Using A Water Mat For Tummy Time
“How do you actually use that big tummy time water mat that you recommend? We got it, but don’t know how to get our baby to use it!”
DISCLAIMER: Please do not leave your baby or child unattended while using the tummy time water mat or practicing any of the activities below.
ANSWER - Tummy time water mats are one of my favorite toys to use as a floor time tool, and I’ll show you exactly how I use them here for everything from tummy time all the way through post-walking for lots of skill practicing fun!
Tummy Time Fun
First, they’re entertaining! With the items inside moving & giving something to visually attend to and even work on hand eye coordination trying to touch them while they move around! AND we also have black and white, high contrast options, which is amazing for engaging vision in the early weeks & months!
Water Mats Promote Weight Shifting
One thing I love about these mats is depending on how much you fill them, you can really hone in on encouraging weight shifting, which is a huge component of many milestones like rolling, crawling & sitting. AND, for early tummy time, depending on how much you fill it, you can even achieve some added support for that in utero positioning of legs being bent slightly as shown in photo one above!
For weight shifting encouragement - when they're using the mat as shown in photo two, the magic happens because they're not just stationary like most other forms of tummy/floor time. The water moving in the mat along with the pressure of their weight will create natural shifting, and with some intentional toy placement to encourage them lifting one hand/reaching (or their attempts to get the items floating inside it), you can ramp that up even more!
Using A Water Mat Beyond Tummy Time
Helping Your Baby Roll
Water mats can also be great when used during sidelying play- as shown in photo three & four. Sidelying play is a powerhouse position to help encourage everything from hands to midline, rolling, dispersing pressure on the skull to reduce flat spot development, and more! The water mat while in sidelying can REALLY help ramp up weight shifting and the movement to create a successful roll from side to belly/side to back through a smaller range of motion.
Promoting Sitting & Protective Reactions
When little one begins sitting, you can get it right back out for some AWESOME sitting balance and protective reactions development [photo five]. In the earlier stages of sitting, if you have a little one that tends to fling back or flop forward, having it in front of them can be a great way to use vision downwards, if available to them, to drive more flexion through their body too!
You can also have them sit ON it, [photo six] which is SO fun for working sitting balance and protective reactions, which begin developing just a few weeks after baby begins to sit. These reactions aim to stop baby from a fall out of sitting - and first develop forward, then to the sides, and then finally backwards. With them sitting on the water mat, as they move even slightly, you're getting natural work on not only dynamic sitting balance (being able to hold yourself upright from a strength standpoint), but also again, promote those protective reaction skills too!
Weight Shifting For Crawling
For pre-crawling play, you can begin with them on hands on knees [photo seven] on it OR just hands on it - which gives them the opportunity to strengthen hips, shoulders AND core. You can also work in/out sit [photo eight] transitions from hands and knees, which is further supported by how much you fill the mat! AND THEN, If you have them here [photo nine], and they begin reaching, similar to the weight shift needed for rolling, that weight shift is VERY similar to what's happening when they actually take off in crawling!
Having the more dynamic surface that this water mat creates is so beneficial for all the reasons above, but it's also engaging for them as a toy to break up traditional floor time and make it FUN!
Fun for Big Kids Too!
And an added bonus - after getting these mats out recently to share in stories, even my kids (ages 6 years, 4.5 years and 2.5 years) have started having fun with them again! They thought they were so cool and were doing ‘dinosaur stomps’ on it, which unbeknownst to them promotes single leg stance (you can read more here if you want to know why this is so important) - AND the girls wanted to try using it under their hands when doing their gymnastics activities - so fun!
Colorful Tummy Time Water Mat | Black & White High Contrast Water Mat
Want More?
For developmental questions, tips and guidance related to milestones about tummy time, rolling & sitting, crawling and walking, check out KC’s developmental Masterclasses linked here.
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KC is a pediatric doctor of physical therapy, wife and mom of three! She has spent her career working with children and young adults of all ability levels, and currently specializes in birth to three years.
