Does your baby like tummy time? Most don’t, for good reason. Until infants are able to roll into the tummy position on their own, most of them find it uncomfortable, immobilizing, and no doubt highly discouraging.
But rather than listen to our babies, we are asked to put our faith in recent studies about plagiocephaly (flat-headedness), studies that don’t take into account the fact that infants are now spending more time than ever in restrictive devices (like car seats, bouncy seats and carriers) that inhibit babies from doing what they are naturally inclined to do: round out the back of their heads by turning them from side to side.
Instead, the back position and rousingly successful “Back to Sleep” campaign (which has cut the SIDS rate in the US in half since it began in 1992) have been named as the culprits. So, rather than understand these studies as a reflection of the need for more free movement and floor time during the baby’s waking hours, many experts have concluded that imposing tummy time is the answer.
In this insightful guest post, Irene Lyon, a Feldenkrais and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (and producer/director of the world renowned “Baby Liv” video), sheds light on the valuable developmental processes hindered when tummy time is imposed early, and helps us see tummy time from our baby’s point of view. Irene writes:
Have you ever had a local anesthetic for dental surgery?
Your gums, facial muscles, facial affect, smiling, talking, eating – it all just goes funny and you simply can’t use your mouth area until the anesthesia wears off. You feel kind of silly and imbecile-like, yes?
Now imagine this.
You are on your stomach, lying on the ground. You want to lift your head up. But someone just injected your back extensor muscles (the ones that allow you to lift up off the ground and lift your head) with that same local anesthetic that dentists use. The very muscles that work to lift up your head and chest are simply deadened. It’s even hard to engage your shoulders and arms to lift yourself up because, unfortunately, they too interact with your back extensors. You might say: “Darn it, this head feels so heavy. It’s a struggle. I feel completely helpless!”
This last scenario is exactly what happens when infants are put on their stomachs for “tummy time.” The only difference is that the infant can’t speak yet to say: “Hey, what’s going on, this sucks. I’m uncomfortable. HELP!”
Putting infants on their tummies without having them go through the process of getting to their tummy on their own is analogous to injecting their back extensor muscles with that local anesthetic. They are paralyzed and basically unable to access their back extensor muscles, mainly because the actual act of getting to their tummy from their back (something that takes months!) is what forms their spinal curves – the lumbar, thoracic and cervical – and in turn gives them strength in their back muscles.
Have you had a chance to watch “Baby Liv”?
Before you read on, give yourself the 3-minute pleasure of watching Baby Liv. Watch the video piece straight through. See the process of Baby Liv going from her back, to side, to tummy (and all the in-between’s).
Then, I’d like to give you a recap of what she’s doing from a functional and structural point of view. In essence: What is giving her the juice to get to her tummy and decide when she is ready for her own “Tummy Time”.
Rolling – Feldenkrais with Baby Liv from Irene Lyon on Vimeo.
This footage was taken over a series of months.
@ 20 seconds: She’s pretty still, but if you look at the eye movement, to the right and left, that is priming her spine for rotating. For now, she’s doing tiny pieces of rotation. (Try this yourself, only move your eyes left and right. If you are attentive enough, you’ll sense you neck and head wanting to move in the direction your eyes travel.)
She then looks at her fingertips. This gaze upwards is forming the curves in the upper part of her spine (the cervical area) – and in actuality, it is transmitting throughout her entire body. The support she finds from the ground under her – from foot to head – provides “juice” for this movement (and all movements, really).
@ 41 seconds: You can just see the increase in fluidity throughout her entire self and a greater availability for movement.
@ 1 min: She’s moving her legs a lot, and this is putting a nice wave up her spine…think…snake like movement!
@1.15: She starts to do a roll. This seemingly innocent movement carries a lot of punch in the development world. That little push through her foot and the tiny rotation it brings is just the beginning of finding a teensy bit of spinal extension and use of her back muscles. Lifting both of her legs up tilts her pelvis and flattens her lower back into the ground. This flattening of her lower back is forming the opposite of her lumbar curve. It is lengthening her back muscles. This lengthening gives her ‘energy’ in her back muscles so that she has more ability to actually engage them.
@2.09: If you can catch it – it’s quick – when she is going for giraffe Sophie, you see her little head pick up off the ground. BINGO! This little lift is happening because the rest of her body, below, has found the support surfaces and functionally to un-weight her head. All the pieces are falling into place.
@ 2.18: She’s a pretty happy kid. She’s got there HERSELF (think: self-reliance), and her head held high with absolute support coming from her pelvis, hands and legs. She’s anchoring into the ground in numerous places and learning how to use her environment for movement. You see, in this moment of her lifting her body up, there is no impingement on her neck area, and clean spinal curves are being developed.
It isn’t about the firing and strengthening of “muscles” per se, it’s about functionally doing the movements that our nervous system wants to find, and then letting the muscles, and nature, just do their job.
@2.44-2.46: Now she is really showing off her ability to finely control her rotation and movement. She’s got it dialed. It feels good. She’s having fun!
