Tummy time is an important part of baby development. But what exactly are the benefits? And how long do these benefits last? Firstly, lets start off by talking about baby development and where tummy time fits in.
How does baby physical development work?
The physical development of your baby is a ‘top-down’ process. This means that muscle development starts at the neck and continues down to your baby’s core and leg muscles.
Tummy time is a way for your baby to strengthen and develop the muscles in the neck, which are responsible for lifting and controlling their head. Once your baby can control their head, they can progress on to milestones such as rolling and supported sitting. Once core and leg muscles develop, they can move on to sitting by themselves, as well as standing and walking.
Babies however, are not always fond of doing tummy time. A dislike of tummy time can make parents anxious. ‘Why does my baby hate tummy time?’ and ‘Is it bad if my baby doesn’t do tummy time?’ are questions a baby physio gets asked often. We will explore the importance of tummy time in this blog. However, we will also delve into HOW important tummy time actually is and hopefully put parents’ minds at ease.
What are the benefits of tummy time?
The first question is, what are the benefits of tummy time? The answer is this; research has shown babies who do the recommended amount of tummy time* learnt to roll and crawl earlier compared to babies that didn’t meet the daily tummy time recommendation. Tummy time can also lead to development of arm and leg movement when your baby is lying on his/her tummy. Therefore, the benefit of doing tummy time is that your baby may achieve milestones such as rolling, sitting and crawling earlier. Next, we must find out if the same applies for standing and walking. Do babies achieve these later milestones if they spend more time on their tummies?
The research says that no matter how much tummy time your baby does, it does not make your child stand or walk any sooner than expected!
Is it bad if my baby doesn't do enough tummy time?
The research says that no matter how much tummy time your baby does, it does not make your child stand or walk any sooner than expected! Parents, you can how rest assured that your baby hates tummy time, it will not affect their development, especially in the long term.
In summary, tummy time is important for neck muscle development and has short term benefits (i.e. can help babies to roll, sit and crawl earlier). In the long term however, the achievement of standing and walking has nothing to do with how much tummy time your baby does each day.
The research says that no matter how much tummy time your baby does, it does not make your child stand or walk any sooner than expected!
Thanks for reading! And lastly, please ensure that your baby always sleeps on their back as per the SIDS guidelines and ensure your baby is always supervised when lying on their tummy.
*The American Paediatric Association suggests 30 minutes a day of tummy time for babies by the time they are 7-weeks old. The 30 minutes can be broken into short time periods (e.g. 10 minutes, 3 times a day or 5 minutes, 6 times a day).
**this is not medical advice. If you’re concerned about your child’s health and/or development, please see a healthcare professional.
