Q about spending time on tummy for 1 month old

I can hardly believe it has been almost a month since Harry was born
but the calendar says that's so ;-) I sort of feel like he should be
starting to spend some time in a prone (or is it supine - I can never
remember which is which. You know, 'on his tummy') position, to see
the world from a different perspective and get him used to the
eventual position for crawling and strengthen his neck muscles and so
forth.

The problem is, when we try to put him down on a blanket on the floor
on his tummy, all he wants to do is frantically root around at the
blanket with an open mouth, getting increasingly agitated until he
ends up screaming.

It *seems* like he is convinced that there must be a boob there
somewhere (he is a very sucky baby, and prone to this sort of Boob
Hysteria if while hungry he is held so that anything brushes against
his head). OTOH I suppose he could be just using his mouth to explore
the new surface? I just don't know.

The only success we've had in getting him to spend time on his belly
without getting all hysterical is if one of us puts him against our
chest and then leans back at about a 30-40 degree angle. Then, he'll
raise his head and look around. But if we lean back more, so he is
horizontal, he goes back to rooting and screaming, like on the blanket
on the floor.

I guess my questions are,

a) *Is* this Boob Hysteria (he is only just starting to realize that
the world actually contains some objects that, incredible as it may
seem, *are not actually boobs* and thus cannot actually provide milk),
or what? Is this common?

b) Am I right in thinking he should be spending some time on his tummy
by now?

and c) Is there anything y'all think we should be doing differently?

I mean, I assume that in time he will EVENTUALLY learn to be happy
face-down, at least by the time he goes off to college and starts
going to drunken all-night parties :-P, so it is not like I am all
*that* worried. If all we can really do is to wait til he works it
out, that is fine. But I just want to make sure we are not doing
anything stupid, or neglecting anything obvious or depriving his lil'
self of opportunities that he deserves. Neither of us really knows
anything at all about babies other than what we've read and what Harry
is teaching us ;-)

Thanks,

Pat
and Harry

"P Harris" wrote in message
om...
I can hardly believe it has been almost a month since Harry was born
but the calendar says that's so ;-) I sort of feel like he should be
starting to spend some time in a prone (or is it supine - I can never
remember which is which. You know, 'on his tummy') position, to see
the world from a different perspective and get him used to the
eventual position for crawling and strengthen his neck muscles and so
forth.

Tummy time is a relatively recent "invention" and not, IMO, as important or
all-consuming as it's made out to be. Even babies who are swaddled snugly
and strapped to cradle boards for most of their first year will "catch up"
on things like crawling, walking, etc. within hours of being unwrapped.

I think most of my dd's "tummy time" was spend while I was lying down, with
her *on my tummy*.

One month is *way* too young to be worrying about it. Holding him upright
will tend to get him to strengthen his neck muscles just fine (i.e. when he
starts picking his head up off your shoulder, etc.) and you can't really
*stop* a baby from hitting those milestones if you give them love, attention
and sufficient food. If he hates it, don't force the issue.

One of the best things for development, IMO, is not tummy time, but
Mommy-time... being up in your arms or in a sling will give him lots of
visual stimulation (far more than a blanket on the floor or the view from a
carseat carrier) and physical stimulation.

Jenrose

It sounds like he's doing normal things for a 4 week old baby. Don't worry
yet about too much tummy time. He'll get plenty later on, when he's 4-6
months old, and he'll be in slightly more control of his body. I wouldn't
worry about tummy time yet at all, that's just me.
--

Jamie & Taylor
Earth Angel, 1/3/03

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Password: Guest
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"P Harris" wrote in message
om...
I can hardly believe it has been almost a month since Harry was born
but the calendar says that's so ;-) I sort of feel like he should be
starting to spend some time in a prone (or is it supine - I can never
remember which is which. You know, 'on his tummy') position, to see
the world from a different perspective and get him used to the
eventual position for crawling and strengthen his neck muscles and so
forth.

The problem is, when we try to put him down on a blanket on the floor
on his tummy, all he wants to do is frantically root around at the
blanket with an open mouth, getting increasingly agitated until he
ends up screaming.

It *seems* like he is convinced that there must be a boob there
somewhere (he is a very sucky baby, and prone to this sort of Boob
Hysteria if while hungry he is held so that anything brushes against
his head). OTOH I suppose he could be just using his mouth to explore
the new surface? I just don't know.

The only success we've had in getting him to spend time on his belly
without getting all hysterical is if one of us puts him against our
chest and then leans back at about a 30-40 degree angle. Then, he'll
raise his head and look around. But if we lean back more, so he is
horizontal, he goes back to rooting and screaming, like on the blanket
on the floor.

I guess my questions are,

a) *Is* this Boob Hysteria (he is only just starting to realize that
the world actually contains some objects that, incredible as it may
seem, *are not actually boobs* and thus cannot actually provide milk),
or what? Is this common?

b) Am I right in thinking he should be spending some time on his tummy
by now?

and c) Is there anything y'all think we should be doing differently?

