is hard for any baby
to do in the first place.
So they're going to tell you that,
hey mom, hey dad, I don't like this,
but it isn't gonna be fun.
It's not gonna be fun for you.
And it's not gonna be fun for your little one.
The second thing that we often forget to say
is that you can start tummy time from day one.
Now parents often hold off on starting tummy time
because they're worried that their little baby
is going to find tummy time up hard
or be unsafe in that position.
But if your baby was born full term
and there's no medical complications,
you can start it from the first day
that you come home from the hospital.
And from my experience,
if you start it straight away,
it's going to become easier for you and your little one.
And the third point is something that parents
are often really confused about.
I know when I became a mom for the very first time,
I had no idea how long to do tummy time with my baby,
when they are a newborn, when they are one,
two or three months of age,
and I was practicing as a pediatric occupational therapist.
But what's important to know is that
in the beginning few months,
your baby doesn't need to do tummy time for long.
In fact, they shouldn't.
It should only be for a few minutes in the first few months.
And then as they get two or three months of age,
what you're aiming for is an hour total over that day.
So again, that's broken up into short tummy time chunks.
So they're not expected to maintain that tummy time position
for an hour.
That would be extremely difficult.
It's for small short bursts, but in those first few months,
you only need to do it for a few minutes,
multiple times throughout the day.
And that makes it so much easier.
I've also found that parents often think that tummy time
needs to be done directly on the floor
with their baby when they're a newborn.
Now this leads me onto my fourth thing
that we often forget to tell parents.
And that is you can do lots
of different types of tummy time.
There's chest to chest tummy time.
There's the football hold tummy time.
There's tummy time over an exercise ball.
There's tummy time across your lap.
And then there is also that traditional classic tummy time
that everyone knows, which is the baby lying on the floor.
Now within each of these different tummy time positions,
you can make it easier or harder for your little one
depending on their age.
So for example, if you are thinking of doing that
traditional tummy time.
When they're a newborn, you might do that on a nursing
or Boppy pillow.
And then as they get stronger,
you'll swap out that Boppy pillow for a rolled up towel.
And as they get stronger again,
you'll remove that towel completely
and they will go directly on the floor.
But when you know how to make these tummy time positions
significantly easier for your little one,
it means that they are going to fuss and cry less.
And then as they get stronger,
we can start to remove those supports.
And that way tummy time,
isn't so horrendous for you or your baby.
And the last thing we often forget to tell parents
is that although a baby is going to cry a lot
in the beginning when they're in the tummy time position.
Over a time your baby is actually going to start
to enjoy tummy time.
And they'll soon wanna be in that position
all the time for play.
So when your baby is able to roll from their back
onto their tummy,
babies tend to like being on tummy time a lot more,
and they will prefer to be in that position for play
because essentially it's a better viewpoint of the world.
If you're lying on your back,
looking up at the ceiling and there's not much to see,
but once they can roll from their back onto their tummy,
and they're able to see and interact with the world,
as well as those toys,
they're going to be significantly happier
in that tummy time position.
Now, as a therapist we often really emphasize to parents
how important tummy time is
for their gross motor development.
But tummy time, isn't just working on your baby's
gross motor development.
It's also working on their cognitive skills
because they have to work out how they can get
from that tummy time position
and start to pivot to the side,
to interact and play with toys,
how they might be able to get across the room
to play with something.
It also helps to develop your baby's fine motor skills
because pretty soon your baby at around six months of age
is going to be able to reach out
and grab those toys and start to play with them
when they're in this position.
And as well as improving your baby's fine motor skills,
it also works on your baby's social skills.
Because when they're in this position,
they're able to see the world really well
and they can start to interact with you quite well
and start to coup and yell at you across the room
and gain your attention.
Now if you want information on how you can make
those tummy time positions significantly easier
or harder on your little one,
then make sure you check out this video.
And if you want information on what newborns
are trying to tell you,
when they're communicating with you
and they don't have words yet,
then make sure you check out this video.
Remember to click on that free PDF document
in the description box below.
And hopefully I'll see you next week
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.