Do you have a newborn baby,
and you're not sure how to do tummy time or how often you should be doing it?
Or you have a one, two, three month old baby who absolutely hates tummy time?
Well, this video is for you!
Today I'm going to share my tips on everything you need to know about tummy
time, including the do's and don'ts of tummy time,
which will ensure that tummy time in itself is a fun activity for your baby.
And most importantly, it is not stressful for you as was parents.
Hi! If your new to my channel, my name's Emma.
I'm a paediatric occupational therapist who has had the pleasure of working with
parents of newborn children all the way up to school age for the last 10 years.
I'm also a mom to two gorgeous children. Now, when I became a mom,
it was very apparent that there was lots of information out there that was very
overwhelming and made parenting extremely difficult.
So I wanted to create a channel where I could share with you some information
that is evidence-based and also share with you some tips and tricks,
which I've learnt over the last 10 years as working as a paediatric occupational
therapist,
which will make your life as parents significantly easier and ensure your child
gets the best start to life. If that's something you're interested in,
make sure you subscribe to my channel.
Also hit that bell button to be notified when I release a new video every week.
And give me a thumbs up if you like this content,
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Before we get into tummy time.
I just want to let you know that there's a free PDF document in the description
box below,
which covers the developmental milestones you should be expecting for your child
from zero to 12 months of age,
which you can print out and refer to at any time through your child's first year
of life. So first things first, what is Tummy Time?
Tummy time is when you lie your baby on their tummy.
And it's really important because it helps develop the muscles in their head,
their neck, their upper body,
which are all muscles that are required when they're learning to roll, sit up,
crawl and walk.
It's important to know that a lot of babies fuss and cry when they're put onto
their tummy. Particularly when you're just starting out, tummy time.
And that's because it's a really, really hard activity for them.
Their muscles are having to work really hard to lift their head.
And they also can't see a lot when they're in this position and they can't use
their hands.
So tummy time is really important for your baby's overall strength and
development. And I know you've been told that a lot.
And I promise as your baby gets stronger in this position,
they're going to be less fussy when they're in tummy time.
But what they need to do is have continual exposure to practicing tummy time,
because that's the only way we get strong.
Our muscles get strong as if we practice that activity quite regularly.
Now I know you're probably thinking I have a newborn baby and they just hate it.
Or I've got a one, two, three month old baby and they hate tummy time.
So today I'm going to share with you my dos and don'ts of tummy time,
which will, I promise, will actually make tummy time,
a lot easier for your baby. So they're going to start to enjoy it.
And then they'll be more willing to practice this activity.
And it will be less stressful for you as parents. So what am I dos and don'ts?
Firstly, do start tummy time straight away.
So you can start tummy time as soon as you get home from the hospital,
if you have a baby who was born full term and they have no medical conditions.
What you're aiming for as a newborn,
is that your baby will only be in the tummy time position or one to two minutes,
and then you'll flip them onto their back.
And you'll do this multiple times throughout the day.
So key word there is 'day'. We don't do tummy time at night.
So you do it multiple times throughout the day.
You would generally do every wake period that your baby goes through.
So they would wake up from their nap. You do one to two minutes of tummy time,
and then they'll go have another nap and then they'll have another wake period.
And you do tummy time again. So by three months of age,
your baby should be able to do an hour total of tummy time in the day.
So again, remember, that's broken up into parts.
I'm not expecting a baby at three months of age to stay in the tummy time
position for an hour.
What you are expecting is that maybe they'll do tummy time six times a day.
So that's for 10 minute blocks throughout the day.
So starting tummy time early makes it so that the baby knows that this is just
part of their routine.
So that they'll go onto their tummy for a short period of time and then you flip
them onto their back and they'll be happy.
Doing it straight away means that it will be routine for your baby,
but also for you. And if you haven't done tummy time from the beginning,
that's fine. You just start now.
Do tummy time when your baby is alert and awake.
So we do tummy time in the day.
We don't do it at night and we make sure that we're always supervising our baby
when you place them on their tummy.
And that's just to ensure that if they get really tired and they can't clear
their head, you're going to be there to roll them quickly onto their back.
So you do it when they're alert and awake.
