Tummy time is important for babies. I confess, I didn’t realise it until I read about the importance of tummy time from a parenting magazine. A baby’s basic skills such as sitting up, crawling, lifting head and turning over is influenced by tummy time. The more time, and the earlier you encourage tummy time for your baby, the faster your baby will learn to master the skills above.

When I first saw my baby Clarisse struggling to roll over unsuccessfully, I helped push her buttocks a bit to help her to roll over. However, my father-in-law told me not to help baby Clarisse and should just let her do it on her own. It took baby Clarisse a few more weeks to successfully roll over on her own effort. I regret listening to his advice now that I realise flipping my baby over on her tummy helps in so many motor skills. I should have just helped baby Clarisse roll over so that she could have spent more tummy time instead.

Baby Clarisse started to learn roll over when she was 3 1/2 months. At that time she was still not strong enough to push her buttock up but with a little help by pushing her buttock up, she was able to roll over completely and lie on her tummy. She still can’t hold her head steadily but would always try to roll over at the slightest opportunity.

According to studies, getting your baby to spend more time lying on their belly benefits major motor skills such as head control, limb coordination and trunk stability. Even though some babies hate being positioned on their bellies, keep doing it so that your baby can practise reaching and pivoting. It will help them to learn how to crawl.

Tummy time can start as early as newborns. Try put your baby belly-down on your chest or across your lap for a few minutes. It helps your baby get used to this arkward position.

I’d usually put a small pillow on baby Clarisse’s chest when she’s lying on her belly. I would also make sure she’s lying on a blanketed well-padded mattress to minimize any discomfort. Helps too if the surface is flat to prevent imbalance.

I love doing this to baby Clarisse. Everyone in the family, my husband and I would lie down on the bed too so that our faces are parallel to baby Clarisse. She is very excited when we do that. We will sing songs, talk to her and do anything just to make her laugh. We would also put toys and stuff on the bed within her reach so that tummy time wouldn’t be so boring for baby Clarisse.