Tummy time

[shannjohnston]

DS hated it, so we slacked off and didn't make it a priority. He still had good head/neck control by 12 weeks. I was determined to be better now with DD, but she is none to pleased being on her tummy either.

Do you do the recommended 30 minutes a day? More? Less? Do your LOs cry the whole time?

[shannjohnston]

Also, does it count if they're on your chest? If so, we could easily make the 30 minutes!

[grumpycat88]

We haven't been doing 30 min on the floor. I'll usually do 5-10 min on the floor and do some on my chest. Honestly, if I put him on my shoulder to burp, he lifts and moves his neck too. If LO is awake and calm, he is generally pretty calm. I'll lay next to him and rub his back as well.

[luckypenny]

She lasts a few minutes on her tummy on the floor before having a melt down. She does slightly better on my chest. I'm not worried. DD1 hated tummy time but her head control was fine.

[aks01]

I count laying on my chest as tummy time because he moves his head up and down a lot. I also put him over the front of the Boppy. I haven't tried the floor yet.

[alfiesMOM]

I don't do 30 minutes probably 10-15 right now. I know I need to do more... I do a lot on my chest.

[Deleted]

Meh...I kinda haven't been doing it....who has time for tummy time?

[milagros315]

We're definitely not doing 30 minutes on the floor. I read that having him on my chest was better until his belly button healed (his cord is really hanging on) so we mostly do that. Like someone else said, he also tries lifting his head and looking around when I burp him too. We probably get closer to 15 minutes a day than 30.

[lola918]

At what age are we supposed to start tummy time anyways?

[laceysbryan]

We also don't do a total 30 minutes on the floor, and we definitely don't do all our tummy time at once. We do some floor tummy time, we do some chest tummy time, he lifts his head when he's getting burped. If there's a hard and fast rule on how much and how to do tummy time, we're not following it.

[grumpycat88]

Feb 2, 2015 13:12:11 GMT -5 lola918 said:

At what age are we supposed to start tummy time anyways?

My ped recommended starting right away. So we started at 3 days old.

[heidih21]

I didn't know we were supposed to do it every day. At a month old I've probably laid him on the floor 4 or 5 times never for 30 minutes. But I do lay with him on my chest a lot. He actually holds his head up really well but I guess I will start making it more of a priority.

[maebb]

I put him on his play mat on his stomach about 5-10 minutes every day, but he doesn't like it much. He also lifts his head when I'm burping him or holding him on my chest.

[lexishay]

My LO is two weeks tomorrow and I haven't had him on the floor once yet. I definitely need to get him down there! We do spend the majority of our days with him on my chest and he raises his head to look at us all the time so hopefully I haven't hurt his head control without putting him on the floor yet.

[backseatdriver]

Feb 2, 2015 11:43:45 GMT -5 shannjohnston said:

Also, does it count if they're on your chest? If so, we could easily make the 30 minutes!

Yes! You can definitely get creative with how you sneak in tummy time. I used to "fly" my son around like an airplane or lay on my back with my legs bent up and put him on my shins.

I don't do 30 minutes though. I start with a few minutes a couple times a day and gradually increase the amount of time. That was what my pediatrician recommended and is consistent with what I saw on the Mayo website:

Start by laying your newborn on his or her tummy across your lap two or three times a day for a few minutes. As   your baby grows stronger, place him or her on a blanket on the floor after a diaper change or nap. Arrange age-appropriate toys within his or her reach. As your baby gets used to tummy time, place your baby on his or her stomach more frequently or for longer periods of time. For a 3- to 4-month-old baby, some research suggests aiming for at least 20 minutes of tummy time a day.

[4littlebears]

We don't do 30 mins, but I do count it when he's on my chest. It's maybe a minute or two at a time.

[Deleted]

I haven't been counting. He's always attempting to hold up his head when being held so I couple that with having him on my chest.

[kellimark]

I do spurts of 5 mins or so probably totally 20 minutes a day. But I also have her lay on my chest tummy down too.
We started after her umbilical cord stump fell off.

[LaBellaVida]

I'm slacking in this area this time around. I've only put him on his tummy a few times.
I think 30 minutes a day (at least for my 11 day old) is too much. Maybe as he gets older I'll increase the time. For now I just do a few minutes.
And yes, being on your chest counts. Maybe lay down on the floor and have baby on your chest so it encourages baby to look at you. It'll give baby something/someone to look at.

[BabyStandish]

We do 10-15 minutes a day. 5 on the floor and the rest on our chests. We don't time it though so that's a guesstimate.