As a new parent, you may have heard tummy time is important, but you may have no idea why. Maybe you have even attempted it with your baby, but they were fussy, and you decided it was easier to skip the tears and reposition your baby on their back where they seem so much more content.
However, by skipping tummy time, your baby is missing out on core strengthening that is essential to their development of other milestones down the road such as sitting, crawling, and pulling to stand.
Being on their tummy, allows babies to develop neck strength by lifting their head, which improves head control. As they get stronger, they will push up on their forearms and eventually their hands, which promotes strengthening of their arms and strengthening of their back and belly to improve posture for sitting upright!
Tummy time also decreases your baby’s chance of developing a flat spot on the back of their head by taking pressure off their skull.
Tummy time does not have to be a dreaded experience for a baby or parents. By incorporating the tips below, you can improve your baby’s tolerance to tummy time and set them up for developmental success!
- Start with 1 or 2 minutes and work towards longer bouts of tummy time. If your child only tolerates brief periods of tummy time, increase the frequency of times you attempt it each day.
- Establish it as part of a normal routine. For example, allow your child to spend some time on their tummy after every diaper change.
- Engage your child visually by getting down on their level or place colorful toys or a mirror in front of them to encourage them to lift their head up.
- If your child does not tolerate being placed on the floor or a flat surface, attempt tummy time over your lap. You can also try it in a reclined position with the child on your chest while you are leaned back in a chair. Work towards increasing your child’s tolerance to being completely flat on their tummy by increasing how much you are reclined back.
- If your child has difficulty pushing up on their arms, place a small towel roll under their upper chest with their arms positioned over the towel.
- Always complete tummy time while the child is awake provide direct supervision.
- Aim for a total of at least 30 to 60 minutes of tummy time each day.
- Contact a Physical Therapist if your child continues to resist tummy time!
Our pediatric physical therapists and occupational therapists are located at our Optimal Therapy an Affiliated Company in northwest Las Vegas.
The address is 9050 W Cheyenne Ave. Ste 210, Las Vegas, NV 89129.
To schedule an appointment call 702-564-6712 or click here to see a list of our locations.
Optimal Therapy is unique and one of the best choices for your physical and occupational therapy needs. Our team of highly-trained physical and occupational therapists are all patient focused and passionate about delivering a great experience every time. We offer many physical therapy services including fall-prevention, pelvic health, pediatrics, geriatrics, surgery recovery, dry needling, joint mobility and more! We also provide Telehealth appointments to meet you exactly where you are at.
Follow our other social media channels:
