tummy time

Hi my name is joanne courts,

I have a son who is 5 months and hates tummy time any one have advice on how to help my son enjoy it?

Hi Joanne,

I place my 3.5mth old on her tummy when she is under the " Huggies" fun shade. It has numbers and pictures on it and so she looks around and seems very interested in this. If you don't have this, place a colourful blanket or similar underneath him. It took us a few attempts. She doesn't last long though, but we persist a little each day and she is getting better. I hope this helps.

Anna and Ruby

Hi Joanne

I started by putting Hamish on a mat with lots of teddy's and pictures on it and some toys in front of him. He liked this. Also by laying down on your back with him on your belly belly looking at your face - try that!

Good Luck!

Hi Joanne,
I had the same problem with my daughter. As she loves playing naked I strip her before tummy time and because she is so happy to be clothes-free she doesn't complain. I find doing this not long after she's woken from a nap is best so she's got lots of energy. I also put her on my bed while I sit on the floor so we're face to face. However, this distracts her for several minutes only. Another thing is to hold your baby under his arms while he is in the bath on his tummy (the water needs to be very shallow). I have never had any complaints while doing that one! Recently I bought a little toy with a mirror in it which stands on its own. I place it in front of my daughter while she is on her tummy and she is so caught up in loooking at the 'baby in the mirror' that she hardly notices she's on her tum. Hope some of these ideas work for your little one!

Hi Joanne,

My little son didn't much like tummy time either and we didn't have much because of his reflux so that didn't help much. He is at the stage now though at 7 months where he is happy to lie on his tummy and reach out for toys and play with us in fron of his face. He has just started reaching out for things in front of him, particularly the bottle on the lounge beside us and he ends up on his hands and knees to do this and then on his tummy as I move the bottle further away for him to try and reach. He loves doing this and does it straight after his feed, so that is a good sign for us and his reflux. We also spend a bit of tummy time on the spare bed with a toy in the afternoon just before our showers and now everytime we go past the room he looks at the bed and gets all excited. But the moral of the story is:- persevere and make it fun, put things in front of the baby's face for them to play with or put in their mouth and eventually they will start enjoying it.

Ange.