With the best intentions I would gently roll my baby onto her tummy, put something fun in front of her for encouragement, and what would happen??? Violet would whimper, she would cry, she would flop around like a fish out of water. Drool would start to pour out of her mouth as she sucked on the blanket. And not much head lifting happened.
[V lifting the wrong end - my little bucking bronco]
And to top it off the pediatrician said that we should be doing tummy time five times a day for fifteen minutes each...
Was he serious? Who was this quack that we took great care to select for our daughter? Although I smiled and nodded at him in agreement, I thought to myself - are you insane?!? She's barely even awake long enough to eat, poop, and play for a few minutes, and you want me to spend over an hour of that time torturing her???
But when I DIDN'T attempt some tummy time, it would make me feel just as bad as when I did. I mean, if I didn't give my babe enough tummy time during the day, I was probably putting her at a real disadvantage. What if her neck stayed wobbly forever? What if she never crawled? If she doesn't crawl, how will she ever learn to walk??? These are the thoughts that would keep me awake at night.
That is...until this week! I finally decided to give tummy time on the floor another go. V was doing a great job lifting her head and turning it from side to side on mommy and daddy's chest, so that was enough encouragement to give the floor another chance. Here are the results, I think they speak for themselves:
And if the video didn't convince you, here's photographic proof as well:
She does still do a fair amount of flopping and a little whimpering. Oh and the drool...a nice pool of drool still seems to develop on the blanket (if you look closely, I think you can see an impressive puddle in the above shot). But she doesn't cry and she can hold her head up for a while. So Mommy doesn't feel like such a jerk anymore. I still think the pediatrician is borderline insane, but at least when I smile and nod at him at our next appointment there will be some legitimacy behind it.
Congratulations, sweetheart, on your newfound neck muscles. Mommy is so proud of you!
P.S. This is my first video upload to Blogger - does anyone know why the quality looks so poor on here? It is a very high-quality video until I upload it.
We are going through the same thing! Tummy torture would be a more accurate name. Our doctor said twice a day for five minutes which seems a lot more sane than your doctor's advice. Our 10-week-old reacts with the same whimpering and crying. She looks at you like "what are you DOING to me?!" It's awful. Each day gets a little better though as she gets used to it. I'm hoping that soon she will be lifting her head as high as your daughter so we can all relax and enjoy tummy time.
ReplyDeleteI think it takes a day or so after uploading to YouTube for the quality to come through. I have no idea why though, but I saw it mentioned on the YT site once.
ReplyDeleteAlways voice your concerns AND ask for alternative suggestions. Because you might have gotten a little extra sleep had you known that tummy time on mommy and daddy works just as well as the floor and is perfectly acceptable! I had to do that with Jonas because he despised tummy time.
ReplyDeleteThough with some issues it is better to just smile and nod because not every doctor sees things your way!!
I was just going to say what Alexandra said. Just modify the tummy time to lots of cuddles on your chest. Her neck muscles will still strengthen and she'll feel much happier when you do put her on the playmat.
ReplyDeleteI never did the 15 minute tummy time that the doctor suggested (I couldn't bear the crying and whimpering) and my 3 kids are fine.
Sometimes, you just have to use your own judgement - you know the saying Mother knows best, it's so true!
Blogger re-compresses your already compressed video and then does whatever else they want to with it. Thus, the quality sucks. I've started uploading my video to Vimeo and then pasting it into my blogger posts. MUCH better quality.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your daughter is adorable and I hear you on the tummy-time. It's definitely torture for baby and mama.
Blogger re-compresses your already compressed video and then does whatever else they want to with it. Thus, the quality sucks. I've started uploading my video to Vimeo and then pasting it into my blogger posts. MUCH better quality.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your daughter is adorable and I hear you on the tummy-time. It's definitely torture for baby and mama.
I think it takes a day or so after uploading to YouTube for the quality to come through. I have no idea why though, but I saw it mentioned on the YT site once.
ReplyDelete