Tummy time: promoting motor and postural development from birth
Did you know that your baby can do physical activity from birth? In fact, it is absolutely advisable.
In fact, tummy time promotes the motor and postural development of the newborn, as well as guaranteeing many other benefits.
In this article I'll explain what tummy time is, when to start offering it to your newborn, how to do it, and how long you should stay on it.
Before starting, I'll leave you some useful information:
- If you would like to schedule a studio visit with me, you can find me here.
- You can also find me on Instagram with the profile @drsilva.com_official
- In the video courses section you will find how to promote the psychomotor development of the newborn.
What is tummy time?
Tummy time represents the first real physical exercise for the newborn.
But isn't he too young to do physical activity? Absolutely not and I'll tell you why.
Tummy time, in addition to entertaining the little one, has many benefits , but I'll tell you about them in the next chapter.
Let's start by explaining in detail what this activity consists of. The translation of the English term "Tummy time" is " time on the tummy ". In fact, the exercise consists of placing the newborn on his tummy to play while he is awake and supervised by his parents.
In this position, he will be encouraged to lift his head from the first few weeks, strengthening the muscles of his neck and back.
The benefits of tummy time
Tummy time is the key to early motor and postural development and to reaching the crawling and creeping stages.
In fact, not proposing this exercise from the first weeks is one of the reasons for the failure to reach somestages , but I will explain it better in another article, click here to read it.
This is because tummy time helps strengthen your little one’s muscle tone and coordination , which are essential for crawling and creeping.
Let's see all the points in favor of this beautiful activity:
- Strengthens neck muscles : to support and rotate the head;
- Strengthens the shoulder and back muscles : to maintain the prone position and reach certain stages (crawling, creeping);
- Visual development : promotes depth perception and eye-hand-mouth coordination;
- Cognitive development : through manipulation and movement;
- Emotional and relational development : comes into contact with the parent who plays with him;
- Strengthens abdominal muscles and promotes pelvic stability : essential for crawling and subsequently standing;
- Awareness of one's limbs : includes the positioning of upper and lower limbs for the next stages;
- Promotes body awareness and balance .
By reading all these benefits you will have understood how closely related tummy time is to the achievement of the little one's motor milestones.
Flat Head Prevention
In addition to promoting motor and postural development, tummy time is a perfect exercise to prevent cranial postural deformations . In fact, in the prone position the baby does not rest his head; therefore, he does not exert any pressure on it.
This way, the baby's head can grow in the best possible way.
How to propose it from the first weeks?
We must understand that the newborn has been snuggled up in his mother's womb for nine months, protected and warm.
So, it’s totally normal that he or she may not love the tummy time position right away. Here are 3 ways to get started with this activity in the first few weeks .
At the parent's chest
Mom and dad can give their baby tummy time from birth by placing him on their chest .
This way, the baby will feel reassured because he will perceive you close to him and will be able to see you by raising his head.
Enjoy this sweet moment by caressing him, cuddling him and talking to him.
Tummy time on the changing table
A second method to propose tummy time to the newborn is the changing table . In fact, it represents a fairly soft surface, but sufficiently rigid to not sink.
When changing diapers, you can add a few minutes of tummy time to let your little one out of his diaper and get some exercise.