Making Tummy time interesting

Jayme asks- Is it normal for a baby to stop rolling from their back to their tummy  after they have been doing it for a while? Her baby is currently 4 mo old.

Yes, this can happen at times.  There can be a couple of reasons for this.  

Babies learn to roll to their tummy, but can’t roll back.  They may play on their tummy for a while, but will become frustrated if they can’t roll back.  If this happens often they may not want to roll to their tummy anymore.  

This may also be the case if they can’t lift their heads up well or push up on their hands.  

Babies at about 4 months of age are just learning to coordinate their hands and manipulate toys in their hands.  This becomes more difficult to do on their tummy and they may prefer to be in a supported seat or on their back.

My tip for this is keep them entertained on their tummy to improve their neck stability, shoulder strength and upper arms strength/mobility.  The more they can do in a certain position the more they will want to be in that position.  Provide them toys they can’t play with on their backs or in a chair.  Here are some ideas…

Taller toys are great motivators for babies to push on their hands and lift up their heads

Babies seek toys they can grab and bring it to their mouth

They can be entertained for quite a while looking at their mirror image

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