Is tummy time really that important?

The significant milestones a baby goes through, from crawling to walking all hinge on a "little tummy-time".Babies need to lie on their tummy, supervised by their caregivers for them to thrive in their developmental stages.Starting as soon as their umbilical stump falls out gives baby a head start on great developing. You can start by placing baby on their tummy for a few minutes and later progress to more minutes as they get more comfortable with this position.

Tummy time is really significant as it helps in strengthening the neck, shoulder, leg and abdominal muscles.It helps your baby to discover the world through his own little eyes.As his curiosity peaks he will learn to reach out for things and this will lead to him creeping and then crawling.When his muscles are more stronger you will see he will be able to raise his head on his own and roll over.To make tummy time more fun you can lie on the floor with your little tot and place toys out for him to reach or even play the game of roll-over.

Tummy time is also a good way of releasing gas, as pressure is placed on his abdomen he may burp to let you know you are doing a great job.He may puke a little so just have a clean towel under his mouth.

It is also advised when putting baby to sleep do so on their back to prevent SIDS(Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).SIDS is the unexplained death of a baby who is less than 1 year old usually during sleep.There are so many factors that come to play when a baby dies of SIDS such as low birth weight, a respiratory infection ,laying baby on the side or stomach, laying baby on a soft surface eg. soft comforter or water bed can block the baby's airway or even overheating.

To avoid SIDS it is best to supervise baby when they are having tummy time and to try to avoid children sleeping in carseats, swings or rockers as a routine or for prolonged periods of time.Also make sure the baby lies on a flat surface so that nothing will block his airway.

Spread the word that a lil' tummy-time won't hurt.Happy parenting.