Tummy Time

Hello to all my readers! I send sincerest apologies for the extended hiatus. I’m back in business and ready to get back into the flow of things. Today, I wanted to write a brief article about the importance of “tummy time”. Tummy time is time an infant spends laying flat on the stomach while awake and under supervision.

Tummy time is often overlooked by both parents and pediatric providers. In my opinion, this is due in part to the massive implementation of the “Back to Sleep” initiative. The Back to Sleep initiative communicates the importance of placing infants on their backs  to sleep. This sleep position is linked to a decreased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome also known as SIDS has many associating factors. These include; smokers in the home, prematurity and younger age to name a few. Sleeping on the stomach has one of the highest association risks.  As implementation of Back to Sleep has become increasingly enforced, SIDS rates have decreased. This led to Back to Sleep becoming a core Pediatric guidance measure for parents of newborns. Some parents, even when reassured, choose not to ever place infants on their stomach. This, at least in part, could be due to fears of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

It is important for me to stress the necessity and benefits of tummy time. Tummy time is essential for strengthening of the infant’s back and neck muscles. This strengthening will determine how soon an infant will reach motor developmental milestones. These milestones include disappearance of head lag and rolling from front to back. Milestones follow a particular pattern of events. These events  follow each other in a sequential manner. One can assume that lack of tummy time in some infants may delay motor milestones. This will result in a child having a developmental delay in motor skills.

Tummy time appears to be less implemented in particular ethnic groups. This could be due in part to particular cultural beliefs and practices. In such groups there is a higher incidence of positional skull shape abnormalities. Skull deformations occur as a result of persistent positioning of infants on the back. These deformations can improve overtime (weeks to months), with implementation of tummy time. Of course, for this to occur education about the practice is necessary.

Infants begin to exhibit a fair amount of head control between 2-3 weeks of life. It is at that time I encourage parents to begin implementing tummy time. Parents can start with two to three trials per day, for approximately 5-10 minutes at a time. Episodes can be shortened if the infant appears to tire easily.  As head control improves, I encourage parents to increase duration of time as tolerated. Parents become excited as they realize that  their baby quite enjoys tummy time.

In conclusion, the important take-away  is that Back To Sleep is a necessity and a life saving measure, while tummy time is of utmost importance to the motor development of the young infant. The implementation of one does not need to result in the failure of the other!