You’re supposed to “Do Tummy Time” but your baby doesn’t seem to like it. You feel like you have two options:

-feel mean for forcing your precious newborn into misery on a regular basis or

-feel riddled with guilt for not doing what doctors and parenting magazines insist is best for your child

Not exactly a win-win is it?

Change the Way You Put Baby In Tummy Time

If you’re not slowly rolling your baby in Tummy Time - today’s the day to start!

For a very young baby you’re going to be doing the rolling and baby’s just “along for the ride” (that ride is a rich sensory experience with loads of benefits). As baby gets older he or she can begin to help a bit with the roll - doing more and more until you’re just giving an itty bitty bit of help.

Begin Tummy Time with your baby on her back on a firm surface padded with a blanket or play mat. Have face-to-face time for a moment until your baby is comfortable and relaxed - in what's referred to as a quiet alert state.

Slowly roll baby onto her side and talk, sing, soothe, stroke her until she is again comfortable and relaxed. Slowly roll her onto her belly. See what this looks like with a newborn.

Why It Works

Placing a baby straight onto her belly often backfires because it is alarming to her neurological system. For about the first 6 weeks of life, when held in the air belly-down a baby's head hangs lower than her chest (a phenomenon called the Landau Reaction). That means that her noggin will likely be the first thing to make contact with the surface beneath her. Even if that surface is padded and you're being gentle, that stimulus is alarming and often causes a startle reaction. Baby's vision is very primitive and developing in those early weeks so that sensory system isn't giving much warning about her position change. Rolling from her back to her side to her belly will allow her to enter Tummy Time in a less threatening way.

Change Your Toy Placement

It seems obvious that if you want your baby to lift her head, you place a toy in front of her. Right? Well…

Placing a toy too far away from baby too soon is a recipe for frustration. The ideal spot to place a toy in Tummy Time is right where your baby can see it. But the tricky part is that this placement changes.

In the early weeks, this is only a few inches from her face (top photo) and slightly off center since babies lift their heads asymmetrically at first (learn more about Tummy Time milestones). This positioning is one of the reasons why I recommend lots of Tabletop Tummy Time in the first month. As baby gets stronger, she can lift her head higher and view toys further away or higher up (middle and bottom photos).

Why It Works

It's easy to assume that placing a toy just beyond where baby can comfortably lift her head to see would make her work harder to lift higher. But unfortunately, most babies just protest that hard work (translation: they cry). Your better bet is to keep a toy close enough for baby to comfortably look for a longer period of time.

Change Your Tummy Time Paradigm

Tummy Time is not playtime. Tummy Time is a position for playtime. There needs to be a paradigm shift in how we think about and talk about Tummy Time. Instead of telling new parents to "DO Tummy Time," health professionals should be encouraging them to "Do play activities in Tummy Time,"and then offering suggestions for play activities.

It's simply not fair to expect new parents, groggy and buried in dirty diapers to dream up creative developmental activities for their newborns. Most are dreaming up creative ways to get food on the table several times a day and soap on their bodies at least once a week. Never fear - CanDo Kiddo is here to help! Here are a few Tummy Time activities to get you started:

Tummy Time at the mirror
Roll Baby on a Ball
Tummy Time in the dark
Flashlight Tummy Time Play
Watching a floating bath toy in Tummy Time

Why It Works

Tummy Time is effortful for babies; it requires them to use muscles and movements that are new to them. Many babies resist this position unless they are deeply interested in exploring something while belly-down. Novel play ideas that match your baby's developmental level and interests are some of your best tools against Tummy Time tears.

I teach what I call Responsive and Respectful Tummy Time - which means Tummy Time should be a no-cry zone. It also means that those 2 options you thought you were left with when baby doesn’t like Tummy Time - to force it anyway or skip it - they aren’t your only options! Learn how to teach your baby to like Tummy Time!

Need some help making belly-down playtime a happy time for your baby? I’ve got you covered with a quick printable list of 10 easy, actionable tips. Make Tummy Time a no-cry zone today. To get the tips, click here or on the image below: