Do you force it?
DS is 3 months and up until a month ago liked tummy time. Now he snorts, slobbers, and SCREAMS during tummy time. He lifts his head, etc and actually kicks and manages to spin his body in a circle but hasn't rolled over yet. Am I just torturing him by making him do it every day? I do it probably 3 times a day and let him go until he is ballistic (which is usually no more than 3 minutes....)
GOLD / squash / 13464 posts
What if you get on your belly right in front of him so your face is close to him and talk to him and soothe him. Would that help? Or is he just so upset that he wouldn't even notice you.
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
I never did. I felt like her muscles were pretty strong so why force it? Once she could roll over to her tummy on her own (around 4 months), she loved tummy time, was always on her tummy, and learned to crawl by 5 months.
clementine / 878 posts
I still force tummy time - even a short burst helps build those muscles. But if she's really angry, I'll lay on the floor and put her on my chest for tummy time. She seems to hate that less 
And works harder to bring her head up to look at my face.
squash / 13199 posts
If you have a boppy pillow you can prop your LO up, so they are at angle rather than completely flat on their tummy
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
When LO hated it, I would put her on her tummy for as long as she would stand it. It could have been 3 minutes, or 3 seconds.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
Hahaa thanks! We have a tummy time pillow thingy and he hates it less than being completely flat!
@MamaMoose: Nope, I do this and he still goes bonkers!
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
Oh yeah, she hates it. I just put her down long enough until she starts getting fussy. I know her signals and don't want her to get angry so, I'll flip her over and she's happy as can be to be on her back. Like @rubies said, sometimes it's 3 minutes, sometimes it's 3 seconds. I don't think it's going to hurt them to not do it a ton every day. Somehow M is getting muscle control and we hardly ever do tummy time.
nectarine / 2019 posts
LO hated it to, unless he was on top of me. I finally started forcing him at 7 weeks and at 10 weeks he rolled over. So now he never does tummy time hahaha. Eventually, he will rescue himself from the torture that is tummy time
pineapple / 12526 posts
C HATES tummy time. I just kind of do it as long as she'll stand it. Somehow, she has completely skipped rolling over and gone right to sitting up on her own. Shes 4 1/2 months and starting to sit unsupported.
Babies do things at their own pace.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
He used to hate it. Once he learned to roll over, he liked it a lot more. Now he is 6 months and instantly rolls from his back to his tummy, it's so cute.
To get him to this point, we did a lot of tummy time with him on our tummy/chest. He loved that because our faces were right there and he could see and interact with us.
He didn't like it even if we were on the ground with him either.
pomelo / 5178 posts
Can you put him on your chest? DS loves this, and I can adjust how much I recline so he doesn't have to be totally forced.
I know, with my kids, they tend to get really frustrated when they're trying to do a new skill (e.g. rolling, scooting, crawling, etc...) so I still force them to do it, but I try to encourage/soother them verbally the whole time, and I do it small increments so they never get too worked up.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
I think its really important to do even if they hate it.
I agree with honeybee, that tummy time does not have to be laying your kid on the floor. Maybe they like laying on the soft crib and looking up at the mobile. Maybe laying on your chest or even across your legs is better because they are closer to you. I used to carry my little one (once she had good head control) over my arm on her belly. She loved that if her belly was upset and she could walk around with me as I did chores.
As they get older, I have even heard that allowing them to watch a bit of TV during tummy time can be a good idea. Set them back on the floor just enough that they can see the pretty lights.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
I would just have her do it for a couple of minutes at a time. It got longer as time went on.
pomegranate / 3383 posts
At 6 months, my LO still hates tummy time! He can go up to 10-ish minutes now but it still ends with him crying. Using a mirror for him to look at helps and friends have recommended putting toys in front of him.
I am not so worried about rolling and crawling anymore. My LO sits up on his own and loves standing with assistance. I wouldn't be surprised if he skipped any milestone that involves him being on his front!
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