I mean, I assume that in time he will EVENTUALLY learn to be happy
face-down, at least by the time he goes off to college and starts
going to drunken all-night parties :-P, so it is not like I am all
*that* worried. If all we can really do is to wait til he works it
out, that is fine. But I just want to make sure we are not doing
anything stupid, or neglecting anything obvious or depriving his lil'
self of opportunities that he deserves. Neither of us really knows
anything at all about babies other than what we've read and what Harry
is teaching us ;-)

Thanks,

Pat
and Harry

Jenrose wrote:
"P Harris" wrote in message
om...

I can hardly believe it has been almost a month since Harry was born
but the calendar says that's so ;-) I sort of feel like he should be
starting to spend some time in a prone (or is it supine - I can never
remember which is which. You know, 'on his tummy') position, to see
the world from a different perspective and get him used to the
eventual position for crawling and strengthen his neck muscles and so
forth.


Tummy time is a relatively recent "invention" and not, IMO, as important or
all-consuming as it's made out to be. Even babies who are swaddled snugly
and strapped to cradle boards for most of their first year will "catch up"
on things like crawling, walking, etc. within hours of being unwrapped.

It's probably only recent because of the recommendations to put babies
to sleep on their backs, to lessen the risk of SIDS. Until that, lots
of babies spent lots of time on their tummies because that's how they
were put to bed.

Clisby

P Harris wrote:
I can hardly believe it has been almost a month since Harry was born
but the calendar says that's so ;-) I sort of feel like he should be
starting to spend some time in a prone (or is it supine - I can never
remember which is which. You know, 'on his tummy') position, to see
the world from a different perspective and get him used to the
eventual position for crawling and strengthen his neck muscles and so
forth.

Some babies just don't seem to like tummy time. I started it with DD in
hospital - just a few seconds, but she took to it right away. And she got
mobile far too quickly - commando crawling before she was 6 months -
probably pure coincidence! But all babies get where they're going
sometime - and if Harry doesn't like it, don't force it.

Cathy
DD 8 Jan 03
EDD 8 Dec 04

I wouldn't worry about it at all. I didn't do very much tummy time with DS
at that age. He hated it, too. DS got plenty of opportunities to work those
little muscles from other positions, and I wasn't worried about a flat head,
since he was a side sleeper. (Which reminds me - the arguement that you can
avoid a flat head with 20 minutes of tummy time a day makes absolutely no
sense to me at all - if baby is on his back the other 23+ hours a day, what
is 20 minutes on his tummy going to do to keep his head from flattening?)

Around 3 months of age, DS started to like to lay on his tummy if he was
propped up on a boppy or something similar. Now at almost five months, he
rolls to his tummy by himself several times a day.

I really wouldn't be pushing it at 1 month of age. Give him a chance to try
it out a few times a week, and go with it if he decides he likes it, but
don't push it on him if he hates it!

-Michelle

PS...your line about learning to enjoy laying face-down in time for college
parties made me giggle.

Heck, Morgan HATES to be on her tummy. Cries the entire time.

--
~Carol Ann
www.lowcarblosers.com ~ Home of the FREE Monthly Weightloss Challenge

http://tinyurl.com/33uk7 ---Recent Pictures of Morgan born 3.24.04



"P Harris" wrote in message
om...
I can hardly believe it has been almost a month since Harry was born
but the calendar says that's so ;-) I sort of feel like he should be
starting to spend some time in a prone (or is it supine - I can never
remember which is which. You know, 'on his tummy') position, to see
the world from a different perspective and get him used to the
eventual position for crawling and strengthen his neck muscles and so
forth.

The problem is, when we try to put him down on a blanket on the floor
on his tummy, all he wants to do is frantically root around at the
blanket with an open mouth, getting increasingly agitated until he
ends up screaming.

It *seems* like he is convinced that there must be a boob there
somewhere (he is a very sucky baby, and prone to this sort of Boob
Hysteria if while hungry he is held so that anything brushes against
his head). OTOH I suppose he could be just using his mouth to explore
the new surface? I just don't know.

The only success we've had in getting him to spend time on his belly
without getting all hysterical is if one of us puts him against our
chest and then leans back at about a 30-40 degree angle. Then, he'll
raise his head and look around. But if we lean back more, so he is
horizontal, he goes back to rooting and screaming, like on the blanket
on the floor.

I guess my questions are,

a) *Is* this Boob Hysteria (he is only just starting to realize that
the world actually contains some objects that, incredible as it may
seem, *are not actually boobs* and thus cannot actually provide milk),
or what? Is this common?

b) Am I right in thinking he should be spending some time on his tummy
by now?

and c) Is there anything y'all think we should be doing differently?

