4 Month Old Hates Tummy Time

Lolly_loulou - posted on 04/26/2009

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my little girl hated it, until i got her to do tummy time on my bed, much softer on her ribs

Tara - posted on 04/26/2009

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Thanks everybody!

Kerrena - posted on 04/26/2009

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My little girl also disliked tummy time. I was told by the maternal health nurse that having your baby on your chest instead of the floor still counts as tummy time so go for it. I started off by putting my daughter on the bed while I crouched on the floor eye level with her, giving lots and lots of encouragement and acting super excited! Putting her on a cushion in front of the television also helped because she was distracted by the images. As soon as she starts getting upset, I stop. I figure she'll do everything when she's ready.

Kimmy - posted on 04/25/2009

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My friend is a physical therapist at a children's hospital and I have asked her about this many times! My daughter also hates tummy time! She said it is perfectly fine to have them on your chest while you lie on the floor, or if you sit on the couch/chair and have them in burp position just lift their legs up. Essentially, you are trying to strengthen their neck muscles and their arms. Also, you can have them on the couch, or bed and you can be on the floor so you are eye level...they usually love that too (have a toy or silly song & dance to keep their attention) start off with short intervals (like 30sec to 1min) about 5+ times a day, then make it longer. This has helped my daughter, she can tolerate about 5 minutes on her belly now & she had her 4mos check up yesterday & the doc said she was on track! Hope this helps!

Danielle - posted on 04/23/2009

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My daughter was the exact same way. But then one day I decided to put a mirror in front of her with bright colorful toys. I did this for about a week or so. She would spend about 5 minutes on her tummy compared to just seconds. Now, a couple of weeks later I don't use the mirror and she will spend about 15 minutes on her tummy before she gets fussy. I use lots of toys and I also get down on the floor with her. I will roll her back and forth from her back to her tummy and back again. Each time I make it a big deal and I clap and say yay!! My daughter thinks it's funny and she will smile and sometimes laugh.

Annie - posted on 04/23/2009

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Mine hates it too, but the weird thing is when he was a newborn, he hated being on his back and absolutely refused to sleep unless he was on his tummy. Now it's like he's done this complete reversal. I figure we were persistent about him sleeping on his back, we can be persistent about tummy time too. We limit it to about 5 or 10 minutes or so. Besides, he'll get over it as soon as he figures out how to crawl.

Elizabeth - posted on 04/22/2009

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My son hates tummy time too, but I have just gotten down on the floor with him and started rolling him side to side, I laugh really loud, so he thinks it's fun, but if I just let him lie there on his tummy he gets mad within 2-3 minutes

Tara - posted on 04/21/2009

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Thanks for the help!

Christine - posted on 04/21/2009

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I understand ... My daughter is 4 months.... and she is the SAME way!The doctors keep telling me to do it but i wont ....Im not going to watch my child cry...I have tried everything I can...

Erin - posted on 04/21/2009

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my 4 mos. old also hates tummy time, all of my kids did at first, but in time they started to enjoy it, they learned to roll over, crawl and eventually walk.

Natalie - posted on 04/20/2009

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First of all your daughter is beautiful! My son Jacob is the same, although I'm doing it more often during the day until he starts up, he's liking it alot more and holding his head up and he's just started trying to lift his bum - I Suppose they have to learn some how! I think the more we do it the more they'll like it. Maybe they are just frustrated that they just want to hurry up and do it!

Natalie - posted on 04/20/2009

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if thats working for her, then take it one step at a time,
i would take it at your daughters pace, i never let my daughter do anything she really starts crying about as i don't think it creates good vibes for them, and you sound like your the same, so if she's happy on your chest for the moment, so be it, don't worry about it ! maybe try in a while to progress to lying her on her side (on your bed) and facing you and you lying on your side on her level, and then move on from there, sounds like she would always like you to be on her eye level tho.

Tara - posted on 04/19/2009

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Thanks for the ideas...does anybody know if its the same thing if I have her lie on my chest instead of on the floor? Because she loves that, and can push up using her arms

Sarah - posted on 04/19/2009

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Mine hates it too, but she loves to sit up with a little support so I figure this will get her muscles strong enough.

Vanessa - posted on 04/18/2009

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At first my daughter hated being on her tummy she'd cry every time , but I kept trying and slowly she's getting used to it.She doesn't stay on her tummy for long but she stays longer then she used to. It will take time but she'll get use to it, so will your little one.

good luck

Natalie - posted on 04/18/2009

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my little girl didn't like it for ages, but i then started to putting toys in her eye line when she was on her tummy and getting down to her eye level myself, i used to do massive cheerss and clap (actually still do !) even when she was screaming, but i would only do it for a min and just kept at it, untill it just got longer and longer that she would be okay before crying, i only have one child so i could be wrong, but i get the impression with my daughter that if i can distracte her with happy singing and cheering for long enough, she'll be more interested in watching me than crying about most things (getting dressed is another one at the moment !) ha ha

good luck

Sarahjane - posted on 04/18/2009

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Actually yes im having the same problem with my daughter she screams like im being nasty by putting her on her belly this is my 3rd child see i never had problems with my other two just my daughter see i still try to put her on her tummy and i lie down with her so she dont feel like she needs to scream

Nicole - posted on 04/18/2009

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Mine too!!! Ugh...it's so frustrating! I've used a pillow for a while but he still gets really mad right away! So recently I lay him down on my chest while I'm laying down. It's not the best but he'll hang out there for a while and really use his neck muscles! Try it! Then maybe you could wean him onto the bed with a pillow so he's still high up? HTH!

Jenny - posted on 04/18/2009

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I got my boy used to it by doing it on the bed first so he could roll over if he wasnt happy