Is tummy time really that important?

Emily isn’t a fan. I’ve tried since she was a few weeks old to put her on her tummy and she’s just not interested. Mainly I get screaming and crying. It’s a tricky subject amongst friends. Some follow by the book, others babies fell into it and take it in their stride and other babies, Emily included hate it. We’re told by the healthcare professional that it’s an important part of your little one’s progress and development. According to WebMD “Tummy time is when your infant lays on his (or) her stomach while supervised,” says Wendy Wallace, DO, a pediatrician at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Care Network. The thing is, we’re all told differently by everyone. My cousin’s fiancé insists her eldest wasn’t interested, whilst her youngest can’t live it enough, a friend says her son has been doing it comfortably since he was a few weeks old, whilst another has said it’s only been in recent weeks, and he’s 7m. You just don’t know how your baby is going to react. The books all say the same thing, but each baby is different. It’s similar to weaning your child, you know best, what we’re told are only guidelines.

Now that Emily is getting bigger, she has shown a little more interest in tummy time, but that has only literally been in the past week or so. The HV would kill me for my slack effort, complaining that I haven’t followed the rule book as instructed. Probably part of the reason why I haven’t got Emily weighed in 6 weeks. It’s the same old, same old. They’ll probably throw a fit if they knew I’ve been weaning Emily since she was 3m old.

The other day whilst on our bed, Emily rolled over whilst sitting upright against Sam’s pillows. Whilst trying to eat her hand, she rolled over, firstly onto her side, then flat onto her tummy. Instead of getting herself into a state of panic, she casually used her arms to push herself up, lift her head up and kick her legs as if she was trying to do the breaststroke for the first time. She looked from left to right, searching for me, then once she clocked where I was, decided to carry on chomping down on her hands until I picked her up. Most days she rolls to one side and rarely takes any sort of interest in rolling onto her tummy. She’s fine being with her tummy when on either Sam or my chest, but apart from that, she’s not really bothered, and if I’m honest, I’m not going to push her to do it nor am I going to feel bad that she’s not following some textbook rule. Emily has a strong neck and has held her head up by herself for months. She engages in every activity and physical contact, so I have no worries about her not hitting certain milestones.