My 4 month old (will be 4 mos on Monday) is not a big fan of tummy time. He can hold his head up and prop on his elbows, but he is only game for this for about 5 mins before he starts kicking and fussing to be rolled over. I m trying to make the rolling part a game for him. I have been told that since we are all putting babies on their backs to sleep and playing/socializing with them while they are on their backs it can slow their development as far as rolling over, etc. Since they are supposed to roll tummy to back first, I was wondering when he should be doing this and how other moms did tummy time. Please share. Thanks!!
I am not sure I can answer your question but I just wanted to tell you that my son hated being on my tummy, he was on his tummy very rarely, if ever, but he liked to be sat up so I figured he was working on his neck muscles like that. He started to crawl and pull up at 7 months (rock back n forth at 6) so he isn't delayed in any way. I just fallowed his lead.
As the mother of 4, I can tell you that all mine hated it at first. I would avoid doing it right after a meal to limit spitting up, but it is important for their upper body (arms and neck) development. Also, all 4 of mine rolled back to front first. And then they would get mad when they realized they were on their stomach. Just give him a litle more time.
My 3-1/2 month old daughter used to hate it too (and still does at certain times). I found that if I put her on her tummy on the floor for short bursts (like 1 minute) and then roller her over or picked her up and just did it really often, she got to where she didn't hate it as much.
Other things she seems to like is when I get on the floor in front of her and get her to look at my face, then I sorta do a mini push-up (just lift my head and chest off the floor like I'm wanting her to do) and she seems to like watching my face go up. Sometimes it even leads her to mimmick me just because she's watching me so closely. There are times when she will stand being on her tummy for 15 minutes and then there are other times that she can't stand it more than 5 seconds! The nice thing is since their attention span is so short, even though they hate it at 10am, they may tolerate it a little more at 10:30!
Good luck!
I have boy/girl twins that will be 4 months old on Saturday and they HATE tummy time too. They scream the whole time even when I'm down on the floor with them. My son can roll over both directions and has been doing it for about a month. However, my daughter can only lift her head and hold it up for a second. She can roll over from her back to her side though. I usually put them down for 5-10 minutes at least twice a day and make sure to get down at there eye level so they can see I haven't left them. I like to put them down for tummy time about an hour before their next feeding. I find it keeps them from throwing up and makes them good and ready to eat. I know it hard to let them cry, but we have to do it. Good luck!
M.,
My 6 month old son hated it too - he would cry and fuss and throw up his last meal. It killed me to do it to him so I would leave him there for 5-10 minutes then roll him over and sing with him or tickle him until he was smiling again and then back to the belly for him - oh he would get so mad! Then one day around 4.5 months he realized that he could roll over on his own and since then has been rolling all over. Just give it time, he will figure it out soon, I am sure.
good luck! K.
When I was a infant teacher I had many children that hated it is well and had a really hard time with it. But it is very important to make sure they do it. I used to lay on the floor with them(and my son) and sing songs, put toys, whatever it took. My son hated it and it was even harder for me to let him cry. Eventully he got over it and realized he coudl scoot. And get to the toys and roll over. But dotn give up or get worried. A lot of babies really hate it.
