Absolutely EVERY child, for proper development, needs the experience of actively lying on their stomach. (We are not talking about sleeping). This position is difficult for the baby, but also insanely important. It practises the skills needed to reach the next developmental stages. Remember that you can place your baby on his or her stomach from the first moments of his or her life.
How do you make it easier for a child to support themselves on their forearms?
🙌Ensure a suitable substrate. It must not be too soft so that the child can use their support and extension mechanisms and push off the ground with their elbows. It must also not be too hard so that the child does not hit himself when his head falls down. A foam mat or hard sofa will be ideal.
🙌Motivation. Put something interesting in front of your child that they will want to look at. This could be a contrast book, a rattle, a playing/lighting toy or a mirror. Remember that you can also lie down in front of your baby so that you can look at each other, smile and interact 🙂 Ask dad, grandma, uncle, siblings to sit or lie down on a mat next to your baby - this will make him more willing and longer to lift his head up and at the same time you will all have fun 🙂 .
🙌Appropriate alignment of the motivator. Place the toys on the floor in front of the baby. If you place them too high or right in front of the baby, you will provoke a strong tilt of the head backwards and the baby will tighten his back muscles instead of tensing his abdominal muscles, which is not what we want.
🙌Draw attention to the item. The child's arms must not slip (i.e. spread out to the sides). If the forearms are bare, it will be easier for the child to clasp the ground and lift the head up. The elbows should be in line with the shoulders if the child is 3 months old.
Younger children can have their elbows slightly behind the shoulder line (backwards) and older children will extend their elbows in front of the shoulder line. If a child loses his balance and falls to one side, you can help him by spreading his elbows wider. This will increase the plane of support and make the child's position more stable. If the baby's head is on the ground and the baby is having difficulty lifting it, and the pelvis is lifting up, you can help by pressing the pelvis against the ground (put your hand on the baby's bottom and press lightly). This way, the weight of the body will be on the pelvis and it will be easier for the child to lift the head off the ground 🙂👍
Remember: NOTHING TO DO!
The tummy position, how to introduce it effectively?
If your baby does not accept the position of lying on his stomach, start by laying him down for a minute, two, five... gradually increasing the time and frequency. When your baby starts to get upset, try to entertain him in some way, to distract him. Don't wait for the baby to start crying. When you see him start to fuss and your playfulness doesn't work, it is better to turn him over on his back and let him rest, and then try again after a while rather than make him furious. After all, we don't want to discourage him from this position.
What if nothing works and the baby still doesn't want to lie on its stomach?
If, despite the above advice, your baby still does not accept the position of lying on his stomach on a flat surface, start by laying him on a slightly raised surface, such as his parents' thighs or chest. In both cases, we can gradually "flatten" the ground so that the baby accepts this position and then we move on to lying on a firm and flat surface.
‼Do not put anything under the chest! What we want is for the child to push off the ground and lift his chest with his own muscular strength, not to "flap" ineffectively on some cushion or horn. If we want to lock the child's elbows so that he stops pushing them back, it is better to lock them with your own hands than to use locks, e.g. from a blanket.
This is what the incorrect position of lying on the stomach looks like. 👎❌
And this is what the correct position of lying on the stomach looks like. 👍✅
Does my baby have to lie on my stomach?
👩🍼"Our baby never liked this position and we didn't want to force him into it" - This is what parents often say when they come for a rehabilitation consultation because their baby is 9 months old and not crawling, crawling or sitting up. I am not enthusiastic about forcing the baby to lie on his stomach, but skilful encouragement? - As much as possible. 🙂👍
My answer often surprises parents a lot when I tell them that their child is healthy and doesn't sit up and crawl because the parents didn't give him that chance. They didn't create the right conditions for him. And the right conditions are just and THEN a foam mat and space on the floor. 🙆♀️😊 Many times the recommendation after such a visit was to spread the mat on the floor and play with the child at his level, i.e. on the mat. After a week, the results were delightful.
So to answer the question - "Does my baby have to lie on my stomach?"
Definitely yes! Active forearm support begins a process of coordination that will, in time, allow the child to:
👌 fun in higher positions,
👌 creep,
👌 crawling
👌 uprightness and
👌 gait.
In order for the child to reach developmental milestones, he or she needs to develop correct posture and movement patterns, and for this, free play in the supine position is IMPERATIVE.
A large proportion of the young patients who come to me would not need physiotherapy support if they were taught the supine position from the start.
The above recommendations are informative and may change if your child has asymmetry or muscle tension disorders. A physiotherapist should then be consulted.
Anna Bernaś
Physiotherapist
