Infant Development: Tummy Time

During my Doula training class this past Saturday we had a wonderful woman come in to talk to us about infant development. The information she gave us was astounding.

Apparently in this country there is a real epidemic of children that have no tone in the front of their body, or flexion. This is from lack of tummy time. Babies are now sleeping on their backs, in the carseat and stroller on their backs, etc. and more and more parents are not being informed of the importance of tummy time. This can lead to developmental issues with crawling and walking.

Another problem that is prevalent in this country that is a result of lack of tummy time is that parents are now "prop sitting" or "prop standing" their infants more and more often. What happens then is that the children learn to prefer to sit or stand before their body is physically ready to do so. This can lead to back problems later in life, problems with the hips and pelvis, arthritis, etc.

The best thing to do for baby's development is to encourage flexion by always holding that infant in the "baby ball" position. That is, with knees tucked to the chest, head bent slightly in, arms tucked in. Hold the baby in this position when passing the baby over to someone else as well (instead of holding him or her under the armpits and letting his or her legs dangle). When putting the baby down on his or her back in order to play, or to change a diaper, or to sleep, first put the baby down in the baby ball onto his or her side, then slowly roll that baby onto his or her back by moving the hips, not by grabbing and pulling on the arms. Better yet, swaddle the baby into the baby ball position. Same thing when practicing tummy time: start off with the baby on his or her side in the baby ball position then slowly roll the baby onto his or her tummy; then get down and interact with baby during tummy time to make it fun. As soon as baby shows discomfort, slowly roll him or her back onto her side or back, and then pick the baby back up in the baby ball position.

Encourage the baby to take one developmental step at a time. Nature intended babies to follow a certain course: lifting his head, then pushing up on forearms, then rolling, then bell crawl, then side lie, then sitting, then pushing to all fours, then crawling on all fours, followed by kneel-sit, then kneel-stand, then bear-stand (standing on his feet with hands on the floor and behind in the air), followed by standing, then side stepping (or cruising), and finally walking. By encouraging baby to stand, sit, or walk too early through propping of the baby, the baby's body is not able to keep up with each developmental milestone and that is where problems can develop. Instead, focus on encouraging your baby to improve at whatever step he or she is currently at. Give lots of praise and encouragement at every achievement. Allow the baby to go into the next step of development at his or her own time, with a little encouragement from you. This way, the baby's body has plenty of time to develop flexion and and when baby does learn to walk, he or she will be able to walk properly and with confidence.

You can learn more about infant development at AlmaJoy, where director Lenore works with both healthy children and children with developmental issues to achieve their highest potential at whatever stage they are in. She also has a great booklet available for parents that is filled with advice on how to encourage flexion and proper development.

Infant Development: Tummy Time