The other thing is I would generally do it after a breastfeed.
So your baby will wake up, then you'll feed them and change their nappy.
Then they're happy for a short period of time.
So that's when I would recommend doing tummy time.
When your baby is happy and they're not hungry or grizzly. Just a heads up,
usually around two weeks of age,
your baby will start to get a bit fussy and clingy in the afternoons and
evenings.
And at this time they actually won't like being on the ground to do tummy time.
So I would generally do the chest to chest tummy time.
So this leads me into my next do,
which is make sure you do use the different tummy time positions.
So there's actually four different tummy time positions.
The first tummy time position that you can do is that traditional tummy time
where your baby's lying on the floor and their arms are resting under their
body. This is quite a difficult tummy time position.
The second tummy time position is the chest to chest tummy time position.
So that is where you're lying on a surface and then your baby's chest is on top
of your chest and they're able to look up at you during tummy time.
The third position is when your baby is lying across your lap.
And then the fourth position is called the football hold.
So where you're holding your baby in your arms.
So it's where your baby is lying in your arms.
And their head is resting in your elbow cease, near your elbow,
and you provide support at their hips and they will lift their head up.
You can also do this position with your baby facing outwards,
where you provide support under their arm and then your other arm is providing
support along their length of their body. And they will lift their head up.
I find it easier to do it the other way.
And I think the baby's able to lift their head easier,
particularly in the first few months,
when your baby's developing that neck strength. I would generally use the other,
the first football hold position.
The next thing I would recommend is that you do try and make tummy time easier
for your baby. So when your baby's first, during tummy time,
they tend to be top heavy. And by that,
I mean that a lot of their weight is towards their head and their shoulders,
their body. So they aren't actually able to lift their head very easily.
So we can make tummy time, all those four positions that I showed you before,
a lot easier.
And that's by providing support to them and trying to shift the weight to
their hips and their legs so that they can lift their head easier.
So I'm going to explain how you can do that in the four positions.
So in the traditional tummy time position where your baby's lying on the ground
flat,
you can make that significantly easier for your baby by putting your,
um, hand on their hip. And that will shift the weight to their legs.
So they'll be able to find it easier to lift their head.
The other thing you can do is place a rolled up towel under their arms,
and that will prop their body up the front part of their body up, which again,
will make it easier to lift their head because it shifts all the weight to their
legs. In the chest to chest position. So where your baby's lying on your chest,
you can do it a few ways.
So first thing is if obviously if you're lying flat on a bed and your baby's
lying on the chest,
they're having to lift their head up against a significant amount of gravity.
So it's a lot harder than if you were reclined in a chair.
So I would generally do the chest to chest firstly, reclined in a chair.
So your back is propped up so that your baby is already kind of propped up
and it makes it easier for them to lift their head because they're not having to
lift against so much gravity. The other thing you can do in this position,
is that you provide support at their hips.
Again by putting your hand on their hips or their bottom.
And that will help shift the weight to the back of their legs.
And the other thing you can do is provide support at their forearms.
So you hold their forearms in place. And again,
that ensures that they're able to put weight through their arms,
which makes it easier for them to lift their head.
The other position is the football hold.
So you can make that significantly easier for your bub by putting your hand on
their hip or their bottom. So it again,
shifts the weight back to the back of their legs,
so that it's easier for them to lift their head.
The other thing you can do is obviously when your arm is straight like this,
they're having to lift their head against significant amount of gravity.
So if you recline your arm, so tilt your arm a bit, then there's less gravity.
So they're able to lift their head easier.
Now we're not expecting them to prop on their arms in this position,
but we are wanting them to kind of work on lifting their head.
So the last position we talked about was lying your baby across your leg.
You can make this significantly easier for your baby.
So if you can imagine if both your legs are level,
then your baby's having to lift their head against a lot of gravity,
But if you raise the leg, that's underneath their chest.
So that it is higher than the other leg.
Then it means that your baby needs to use less
effort, I guess,
to lift their head because there's not a much as much gravity pushing against
them. So they find it easier in this position. Also,
I would provide more support to your baby by putting your hand on their bottom.
And again, that helps shift the weight to their legs,
which means it's easier to lift their head in this position.
