Your little one lasts about eleven seconds on their tummy before they crack it. You understand that your baby needs this, so you try the mirror, the rattle, doing it outdoors… and none of it seems to matter. Ten minutes later you’re back on the couch, googling or checking an app about how much tummy time is actually enough, half-wondering if you’re doing it wrong.
It’s worth knowing this: the minutes on the floor were never really the main game. Tummy time is important, AND it’s also one small piece of something much bigger… your baby’s whole nervous system is being built through movement, in a particular order. The neuromuscular system is the foundational layer for higher brain functions which come later on. Every reach, kick and wriggle fires a pathway that later supports focus, mood and learning.
If tummy time feels like a fight, it’s rarely about stubbornness. It’s usually about comfort, timing or expectation… and it might give us clues if we pay attention. The intent of this article is to balance the importance of tummy time with some reassurance and truly actionable steps you can take to help your little one thrive.
When tummy time is a battle, change the position, not the plan
Tummy time doesn’t need to happen on the floor, especially for younger infants. And it definitely doesn’t need to be a scheduled, dreaded event. It’s simply any time your baby is tummy-down. Over your chest while you’re lying back. Across your leg while you’re sitting. Perched on a firm pillow. Carried in a football hold along your forearm. Even a few minutes rocking gently on an exercise ball can do the job, and most babies enjoy it far more than being plonked on a rug.
The floor version still matters as they get stronger, but if it’s a battle right now, there’s no need to force it. Spread a few minutes of tummy-down time across the day, in whichever position your baby tolerates best, and it adds up. You’re not behind. You’re just adapting to support your baby where they’re at.
If you’re worried about missed milestones, watch the order more than the date
Motor development follows a pre-programmed sequence… head control, then core stability, then rolling, sitting, crawling and eventually walking. Underneath that sequence sits a set of primitive reflexes your baby was born with. Automatic, protective movements like the startle reflex or the grasp reflex, that gradually integrate as the nervous system matures and hands over to purposeful movement.
Here’s the part that surprises most parents: a milestone reached a little early or late is rarely the concern. It’s a milestone skipped altogether, or reached out of the usual order, that’s worth a closer look. A baby who rolls very early to avoid an uncomfortable position, for instance, is often solving a problem rather than showing off. Watching the order, not just the calendar, tells you far more about how things are actually progressing.
If your baby seems to hate being on their tummy, look closer
Even in a natural birth without intervention, an immense amount of pressure and strain can be placed on those tiny shoulders and neck. So before being convinced your baby simply “isn’t a tummy time baby”, it’s worth looking closely and considering a few things.
Are their head, neck and shoulders symmetrical, or is there a tilt or lean to one side? Do they settle once they’re in position, or stay fussy no matter what you try? Do they prefer to turn their head one way when feeding, laying on their back or sleeping? How was the birth itself… quick, assisted, long or even traumatic?
None of these are diagnostic on their own, but together they tell a story.
How YOU are doing matters here, too. Co-regulation is often overlooked, but that’s beginning to change. The most recent update to the diagnostic criteria for infant colic (now called infant distress syndrome) has, for the first time, started factoring in caregiver wellbeing alongside the baby’s symptoms. Regulation runs both ways… a settled, supported parent helps a baby settle, and a baby who’s struggling can wear down a caring and attentive parent in return.
When home strategies aren’t enough
Changing positions, watching the sequence, and noticing symmetry are genuinely powerful places to start, worth doing regardless of how your baby is tracking. Together these factors can bring the bigger picture into focus, but they don’t always address why a baby is struggling with movement in the first place.
For many of the babies we see at Being, that root often traces back to tension through the upper neck and shoulders, commonly a residual effect of the birth process itself, even in straightforward deliveries. When that area is under strain, it can be harder for a baby to move symmetrically or comfortably, regardless of how much encouragement you offer at home.
Our comprehensive infant assessment – including INSiGHT Scans – helps us to assess, objectively, whether that balance has been affected, so we can help you understand what might be sitting underneath the tummy time struggle. From there, gentle, neurologically-focused care supports the nervous system to do what it’s designed to do.
If you’ve been trying all the right things and it’s still a battle most days, you’re not getting it wrong. You may just be working with part of the picture. If any of this sounds like your family, we’d love to help.
Every baby develops differently. The suggestions here are general in nature, and if you have specific concerns about your child’s development, please speak with your primary care provider.
