Tummy time sucks. There, I said it. Max and every baby I’ve ever met hates tummy time. The doctors and articles all say it’s required for numerous reasons, but there’s something a bit unnerving about letting your screaming baby lay on their belly hating every minute of it. For me, Max’s tummy time cry is like nails on a chalk board. He’s also rolling over now and when he finally gets himself off of his tummy, just for me to flip him back over, it almost feels like I’m betraying him! So I’ve been looking for just about any tip or trick to make tummy time even remotely more manageable. I decided to do a bit of research to find out why tummy time is so important, and see if there were any ways that we could make tummy time a little more tolerable. Read on to find out what I found!

What is tummy time and why is it so important?

Tummy time is when you lay your baby on their belly while they are awake, and according to our doctor and a few articles I’ve read, it’s very important for a multitude of reasons. It develops their neck, shoulder and back muscles as well as their arm and leg muscles which prepares them to sit, crawl, and walk. It also could potentially prevent motor delays and conditions like flat head syndrome. It encourages them to meet developmental milestones like holding up their head, rolling over, and sitting up. It also encourages your baby to do things like pivot and reach for things, which are important precursors to crawling. Lastly, according to a study in May of 2020 published in Pediatrics, tummy time can improve cardiovascular health and body mass index or BMI. So despite it sucking, it seems like it’s a necessary evil.

When do we start tummy time?

You can start tummy time as soon as your baby comes home from the hospital. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends it, as did our hospital and pediatrician which surprised a few of our friends and family. Starting tummy time early is important to get your baby used it when they are still little, and in order to do the correct amount of time of tummy time by the time they are three months, it’s important to start building up the increments that they are on their tummy while they are still newborns.

How long should my baby be doing tummy time?

When you first do tummy time with your baby, you can start with just a few minutes, and then keep building up the increments. By three months, your baby should be doing a total of one hour per day of tummy time, which sounds like a lot, but broken up isn’t too bad. Our doctor recommended that we place Max on his belly for a few minutes after every diaper change as a way to remind ourselves, and then most recently he told us to do it for 10 minutes after every time that Max eats. I don’t recommend that one because he tends to spit up after he eats, and tummy time after eating seems to only make that worse, but it is a good way to remind yourself to have your baby do tummy time! Eventually you’ll be able to increase the time increments to longer, so maybe after he wakes up and then after each nap you can have your baby do tummy time.

Okay, let’s make it a little more fun:

1. Get on the floor with them

This has been one of the more helpful tips to getting Max to stay on his belly for a bit longer. He likes to play peek-a-boo and he loves when we play with him so he is usually less likely to cry on his belly if we’re doing it too.

2. Use a (tolerant) furry friend

We are very lucky to have dogs that are very tolerant of our baby, especially one of them. Bru, the dog pictured, is usually within a five foot radius of Max when he’s awake, and our other dog Barley doesn’t mind Max at all, even more than Bru. If you are blessed with dogs that love your baby too, it might be worth a try to see if they will lay down out of arms reach from your baby, giving your baby something to distract them while they are on their tummy. Usually if Max is trying to reach for Bru or Barley, he doesn’t mind as much that he’s doing it on his belly. Always do this supervised, and make sure that your baby is far enough away that they aren’t able to reach their ears or face to pull on them.

3. Try a play mat

My mom gave us this play mat for Christmas, and it was originally the only way that Max would stay on his belly for longer than two seconds. It has little foam fish in it that move when the water moves, and they get to see the water move when they move their hands on it. Max loved it, and I would definitely recommend it. You can purchase one here!

4. Do the towel trick

When I was looking for ways to keep Max doing tummy time for longer, I stumbled on this tip on a blog on Pinterest. I can’t find the article now, but this was super helpful and worked wonders. You put a folded towel on the ground and pull them around on it. Max likes anything that keeps him moving, so this was a win for us. It works really well especially on hard wood since you’re basically cleaning your floor while exercising your baby!

5. Prop them up with a pillow or boppy

This one is hit or miss for Max, but he does seem to like to be propped up for tummy time more, likely because it’s easier for him and makes him work his chonky little arms a little less. When he’s propped up, it’s easier for him to grab for toys- or use these loofahs from the dollar store which have been one of his favorite toys since we brought them home. The bright colors and him being able to pull them apart without breaking them make them awesome cheap toys for babies.

6. Use your body

There are a few ways that you can use your own body to help tummy time be a little easier on your baby. Having them “fly” is still doing some of the work of tummy time, and according to our doctor, it still counts. You can also lay your baby on your chest while you’re laying down so that they can look at you, and often just you being there to play with them will make them a little happier to be on their tummy.

7. Use toys

Similar to the loofahs that we put in front of Max when he was in front of the boppy, you can really use any toy that your baby loves to keep them on their tummy for even just a little bit longer than they would normally be. Max likes these ball-pit balls again because they are so brightly colored, and he can easily grab them because they are a little squishy. We have a ball-pit that came with bigger balls from Walmart, but there weren’t enough to fill the whole ball-pit so I got these from Amazon (you can buy them here) and Max really likes them!

8. Put them on a birthing ball

I had read in another blog post that putting your baby on a birthing ball and moving them around on it might help them to like tummy time a little more, probably because it’s kind of like a ride. I wanted to list it because we did give it a try and I think other babies might like it, but Max wasn’t a huge fan. But hey it’s worth a shot- what else are you going to use that ball for?!

9. Try a floor mirror

Max loves this floor mirror. This isn’t the greatest picture of it but you can purchase one here, and Max likes to look at himself and play with the ball rattle while he’s on his stomach. Admittedly he likes it more when he’s on his back, but it does keep him on his belly a little bit longer, and really any little bit helps!

I won’t sit here and tell you that each time Max is on his tummy, one of these methods works. When he’s on his belly, we are generally trying two or three of these things to keep him entertained in five minute increments, which generally feel like treadmill minutes- the longest minutes ever. I didn’t want to list this as one of my tips, because I don’t want to say that screen time is good for a baby, but I will say we’ve also used baby shark to our advantage. If you are desperate to get your babe to do tummy time without hearing that blood curdling cry, I’d say give it a shot. And don’t beat yourself up if your baby hates tummy time and it deters you from doing it as much as you should. A good friend of mine told me “they don’t go to high school not able to hold up their head”, and I stand by that. If you have ways of getting your baby to like tummy time that aren’t listed above, please comment and let me know what works for you!