So we know tummy time is a really, really hard activity for our babies.
So what we need to do as parents is try and make it fun for them.
So that instead of focusing on the activity itself has been really hard.
Our Bubs are distracted by watching toys or listening to us, sing to them.
And they're actually thinking, oh maybe yes, it's a bit hard,
but this is funny or this is enjoyable for me.
So there's lots of different ways that we can make tummy time more enjoyable for
our baby.
The first really simple thing is to do when your baby's doing traditional tummy
time, you can lie directly opposite them and sing them a song. Um,
I generally seeing if you're happy to know raise your head. Do it really,
really quickly when your baby's newborn,
because they've only got a short period of time where they're happy in this
position. And then I quickly flipped the one to their back.
And then as they get stronger in this position,
I sing it for a longer period of time and then flip them onto their back.
The other thing you can do is place a non breakable mirror in front of their
face so that when they lift their head, they can see their face.
We know babies really, really like seeing faces.
So this is another fun way to entertain your bub.
The other thing you can do is put a toy in front of them. Now,
remember babies can see in colour.
What they like best at this age is high contrast toys,
and they can see best from eight inches. So it's 20 centimeters. They see best.
So you place the toy 20 centimeters to eight inches away.
So they'll look at it when they raise their head.
The other thing you can do is you could place a colourful book,
or you could read a book to them when they're in this position. Again,
make it a really quick activity initially so that they enjoy it.
And then the last thing you can do to make it more enjoyable is you can try
tummy time in different places in the house.
So instead of doing it in the same place all the time with the same toys,
you can do it so that your baby's doing tummy time, looking out the window,
which is when they can see the trees and the birds and any pets.
So it makes tummy time, a bit more enjoyable for our Bubs.
So I only have two don'ts.
My first one is don't stop tummy time because your baby doesn't like it.
Remember all babies, don't like tummy time.
So they will cry and fuss when they're placed in tummy time,
because it is so hard.
But the only way it gets easier for our bubs is if we do it frequently
throughout the day, and you do it for short burst.
So I would only do it for a really short burst.
If your baby absolutely hates it and then make sure they're happy and then flip
them onto their back. As they get stronger,
you'd increase that length of time that they're in tummy time. Now,
remember those four different positions for tummy time.
Your baby might hate that traditional tummy time,
but there's those three other positions you can do and you can grade them.
So that they're easier.
So remember you could provide support at their bottom to kind of shift the body
weight to their legs. So it's easier to raise their head.
You can use rolled up towels. You could lift your leg.
So you can make tummy time easier for your baby in the beginning.
And as they get stronger,
you can start to fade those additional kind of supports that you're giving away
because they don't need it anymore.
But you just need to persist with tummy time, make it short,
enjoyable bursts, and then your baby will get stronger.
And then they'll be in that position for longer, which is a success.
Lastly, don't stress if you don't get your tummy time quota done that day.
It is totally fine. There are going to be days that are complete ride off,
and that is fine.
Your baby might be clingy and fussy one day and you can't get to tummy time.
Totally fine. Tomorrow is a new day.
Tummy time will get easier if your baby practices frequently and as they get
stronger and they're going to be less fussy in this position and they'll start
to prefer it.
So just remember those four different tummy time positions and tummy time will
get significantly easier for you and your Bub most importantly.
So that is it Moms and Dads, that's my do's and don'ts for tummy time.
I really hope tummy time becomes an easier activity for you and your Bub.
But remember just those four different tummy time positions.
You don't have to do that traditional tummy time.
So remember those four and try them out throughout the day.
You'll find one that your baby prefers,
and you can just keep doing that until your baby gets strength in that position.
And then they give me more tolerant of the other tummy time positions,
which is that traditional tummy time on the floor. If you've liked this video,
make sure you hit that like button and subscribe to my channel.
Also hit that bell button to be notified every week when I release a new video.
And don't forget, there's that free PDF document,
which is in the description box below. So check that out and it will help,
you know, what you should be expecting in your baby's first year of life.
Thanks again. And tune in next week. As I share more parenting tips and tricks,
which will make your life as parents easier and give your baby the best start to
life.