tummy time

My son was not a fan of tummy time either, when he was about Tyler's age the most he'd do was 5-7 mins. I too was worried about the impact on crawling and so forth, but he started crawling at 10 months and started walking at 12 and 1/2 months. He didn't roll from back to front till quite late, then all of a sudden I couldn't stop him!

Definitely don't worry too much, apparently the frequency of tummy time spells is more important than the length of time spent on the tummy. Just keep doing what you're doing, and I'm sure he'll develop just fine!

have you tried lying him on his tummy in front of a mirror? they love looking at themselves in the mirror!

Also he can get tummmy time from lying on you as well.

If you have a swiss ball lay him on that holding his torso and gently roll the ball slowly.
He has good head control so it's o.k.

if he's on the floor a lot on his back then he may roll onto his tummy.

I never gave my DD tummy-time. (well very rarely) And funnily enough she's reached all of her developmental milestones pretty much bang on time.
She never looked very happy and I'm not comfortable with forcing something that clearly causes her distress.

Totally quoting here from another post from another forum I'm on, but this made me feel alot better about consciously not giving her tummy-time when hounded by everyone left, right and centre that she needed it for development.
From the book "Your self-confident baby" by Magda Gerber which is all about the RIE (resources for infant educarers) approach:

    ''You may think a baby is more comfortable when on her stomach. Her range of movement is limited. Her neck eventually tires from the strain. She can see only the area beneath her. On her back, she has the maximum mobility and support. She is freer to move her arms, legs and body, and do what she can do on her own. Her breathing is easier as the front of her chest is better able to expand and contract. She can also view the entire room. When she matures so that she can turn from her back to her belly, then it is her choice.''

Just for interests sake - DD probably had about 10minutes all up of tummy time (where we have placed her on her tummy for 'tummy time') She was rolling around 5 mths.. crawling by 9mths, standing and cruising furniture by 10mths and walking/running by 12mths.
Once she got herself onto her tummy she enjoyed it, but I just followed her lead. HTH

ETA - And my Plunket Nurse was happy with us not giving Tummy time. She wasn't worried at all.

Edited by Mamma2N

Lily doesn't really like tummy time either, she just rests her head and sucks on her hand instead

But we rented a garden explore tummy time gym thingy by lamaze from Plunket Toy Library and it's got this raised platform thingy that you put them on and they can turn around using their arms and she prefers tummy time on that that on the actual floor... Lamaze Garden Gym
She also likes it better if there is a mirror, she's very fascinated with herself!!

I was worried with my girl as i never gave her tummy time - she was a reflux baby and would scream and vomit! the pressure on her tummy was too much

i mentioned it to Mum and she was like "WTF is tummy time"
She pointed out to me that they never ever did it when we were kids and we ended up just fine

Plunket made me feel really guilty about it and i told them too bad

Daughter crawls and sits just fine :)

IF your baby doesn't like it don't do it. Think about how you would feel if you were stuck in a position you don't like.

My DD was a fan of being on her tum, DS HATED it...he crawled & walked before she did.

Best tummy time is when you are leaning back on the couch with bub on your tum

Phew! I've been feeling really bad for not giving Isla much tummy time. She doesn't like it much. Normally 2-3mins max. I only do it about 3 times a week, don't want to stress her out. But she does the same as what you said Lily does Nicky.... justs rest her head and sucks her fist! Doesn't lift her head up or anything (she is more than capable of doing it, like when she is on my belly when I'm lying on the couch etc she can). I've just started lying her on her belly up against a tri-pillow so she is on her belly but at a 45 degree angle. She seems to like that, just cause she can see more around her so maybe that is a good option for other babes who don't like being flat on their bellies.

Evelyn HATES tummy time. As soon as she notices she's being turned ove she screams. The poor plunket lady though she'd hurt her she screams so much.
Ryan on the other hand 1 weeks old on his tummy on the floor and fell asleep. almost 2 years later he sleeps on his tummy still up the end of the cot no blankets.

He had really good head control even without the tummy time. Ev has no head control at all.