I mean, I assume that in time he will EVENTUALLY learn to be happy
face-down, at least by the time he goes off to college and starts
going to drunken all-night parties :-P, so it is not like I am all
*that* worried. If all we can really do is to wait til he works it
out, that is fine. But I just want to make sure we are not doing
anything stupid, or neglecting anything obvious or depriving his lil'
self of opportunities that he deserves. Neither of us really knows
anything at all about babies other than what we've read and what Harry
is teaching us ;-)

Thanks,

Pat
and Harry

"P Harris" wrote in message
om...
I can hardly believe it has been almost a month since Harry was born
but the calendar says that's so ;-) I sort of feel like he should be
starting to spend some time in a prone (or is it supine - I can never
remember which is which. You know, 'on his tummy') position, to see
the world from a different perspective and get him used to the
eventual position for crawling and strengthen his neck muscles and so
forth.

The problem is, when we try to put him down on a blanket on the floor
on his tummy, all he wants to do is frantically root around at the
blanket with an open mouth, getting increasingly agitated until he
ends up screaming.
snip for space

My DD is 6 months old now and spends her own time on her tummy, not by my
time. She likes to often roll over and be on her tummy, anyway.

When she was 1.5 months old she had started out hating tummy time with a
passion. IMHO, the general recommendation to "force" younger babies to stay
on their tummy for a long period of time (say, 20 minutes the whole time) is
wrong. So, what I would do was to put her down on her tummy. As soon as she
cried, I picked her up immediately. I broke up her tummy time into several
times a day at 1-3 minutes each, depending on how long she could stand it.
The older she got, the more she got used to tummy time, the longer she spent
time on her tummy. It worked out well. She is very busy trying to crawl.

Another Marie

"P Harris" wrote in message
om...
I can hardly believe it has been almost a month since Harry was born
but the calendar says that's so ;-) I sort of feel like he should be
starting to spend some time in a prone (or is it supine - I can never
remember which is which. You know, 'on his tummy') position, to see
the world from a different perspective and get him used to the
eventual position for crawling and strengthen his neck muscles and so
forth.

The problem is, when we try to put him down on a blanket on the floor
on his tummy, all he wants to do is frantically root around at the
blanket with an open mouth, getting increasingly agitated until he
ends up screaming.

Eva use to do this when I put her on the floor. It is normal for a baby
this young to root around like that. They are just exploring. If you htink
that he wants something in his mouth try a binky if he uses one. Or pay
attention to when he starts to get frustrated and either flip him on his
back or pick him up. You also could lay on the floor next to him. If he is
still doing this in a couple of months I would talk to the dr.

Also you may want to get a floor gym. You can get some cheep at a second
hand shop or wal-mart.

Good luck
Kay
Mommy to Eva 9/2002
one on way 1/2005

It *seems* like he is convinced that there must be a boob there
somewhere (he is a very sucky baby, and prone to this sort of Boob
Hysteria if while hungry he is held so that anything brushes against
his head). OTOH I suppose he could be just using his mouth to explore
the new surface? I just don't know.

The only success we've had in getting him to spend time on his belly
without getting all hysterical is if one of us puts him against our
chest and then leans back at about a 30-40 degree angle. Then, he'll
raise his head and look around. But if we lean back more, so he is
horizontal, he goes back to rooting and screaming, like on the blanket
on the floor.

I guess my questions are,

a) *Is* this Boob Hysteria (he is only just starting to realize that
the world actually contains some objects that, incredible as it may
seem, *are not actually boobs* and thus cannot actually provide milk),
or what? Is this common?

b) Am I right in thinking he should be spending some time on his tummy
by now?

and c) Is there anything y'all think we should be doing differently?

I mean, I assume that in time he will EVENTUALLY learn to be happy
face-down, at least by the time he goes off to college and starts
going to drunken all-night parties :-P, so it is not like I am all
*that* worried. If all we can really do is to wait til he works it
out, that is fine. But I just want to make sure we are not doing
anything stupid, or neglecting anything obvious or depriving his lil'
self of opportunities that he deserves. Neither of us really knows
anything at all about babies other than what we've read and what Harry
is teaching us ;-)

Thanks,

Pat
and Harry

The only success we've had in getting him to spend time on his belly
without getting all hysterical is if one of us puts him against our
chest and then leans back at about a 30-40 degree angle. Then, he'll
raise his head and look around.

IMHO that counts as tummy time -- he's on his tummy, raising his head,
starting to develop those muscles.

Tummy time wasn't a recommendation when babies were put to sleep on
their tummies; they got it naturally. Since the Back to Sleep campaign,
the average age of rolling and crawling have been pushed back a few
months, but there's nothing wrong with that -- all kids end up rolling
and crawling anyway.

We did a lot of tummy time on my chest in the first few newborn days,
and my baby didn't object to it, so she got a lot of tummy time (on
chest and off) as a tiny baby. She did roll and crawl early, but it's
not like she can play hopscotch any better than the other preschoolers
now because of it, you know? I wouldn't stress, but would keep giving
him "happy" oportunities to exercise his muscles, like you're doing.

He sounds like he's doing great! A month already, wow.

Mary S.