- If you have a baby that hates tummy time
so that they scream and cry out
whenever you put them on their tummy,
then this video is exactly what you need.
I'm gonna share with you the tips and tricks
I've learned over the past 10 years
practicing as a pediatric occupational therapist,
which helps parents and babies start to find tummy time
a lot more enjoyable.
(gentle lively music)
Now, before we get into the tips and tricks for tummy time,
make sure you click on that free PDF document
in the description box below,
which covers what your baby should be doing
in their first year of life.
It'll give you an invaluable piece of mind,
as you'll know what your baby should be doing at each stage,
and when to be concerned.
Firstly, parents, it's really important
to know that you are not alone.
Most babies, if not all babies,
initially hate tummy time in the beginning.
Babies are gonna cry.
Then these tips hopefully will help.
So, the first thing you can do
is make it easier for your baby.
So, there's four different types of tummy time.
Now, each of these tummy time positions,
you can make significantly easier.
So, I'm gonna go through each tummy time position now,
and how you can make it easier for your baby,
initially, so that they actually enjoy it for a short burst.
And as they get stronger,
you can start to withdraw those additional supports.
So, in the traditional tummy time,
I generally get the baby into this position
by lying them on their back,
and then I will help roll them onto their tummy.
Once they're on their tummy,
you can place a rolled up towel underneath their arms.
So, it goes under their arms and across their chest.
This essentially lifts their chest off the floor
and helps shift the weight,
which for newborn babies is at the front of their body.
So, generally, they're kinda top heavy.
It shifts the weight to their bottom and their hips,
so it's easier for them to lift their head.
The other thing that you can do
when they're in this position,
you can place your hand on their bottom,
to again, shift that weight.
And the last thing you can do to make it easier,
is give support at the elbows.
But as your baby gets stronger,
you can start to remove these supports.
So, the football hold or the football position
for tummy time, is where you've placed your butt
underneath your baby.
So, you can do it two ways.
So, you can place it
so that your arm is underneath your baby,
and their head is resting in your elbow crease.
In this position,
you're giving them a significant amount of support.
And what we can do is you can change the angle of your arms.
So, if your arm is at 90 degrees,
then it's requiring them to lift their head up
against a lot more gravity.
Whereas, if your arm was on a slight angle,
that's less gravity
that they have to lift their head against.
The other thing is once they get stronger in that position
you can change the tummy time position
to the one where your arm
is essentially going under their body,
but you're not providing support at the head.
So they're having to lift their head
to see what's going on around them.
So, that's a way that you can make
that tummy time position a bit harder for your baby.
Now, my favorite tummy time,
particularly, when their newborn,
and particularly, if they hate tummy time,
is the chest-to-chest tummy time position.
So, you can make this significantly easier
by increasing the recline that you're lying on
before you place your baby on your chest.
So, obviously, if you're in more reclined,
you're gonna help your baby because there's less gravity
that they need to lift their head against,
and it's also helping to shift their weight
to their legs and their hips.
So, and then if you start to lie down
or reduce that recline,
then it becomes a bit harder for your baby.
Now, when you're in this chest-to-chest position,
you can also place your hand on their bottom,
so that helps in shifting the weight.
And the last thing you can do is support them at the elbow.
But this is honestly my go-to position
particularly when babies hate it,
because they love you as parents,
so they're more likely to tolerate
chest-to-chest tummy time,
because you're interacting with them
while they're in that tummy time position.
And the last tummy time position you can do,
is lie your baby across your lap.
Now, you can increase the support you give your baby
by raising the leg that's directly underneath their chest
because again, helps shift the body weight
to their legs and hips,
so it's easier for them to raise their head.
The other thing you can do
is place your hand on their bottom,
because again, that will help shift the weight as well.
Now, surprise is actually at the tummy time position
that you can do if you're kind of happy to do it,
and make sure you're giving your baby a lot of support,
so they're not at risk of hurting themselves.
And that is placing them on a massage ball
or like a big ball, blown up ball.
And essentially, your supporting them,
so you'll be holding the baby.
I would hold them at their elbow,
so I'm giving them additional support.
And when you're holding them,
you can rock the ball backwards and forwards.
So, that is making them kind of decrease
and increase in the amount of gravity they're needing
to lift their head against.
But the other great thing about this position,
is that you are generally kneeling in front of them,
and again, you're interacting with them
when they're doing this tummy time position.
So, in addition to making easier,
the next thing you wanna think about,
is gradually building up the time
that they're in tummy time.
Remember, seconds count.
So, if your baby (chuckles)
only likes to be in tummy time,
first few seconds, that's great.
You just do a few seconds multiple times throughout the day.
Don't beat yourself up.
If they're doing seconds, then that's amazing.
What you do is just try and do it
multiple times throughout the day so that they get stronger,
and then they'll start to extend those seconds
into 10 seconds, and then into a minute
and then you are winning.
Now, remember, if they're a newborn,
we're only aiming for one to two minutes of tummy time
initially, and by three months of age,
what you're aiming for is an hour total of tummy time.
So, that would again be in chunks.
So, it might be like six minutes of tummy time,
and then another six minutes of tummy time, 10 times a day.
So, that is the ultimate goal in the end,
but it really honestly doesn't matter.
Seconds is better than nothing,
so just get those seconds in and then they will increase.
And the third thing you can do
is distract, distract, distract. (laughs)
As we discussed, tummy time is really, really hard.
So what you wanna do is try and distract your baby.
The best way to distract your baby,
is when they're on that ground,
on the ground doing that traditional tummy time
is getting directly in front of them.
So you're lying directly opposite them.
And I would be singing songs, I'd be making faces,
because they actually really like looking at you the most.
It's, you're more entertaining than any toy.
So, if you can get involved somehow in their tummy time,
then I would definitely recommend it.
If it's not possible, you can also use toys, or mirrors,
because babies really like looking at themselves.
But high contrast toys when they're in tummy time
will kind of motivate them to look up for initially.
And then the other thing you can do is change the scenery.
So, if you do the tummy time in the same room all the time,
maybe do it outside so that they can look at the grass.
So, that's it, moms and dads.
Those are the three things
that would definitely make tummy time significantly easier,
and help a baby who absolutely hates tummy time.
So, that is make the task itself easier.
So, remember those four different tummy time positions.
The other thing is to gradually increase the time
that they're required to do tummy time,
as they get stronger,
it will naturally increase, seconds count.
And the third thing is distract, distract, distract.
Make sure you click on that free PDF document
in the description box below.
And if you've enjoyed this video,
hit that like button and make sure you subscribe.
And hopefully, I'll see you next week
where I share more parenting tips and tricks.
(gentle playful music)