A few times a day Piglet and I go through the tummy time battle. He has hated tummy time from day one. Everyone has said “he’ll get used to it and soon he’ll love it” but here we are, 4 months on, still having a scream every time.
I’m sure I’m not alone in my concerns for his reaction. A lot of pressure is put on new mums to do everything right, but there is not always an explanation for how you can realistically expect it to pan out. So this is our experience of tummy time, and we have done to make it work.
I understand the importance of tummy time for strengthening those core muscles, so I persevere daily. We get toys out and spread them around him. I’ve laid down on the ground with him. We sing and talk and cheer him on, but he refuses to engage with us.
He just lies there, head flat on the ground screaming his little lungs out
I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do. It seemed counter productive to push something that was causing obvious distress. And then we discovered the tummy time roll.
Provided he is propped up on it, Piglet is willing to tolerate a few minutes at a time before the meltdown begins. I still try him laying flat on the ground too as I’m sure the difference positions will work different muscles.
Our roll is a hand-me-down from Piglet’s cousins and is the Mamas & Papas Babyplay Tummy Time Activity Toy
Unfortunately for us – Piglet is disinclined to interact with anything on the roll so far. For now we’ll just have to go at his pace!
Update 8/12/16 (9 months old): Piglet took much longer than most to learn to roll. In fact, he sat before he was rolling over regularly. He got there in the end though as, with everything else he does, he was calling the shots!
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Jenny
Aww that’s lovely! I just bunched up a blanket to achieve that position, but I wish I had one of those. Maybe next time!
#bigpinklink
OddHogg
I did use a rolled up towel for a day or 2 but he mostly just tried to get it in his mouth!
Jaki
Mine wasn’t a huge fan of tummy time either – neither was I to be honest! I used to dread it and was kind of relieved it was all over when he got older. That’s awful to say when they grow up so fast as it is anyway. I’m glad you managed to find a solution to your problem, it looks like a great little invention. #fartglitter
The Tale of Mummyhood
Both of mine absolutely hated tummy time at young ages, until my eldest was 10 months she screamed the place down!
#fartglitter
OddHogg
he’s really improved in the last week but its a long way from fun yet! I so hope he doesn’t go on like this for 10 months though!
Louise Pink Pear Bear
Oh he is sooo scrummy!!! I’m pretty sure my son hated tummy time too. I don’t think we bothered too much with it as it was so stressful and nearly 4 years on his core is definitely a-ok considering the way he hurtles about on his bike so don’t stress yourself out too much about it. 🙂 Thanks for being a #bigpinklinker
OddHogg
Thanks – he went ahead and rolled himself over the other day so he’s obviously doing something right!
Mama, My Kid Doesn't Poop Rainbows
Eeek, he’s so super cute! The only way we got our lad to tolerate it was propping him in front of youtube nursery rhymes. It’s amazing what a kid will do for ‘The Wheels on the Bus’
#fartglitter
OddHogg
Ooooh now theres an idea – why didn’t I think of that?!?
Steph D
Baby D was not a fan either but at nearly five months he’s starting to love it, the rolling and crawling excite him now so he’s trying to move more than just lie there. We also done a lot of lying him on our tummys and we lay flat, he got used to keeping his head up and now he’s doing fab with it all. I do hear it passes quickly though!
OddHogg
Piglet finally got the hang of it recently, but he’s nearly 9 months old so he is a bit late to the party! Now he can roll around he doesn’t mind because he knows he can get back on his back if he wants