Tummy Time - Pregnancy, Birth & Baby Forums ~ BellyBelly

Stella'sMum · #1 (**permalink**) October 29th, 2009, 02:47 PM

Hi,

My daughter is nearly 3 months old and like lots of babies, she seems to hate tummy time. So needless to say, she only has a couple of minutes on her tummy each day.

Anyway, i have read that one of the three month milestones says that babies should be using their arms to do mini push-ups when on their tummy. Well Holly just lays there, occasionally moves her head from one side to the other but she doesn't even attempt to use her arms to push herself up. I have tried putting a rolled up towel under her, putting her on my chest etc, but she never uses strength in her arms.

Have any other babies of this age gone through this? Should I be concerned?

Thanks in advance!
Emma

Winter · #2 (**permalink**) October 29th, 2009, 02:58 PM

My baby hated tummy time too, so I never forced the issue. Popped her on her tummy every couple of days when I remembered and didn't make a big deal out of it.

There comes a day when they suddenly stop hating it, so my advice is wait for that day and don't make a big deal out of it in the meantime.

Also, the "milestones" are different for every kid and at 3 months I was lucky to get her head up let alone the pushups they talk about.... At 7 months she is soooo close to crawling so it all clicked into place for her without the fuss of forcing her to do too much tummy time.

Hope that helps.

ss_storm · #3 (**permalink**) October 29th, 2009, 03:46 PM

I wouldn't worry too much, especially if she is only just 3 months old. We hardly did tummy time at all- Hayley will only tolerate it for a couple of minutes at a time and I was just lazy..lol. It was too hard to coordinate it when she hadn't just had a feed, otherwise she would just chuck up! Or when she was ready for bed, as she would whinge after only 30 seconds.

She is not far off 4 months and a couple of weeks ago it just kind of clicked and now she can roll over and has started pushing up on her arms. Her neck is also quite strong and she keeps straining to lift it up when she is lying down like she wants to sit up. i don't think the lack of tummy time has harmed her at all! Your bub will do it when she is ready, and as Winter said every child is different. Unless she isn't developing in other areas as well then I wouldn't be too concerned about it.

Ellie · #4 (**permalink**) October 29th, 2009, 04:24 PM

I wouldn't worry...Anika had really bad reflux and being on her tummy was not an option...and she's nearly crawling!

MummyTummy · #5 (**permalink**) October 29th, 2009, 04:43 PM

Like Winter said "There comes a day when they suddenly stop hating it..." That was exactly how it happened with DS. And from there he almost went straight from doing mini push-ups to going full lock with his arms. And from memory it was later than 3 months too. I think he was around 4.5 maybe 5 months?

I think the book of milestones just makes us stress more about what they can't do.... I think we should focus on what they can do and be proud of it. If they are months and months behind then maybe question it, but not before they have been given the chance to figure it out for themselves.

Megan · #6 (**permalink**) October 29th, 2009, 10:05 PM

My DS wasn't a fan of tummy time either and he didn't push himself up until about 4 weeks ago (at just under 6 months), and then a week after that he rolled (and this was about 2 days after me saying he looked like he would never roll)! He would just lay there, lift his head up and then lay down, arms by his side. I wouldn't be worried at all as babies all develop at different rates. She will get there in her own time.

Stella'sMum · #7 (**permalink**) November 1st, 2009, 05:58 PM

Thanks everyone, your replies have been very reassuring!

Snacks · #8 (**permalink**) November 1st, 2009, 07:36 PM

I think they are all little individuals...
My first DD hated tummy time. But then, she wasn't a happy camper at all til she was at least 6 months. We rarely did tummy time (except for holding her over my arm on her tum - it helped to settle her). But she did everything she was meant to do - probably later than a lot of kids. Didn't roll til she was about 9mo, then crawled at around 11mo, then walked at 14mo.
DD2 is different. She is really quite happy on her tummy for a good while. My advice would be not to worry about it too much. No doubt she'll get there in her own time.

MummyNaomi · #9 (**permalink**) November 13th, 2009, 07:34 PM

Emma,

My DS is very similar, and I ended up taking him to the paed just prior to 5 months as he still didn't lift his head or push with his arms etc and I just knew something wasn't quite right (Motherly instinct!!). After checkups, xrays etc we have recently taken him to a physio and he has very poor muscle tone in his arms, neck and back and the physio has given us a range of exercises to encourage him to use and strengthen these muscles. Its likely our DS will be late to sit, crawl, walk etc, but he'll get there in his own time. While his gross motor skills are definately delayed, his fine motor (eg passes things from hand to hand, picks up toys etc) and social development are fine, in fact his social development is probably ahead of some others - so some babies just focus on other parts of their development.

Its hard not to be concerned about our babies development (believe me I have spent WAY too much time worrying about it) but the best advice I can give is if you are worried, then talk to your paed so you can either put your worries aside, or do something to fix it if there is a problem

But 3 months is so little, I wouldn't be too concerned yet

HTH
Naomi