Does your baby not like tummy time?

Babies develop from their head to their toes. This is a big reason that babies need to master their neck strength to then eventually develop their strength and skill in their arms and hands.

1. Neck Development: When baby is in tummy time, then they are lifting their head and trying to move side to side. This helps to strengthen the neck muscles while also helping to work on developing their proper cervical spine curvature. Tummy time can also help prevent torticollis from developing.

2. Core Strengthening: Babies will need core strength to help them master rolling over, crawling, sitting and then eventually walking. When your baby is in tummy time and you see them trying to push up or bring their knees under them, they are not only working on their upper body and leg strength, but also working on their core like a CrossFit warrior.

3. Vision Processing: When your baby has their body extended and they are looking at an object, their eyes are learning how to extend/diverge. Divergence is integral to keeping the correct distance of objects when looking at them up closely. They are also starting to work on tracking objects that will eventually all translate into how their eyes focus while they are reading.

4. Head Shaping: Babies that are placed in containers, swings, car seats, or bouncers for extended amounts of time are more likely to develop flattening of their head when compared to their peers that are spending more time on their tummy.

5. Sensory Processing: When a baby is in tummy time, they are likely to explore their surroundings which can lead to better sensory processing development. The feeling of the carpet, the hard ground, the blanket or toy nearby with the palms of their hands or their skin brushing against them. This all can help with different sensory incoming information and processing.

6. Stretching Hip Flexors: When they are in tummy time, legs extended behind them, that is allowing for their hip flexors to be stretched. The hip flexors connect to the bottom of the diaphragm and can help lessen reflux symptoms when properly stretched. There are also attachments to the spine. Hip flexors are needed for crawling and walking evenly.

7. Boosts Milestone Achievement: We talked a lot about how tummy time can help with strength in neck, core, vision skills, sensory processing, and stretching of hip flexors. All of these are contributing factors to help your baby be equipped with the skills to master their gross motor milestone skills.

Baby not liking tummy time and feel like you’ve tried all the entertainment ideas? Get them in for a pediatric chiropractic visit!