The blog post today got me off my butt to ask for some advice on tummy time. My 14 week old is waaaaay behind. She hates tummy time with a capital H. It's my fault because between 3 and 10 weeks, we didn't get to practice much - my mother was dying and inevitably passed away and there was a ton of traveling back and forth to see her and being stuck in hospital rooms and whatnot. We did work on it, just not with enough time or consistency, it was sort of squeezed in when we could and I wouldn't push it when she would get frustrated and cry.

So unfortunately she is stuck where she was around 6 weeks - she will do the occasional pick up of her head, but 90% of the time she just cries into the floor or boppy or whatever. And if there is something that her mouth ends up against (blanket, boppy, etc), she just sucks on it and then seems content to do that and lay there. I've tried doing it on my chest, on the floor, boppy/no boppy, involving toys, involving mirrors. Nothing works.

The ped at her 2 month said to try some alternative positions (carrying her on my forearm, etc.). The variety seems to help her not get angry as quickly, none of them "work", in that she's not trying any harder to pick her head up and I don't see much improvement. She can hold her head up while sitting on my lap or when I carry her up over my shoulder (though she's not great - still unsteady, but she does at least try in those positions).

So, I'm wondering if anyone else ever experienced this and how it ended up or what tips they might have. I've tried all of the typical stuff - mirrors, toys, talking/singing to her, getting down on her level, so I'm looking for something a little more creative Of note, she has some interest in toys, but less so than other babies I've seen and is much more interested in people/us. She likes "talking" back and forth and generally looking at us and smiling. So I think we would be more motivating to her than toys, but the methods I've tried in that vein aren't successful either.

I'd LOVE to hear suggestions on what to do here if anyone has any!