Babies who don't spend enough time on their bellies tend to experience a reduction in fine and gross motor skills, and even sensory development. Building up strength in the upper body early in life contributes to skills such as writing, using tools and climbing. The exercise helps babies to develop neck muscles, which are necessary for the most basic functions such as speaking, eating, and even visual focus. Without tummy time, babies are more likely to skip the crawling stage altogether, which experts once thought was a benign milestone to miss; however, they are now discovering that crawling contributes to core strength throughout life, an essential component for athletics and even good handwriting.
The reason that babies aren’t getting the necessary developmental practice is two-pronged. For one, the “Back to Sleep” campaign that was launched in an effort to reduce the number of babies dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), led many parents to hesitate to put their babies on their bellies. The other is attributed to modern devices such as swings, bouncy seats and other popular devices that encourage babies to sit or lie on their backs. While these devices are largely used by parents, caregivers and daycares to keep babies safe they limit movement and exposure to the environment around them, delaying development of the senses.
You can start putting your baby on his or her belly as soon as you get home from the hospital. Playing and engaging with your baby 2-3 times a day for short periods is enough to start developing the right muscles. In the beginning, putting the baby on your chest might be more fun because the baby can see you without lifting the head very high. As your child grows accustomed to the practice, you can increase the duration. Try using mirrors and toys to spice it up.
Is your baby getting
enough tummy time?
Tummy Time [BabyWeekly]
Experts: Lack of ‘tummy time’ causes development delays in
children [KY3]
2 comments:
It really is difficult to do tummy time when the child is first born because they sleep most of the time. I'm a first time mom & was always told baby on back, now my DD is 6 months & has plagiocephaly AKA flat side of head. When I was prego no one told me about this nor did any of the classes I took mentioned this, now she's in treatment for this & it is costly. I recommend all parents 2 do tummy time.
My family happens to have many old world views so we didn't hesitate at all to play with the baby and let her have tummy time as well as taking her out and about the day after she was born. She's six months and crawling well enough to navigate around my house... scary sometimes LOL but still a great achievement. A lot of communities offer child development classes for free and I recommend them for any new parents. That's what helped give me confidence that what I was doing wasn't so crazy and was actually helping my baby to develop. If I had only listened to just my doctors then I wouldn't have known to give her tummy time because the doctors don't spend much time giving advice. It was the child development centers and programs like healthy start that helped me out a lot.
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