The Importance of Tummy Time & Rolling Practice | Sarah Healy Baby Sleep Expert
Tummy Time is not just a fad to combat boredom.
Rolling Practice is not a stand alone skill.
Both of these skills actually help with sleep and development!
What is Tummy Time?
Tummy time is the practice of laying babies on their stomachs for brief periods while they're awake. It's an important way to help babies strengthen their neck and shoulder muscles, and improve motor skills.
How do I do it?
For newborns, start by placing them belly-down on your chest or across your lap for a few minutes at a time, two or three times a day.
This helps them to practice the new skill of lifting their head and strengthening the neck and shoulder muscles.
As your baby gets used to it, you can increase the time they practice.
How often?
The National Institute for Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that babies benefit from having two or three short (3- to 5-minute) tummy time sessions each day. Pediatricians recommend that by about 2 months of age, babies be getting 15 to 30 minutes of total tummy time daily.
What about Rolling Practice?
The benefits!
✔️As babies learn to roll, they can find comfortable sleeping positions that help them feel secure, leading to better rest.
✔️Rolling also allows babies to adjust their position if they wake up, helping them self-soothe back to sleep
✔️Mastering rolling can help babies transition from lighter to deeper sleep stages, which is important for restorative sleep.
✔️As babies become more adept at rolling, they may be less likely to startle awake due to developing motor control.
Practice Safe Sleeping:
Once babies can roll, it’s important to place them on their backs to sleep but allow them to find their own position if they roll over. This can reduce the risk of sleep disturbances.
How do I teach my baby?
Go Slow: By helping them move slowly, it assist in learning all of the the micro-movements needed to roll from tummy to back or back to tummy.
Let them struggle a bit :) As awkward as it may be, let your little one struggle with the side lying position so that it becomes more comfortable and second nature when they need it for sleep.
Let gravity work! Rolling from tummy to back requires your babe to get their head going and let their body follow, letting them drop from side to back (and be out of control) for a brief moment.
How often? Offer you little one LOTS of practice all day long--as much as he/she will let you will really help integrate this rolling milestone and make it safe to tummy sleep.
