Tummy Time After An Illness
“How do I get my little one back in the swing of tummy time after recovering from sickness?”
ANSWER - First - give yourself and them grace, you're not alone and it's NOT easy! I think of it like getting back into the gym after we don't feel great, it takes time! During times like this (and just in general!), one thing I find helpful is instead of just placing them on their belly if they're frustrated, try gently rolling them in/out to their sides. And follow their lead! If they want to stay to their side for a bit, great! If they roll back to their belly, great!
My son loved the floor. He typically did so well playing & was easy to occupy during tummy time, but then he got his first big sickness 🥲. He was sick for almost two weeks, in which time I wore and carried him A TON, with little to no floor time (which by the way- is *perfectly* okay!). BUT when it came time to start building floor time back in, he was NOT happy.
I would start tummy time and he would immediately resist, get frustrated, and then cry. Even though I *know* better, It felt like we were starting back at square one- so, that’s exactly what we did.
Instead of being bummed he only did 30 seconds of tummy time, I focused on how awesome those 30 seconds were (quality over quantity, ALWAYS). We started building back in really frequent periods of floor time, that were as short or long as he could tolerate whole content….
AND! We did this. Instead of just laying him on his belly and letting him get increasingly upset, I gently guided him in/out of sidelying to his belly. Following his lead, and know that not only is this AWESOME for activating muscles and strengthening- it’s also huge for showing him he’s not “stuck”, and the floor can be fun again. Then, two weeks later, he was back to loving the floor and then some!
More than anything, I hope you know, quality over quantity will always be my motto, and you can ALWAYS build off where you started.
You’re doing great! Hope this helps!
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