There are several common developmental conditions and developmental delays that are actually preventable by following a few recommended practices with your baby.

Tummy time is one of the most developmentally beneficial activities you can do with a baby.

And it also helps avoid things like torticollis and plagiocephaly.

Yet quite often tummy time is started too late, isn't done regularly enough or isn't done at all.

There are many reasons why tummy time isn't done.

It's quite common for parents to simply not realise it should be done from birth.

While in many cases babies get upset during tummy time and that stress makes it hard to do it regularly.

And some still believe that it's not needed at all.

In this article I'll break down the most commonly myths around tummy time that lead to it being skipped, which can then lead to unnecessary positional conditions and developmental delays.

Common Causes of Delays That Are Easily Avoided

Is Tummy Time Necessary?

There are a handful of tummy time myths that never seem to go away and they continue to confuse parents and can also delay a baby's development.

So let's see if we can squash them once and for all in this video, starting with the belief that tummy time is simply not necessary.

The fact is, infants who spend too much time on their backs are at increased risk of developing positional plagiocephaly, which is commonly known as flat head syndrome, as well as positional torticollis, which is where they have tightening of the neck muscle on one side of their neck and that can result in them favoring one side of their body.

Ensuring a baby is exposed to a variety of positions, including tummy time helps to reduce the risk of a baby developing these positional conditions.

In addition to these benefits, there are also studies which suggest babies who spend time on their tummies while awake achieve certain motor milestones faster than babies who spend no time on their tummies.

One such study was completed in 1999 and in this study, they found that the babies who slept on their stomach achieved the gross motor milestones of rolling from their tummy onto their back, sitting, creeping, crawling, and pulling to stand earlier than babies who slept on their back.

And it's thought that the babies who slept on their tummies achieved their gross motor milestones earlier than the back sleepers because they would've spent some awake time in that tummy time position when they were going to sleep, when they were waking up between sleep cycles, and then again after they had woken up.

Now, I'm definitely not saying you should start sleeping your baby on their tummy.

SIDS guidelines clearly state that babies should sleep on their back and that's always my recommendation.

And it's because it's no longer recommended for babies to sleep on their tummy due to the increased risk of SIDS that tummy time is so important today.

Because they sleep on their back, it's really important to give them the opportunity to play while lying on their tummy during their awake times.

Should You Wait Until Your Baby Is 2-3 Months Of Age To Start Tummy Time?

The next thing I commonly hear is that tummy time starts at two or three months of age, but this is not correct.

Doing tummy time with an infant actually starts much earlier than two or three months of age.

In fact, if your little one was born full term with no medical complications, it's safe to start doing tummy time on day one.

And it's been found that babies who start regular tummy time early actually like this position more and can manage it for longer periods of time.

Should Your Baby Cry When Doing Tummy Time?

Before we cover the next myth around tummy time, which can delay your little one's development, if you haven't already, make sure you click on the link in the description box below to get the free developmental milestone chart so you'll know what to expect with your little one in their first year of life and when to be concerned.

There is also the belief that babies shouldn't cry or whinge when they're doing tummy time and if they do, they must hate tummy time.

Now, as new parents, we are taught that babies should never cry or whinge, and if they do, they must be in pain.

So of course, when we place our babies on their tummies and they start to protest by grunting, squirming, or crying, we immediately think something is wrong and they simply hate tummy time.

But your baby does not hate tummy time.

Your baby is just trying to communicate to you that tummy time feels odd because they're predominantly spending most of their awake and sleep time lying on their back, either on the floor, on the cot, on your legs or in your arms, and most importantly, they're trying to tell you that tummy time is challenging for them because when they are lying on their tummy, your baby is stretching and lengthening the muscles on the front of their body, which are usually in a bent or flexed position and they're needing to activate their neck, back, and arm muscles to lift their head, and this in itself is challenging and tiring.

And given that they cannot lift their head, their ability to see the world is very limited.

And these factors will result in a newborn expressing their frustration by winging when they're in that tummy time position.

But the good news is, tummy time isn't something your baby needs to struggle through.

In fact, you can make tummy time significantly easier for your little one.

So make sure you watch this article next to find out exactly how you can make tummy time easier for your little one and most importantly, more pleasant for you.

Baby Development