Tummy Time

On the Back to Sleep, on the Stomach for Play

By Rae Pica, Children's Movement Specialist

Our parents didn't have to think about "tummy time" for us. They often placed us to sleep on our tummies. As babies, we hung around in our playpens both faceup and facedown. And it was not at all unusual for us to be lying on our tummies on the living room carpet or the backyard lawn.

But, like so much in our rapidly changing world, many things about raising a baby are different today. Where tummy time is concerned, specifically, things began to change when, in 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released its "Back to Sleep" policy. With this campaign, the organization advised that babies be placed to sleep on their backs to reduce the occurrence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Fortunately, it worked. Since then, prone sleeping has decreased from more than 70 percent to about 20 percent in the United States. And the SIDS mortality rate has decreased by more than 50 percent.

Unfortunately, other problems have arisen in the wake of babies sleeping in a supine position, as parents seem to be less aware of the second half of the AAP's campaign title: Tummy to Play.

Because babies are now spending so much time on their backs, many are experiencing "flat head syndrome"; weak arm, neck, shoulder and trunk muscles; and delays in developmental milestones such as rolling over, crawling, pulling up to stand and walking. The estimated 60 waking hours a week babies are spending in things (what a colleague calls "containerized") further exacerbates some of these problems.

Of course, nobody wants their child to go through life with a flat head. And lack of upper torso strength could result in difficulties with gross (large muscle) and fine (small muscle) control. The former is needed for physical activity and athletics and the latter for such tasks as writing and keyboarding.

Also, although babies do eventually master most or all developmental milestones, babies who don't spend time on their tummies may spend less time crawling. This could mean eventual difficulty crossing the midline of the body – the invisible, vertical line that runs from the head to the toes and divides the body into left and right sides. In some cases, children unable to cross the midline – and there seem to be more of them in schools every year – have problems with reading and writing.

Want to see more?

• Brain Builders Series
• Make Learning Fun: Developmental Games for Baby
• Sing and Play with Your Baby
• Talk about it!