“Tummy Time”….you read about it in all the baby books. It doesn’t seem like it will be that hard. WAIT…you may not even know what “Tummy Time” is if you are newly pregnant. You see, unlike when I was a baby, babies nowadays are supposed to sleep on their backs. Me, I’ve been a tummy sleeper all my life. But, for safety reasons it’s best to lay them always on their backs.
The problem then becomes that the baby doesn’t get the opportunity (practice) to raise their head/neck up very much. So, you have to do “tummy time” each day to strengthen those muscles.
SIGH….oh, it was hard. I never thought my little one would be able to hold her head up, which leads to crawling. She just flat out refused most times. Laying toys in front of her didn’t work either….she just figured out how to grab them a different way and then play. Oh, those were the days.
It took a bit of creativity on our part to make “Tummy Time” a success…..and it took awhile. But, my daughter strengthened those muscles eventually and is a perfectly healthy and strong 2 1/2 year old today.
Note: the photo is much past the Tummy Time stage….I apparently was too focused to take pictures of tummy time. LOL
To help with “Tummy Time” I thought I’d share with you my favorite props that we used to help.
Baby Love (Message from the Heart)
This book was a huge blessing. Aside from it being fun and adorable, it helped with “Tummy Time” in so many ways. The book opens up and is several feet long…….spanning a baby quilt easily. Even better is that each square page has a cloth flap to lift while telling the story. Not only will your baby be interested in this “extra long” book no matter where they move themselves on the quilt, but they’ll be interested in keeping their head up so they can lift the cloth flaps.
Example: Page with Mommy Cat says ” What did the Mommy Cat say to her Baby Cat?”……..lift the Mommy Cat’s face to see “You’re Purr-fect”. They’re all animals…..babies love that.
Shown below is a less expensive version of our old Fisher-Price Amazing Animals Sing and Go Choo-Choo
I will say that it continues to be played with today, but the different version below has the same use to help with Tummy Time. The point is to get baby’s attention with a moving object. I would always place her on her tummy, then I would turn the train on at one end of the room with it aimed to pass right in front of her. She was mesmerized with the movement and the music and before I knew it she was strengthening her neck. Thank goodness.
Fisher-Price Amazing Animals Press and Go Animal Parade
Playskool Busy Lil’ Garden Butterfly
Boppy Pillow
Don’t forget the Boppy Slipcovers