A recent New York Times Health Section had an article with the headline: ‘Tummy Time’ May Not Be Needed.
As this article discusses a new study of Canadian infants born before and after the introduction in 1994 of the "Back to Sleep" campaign shows that there is no difference between the groups in when they started rolling front to back or back to front. Other research seems to indicate that there is also no difference between when kids who sleep on their tummy and back walk (although some of this research shows tummy sleepers did crawl and roll earlier).
Now on to my anecdotal evidence, which as we know is rationally less important but emotionally more relevant. My older son hated tummy time from the get go, but I felt obligated to try it and did for the first few months. He learned to roll both ways at about 4 months. As soon as he learned to roll onto his belly he always slept on his belly, but otherwise did not like to spend time on his belly. If I remember by 8 months he was pulling up to stand up on his own, but not crawling. By 9 months he was traveling short distances by scooting around the floor on his butt in the sitting position, but not crawling. Sometime after he turned 10 months old he finally started crawling. He only crawled for about two months. About two weeks after his 1 year birthday he started walking and within a couple months he was an expert walker and to my dismay runner. I am 100% confident his lack of tummy time did not lead to any problems. He is a very athletic and coordinated kid who learned to run way too fast for me at a very early age.
My younger son loved being on his back from the get go, and big surprise also hated tummy time. He is 7 months old now and since birth has had a little bald spot on the back of his head from where his head rubs when he is in his crib or bouncy chair. At 4 months he learned to roll from his tummy to his back, and since then attempts at tummy time have lasted exactly 2 seconds, which is exactly how long it takes for him to roll back onto his back. Time will tell if he is a early or late walker, but thanks to my earlier experiences I am not so hung up on crawling this time around. And to be honest it is sort of nice to have a baby that stays put when you put him somewhere!
What both these articles and the medical research emphasizes is that the "milestones" of rolling and crawling are not predictors of developmental delays. They encourage parents not to worry about when their baby crawls. This is not to say that other milestones are not important. A five month old who is unable to hold his head up or a nine month old who is unable to sit unsupported I am guessing would warrant further attention. In the meantime I am not going to feel guilty about depriving my baby of tummy time.
As this article discusses a new study of Canadian infants born before and after the introduction in 1994 of the "Back to Sleep" campaign shows that there is no difference between the groups in when they started rolling front to back or back to front. Other research seems to indicate that there is also no difference between when kids who sleep on their tummy and back walk (although some of this research shows tummy sleepers did crawl and roll earlier).
Now on to my anecdotal evidence, which as we know is rationally less important but emotionally more relevant. My older son hated tummy time from the get go, but I felt obligated to try it and did for the first few months. He learned to roll both ways at about 4 months. As soon as he learned to roll onto his belly he always slept on his belly, but otherwise did not like to spend time on his belly. If I remember by 8 months he was pulling up to stand up on his own, but not crawling. By 9 months he was traveling short distances by scooting around the floor on his butt in the sitting position, but not crawling. Sometime after he turned 10 months old he finally started crawling. He only crawled for about two months. About two weeks after his 1 year birthday he started walking and within a couple months he was an expert walker and to my dismay runner. I am 100% confident his lack of tummy time did not lead to any problems. He is a very athletic and coordinated kid who learned to run way too fast for me at a very early age.
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| Little baby baldie. |
What both these articles and the medical research emphasizes is that the "milestones" of rolling and crawling are not predictors of developmental delays. They encourage parents not to worry about when their baby crawls. This is not to say that other milestones are not important. A five month old who is unable to hold his head up or a nine month old who is unable to sit unsupported I am guessing would warrant further attention. In the meantime I am not going to feel guilty about depriving my baby of tummy time.
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