Irene Gutteridge (now Irene Lyon) blogs at her virtual office, irenelyon.com. Her education is in the health sciences and she is a certified Feldenkrais and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner practicing in Whistler & Vancouver, British Columbia. You can reach her through her website, www.irenelyon.com, via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lyonirene, Twitter: @Irene_Lyon, or good old email: irene@irenelyon.com. She loves meeting new people!
For more about tummy time:
No Tummy Time Necessary and Tummy Time Baby’s Way by child development specialist and RIE Associate Lisa Sunbury, Regarding Baby
Tummy Time May Not Be Needed by Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times
Plagiocephaly?!? (or Why “Tummy Time” is not the answer) by Sarita Galvez, Moverse en Libertad
The Tummy Time Debate by Gill Connell, Little Treasures Magazine
For more thoughts on natural motor development and parenting with trust, I recommend Magda Gerber’s books: Dear Parent: Caring For Infants With Respect and Your Self Confident Baby: How To Encourage Your Child’s Natural Abilities From The Very Start
And my book, Elevating Child Care: A Guide to Respectful Parenting
(Photo by devinf on Flickr)
Thank you so much for this article. I was so worried my little one would never learn to roll. From about 2 months of age she stopped tolerating tummy time and would only tolerate being on her back for short sessions other than when she was sleeping. Turns out she had reflux. Being upright was the only position she was comfortable in so she mastered sitting very early and wanted nothing to do with tummy time and laying on her back if she could help it. She hated being in a swing and bouncer chair for more than 10 minutes (blessing in disguise) so she spent the majority of her day upright interacting with me. I would still try to give her tummy time and time on her back as much as she would tolerate because I was so worried about her having weak muscles. This article gave me hope that she could still develop her muscles without forcing anything on her and working in the parameters that she was comfortable with. At her 6 month check-up she still hadn’t rolled over in any direction but the reflux didn’t seem to bother her as much while she was on her back so I let have as much free play as possible. A little over a week before she turned 7 months and the day before her occupational therapy appointment she rolled over from her back to her front! I’m so happy that this article gave me the perspective of observing and listening to what she was communicating to me that she comfortable with.
I’ve been coming to this article often and I wish I could share it with my friends, but none of them would understand.
We’ve had a benign attitude about floor time with my third ever since birth. I give him a yes space and walk away and continue about my chores.
Anecdotally, he rolled over both ways at 3 months and crawled (with great effort; trunk in the air) before 6 months. He is completely independent and I don’t need to entertain him with space consuming baby containers.
We do infrequently use a soft sided carrier on walks outside when the weather won’t allow for the stroller to be pushed through the elements.
He never needed tummy time. I am waiting for the day when he discovers sitting by himself, as my older two did closer to a year. Thank you for sharing an alternate perspective!
Hi,
Thank you for offering an alternative perspective. When I put tummy time & rolling in the search engine it was 90% all about how vital tummy time is.
My son aged 4 – 5 months has learned to roll from his back onto his tummy. Now he gets stuck there & becomes tired & frustrated. Any advice on the next step or how I support him. I don’t want to do it for him.
Thanks for all that you do to support parents & children.
If tummy time isn’t necessary, why do all the medical professionals say it is?
My 3.5 month old hates tummy time. He only tolerates two minutes at a time and he screams when he is done. He’ll scream for another 10 minutes after I rescue him. It feels like I’m doing something counter to what he needs and definitely counter to what he wants. It hurts me to my core to hear him scream like that and it makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong and in my gut it feels like I shouldn’t be forcing him to do it.
Hi V. Most medical professionals do not have training in child development and their main concerns are with results and benchmarks and the prevention of worse case scenarios, rather than optimal, organic, child-led development. When “back to sleep” was first recommended by the AMA (50 years after Dr. Pikler and Magda Gerber espoused it) and this campaign was wildly successful—brought the number of SIDS deaths down by 50%! medical professionals and even some OTs concluded, “Now we have to make sure they get tummy time or they will get flat heads.” But if we allow for plenty of opportunities for free movement in the supine position, babies will roll to their tummies in the healthiest fashion and choose to spend the majority of their time in that position. And from there they naturally teach themselves to crawl, sit, stand, walk, etc. Unfortunately, we live in a society that still considers babies unaware, incapable, and completely helpless to adults. It’s a short circuited way of thinking that helps no one.
There is some good evidence for tummy time as important for muscle development (not just avoiding flat heads) BUT I 100% agree that the idea of tummy time as it is advised (lie baby face down on floor or a cushion) is just not necessary for most babies. If you think about the goal of developing strength and particular types of movements, you can build it in in other ways. You know when most babies love being on their tummies? When they are lying face down on a caregiver! They are getting comfort and nurture but are also highly motivated to use their muscles because they want to see your face! As a bonus, when doing this the parent can be at an angle so that babies with reflux are not uncomfortable.
Being in a soft carrier is also a great way to give babies a chance to move and develop muscle strength (and can cut down on time that would otherwise be spent in a seat lying head back because it allows a parent to be mobile / get stuff done at the same time, which let’s face it is why we need to put babies in containers).