Tummy time gives babies the best start

Date of article: 13-Jun-11

Increasingly, as a result of better maternity and paternity leave, nurseries and childminders now care for fewer babies under six months but for those that do, the need for reassurance is perhaps even greater and nurseries strive to make sure that they provide the necessary evidence of good practice.

The controversial Early Years Foundation Curriculum directs carers to encourage infant development so that babies and young children grow strong, gain communication skills, learn through play and express their feelings. Many consider that approach to be too structured although the basic aims are sound.

Parents have the same goals though they are more likely to create this learning environment without formally recording the outcomes. Everyone wants the best for the next generation, yet there is a glaring shortfall in one area of development that has to be addressed.

Tummy time, something that came naturally to mothers before the 1990s, has suffered a massive decline. The development of sensory and motor responses prepares infants for the future, for when they start school, and tummy time in those early months of life is crucial to that development.

There is growing evidence of children starting school with delayed motor response development. That has been linked to the lack of tummy time in the early months of infancy. There has also been a substantial rise in positional plagiocephaly or flat head, the result of infants spending too much time with their heads against hard surfaces like floors and car seats.

NHS policy ensures that new parents in the UK leave hospital with helpful information on tummy time. Midwives and health visitors are instructed to make parents aware of the importance of tummy time as part of the early days’ routine. Health experts around the world are united in recognising the need to promote tummy time. Yet, for many that message is going unheeded.

Former journalist and mother of five Geraldine Abrahams, struggled to try to find a solution. “When my own children were babies, tummy time was an important part of everyday activity and felt like a very natural thing to do” she explained. “But now parents seem to be more and more reluctant to do tummy time - and some avoid it all together.

“I have talked to hundreds of parents to find out why they do not put their babies on their fronts, and the more parents I spoke to, the more I saw an emerging pattern.

“While most have heard about it, they don’t practise tummy time because they don’t like seeing very young infants face-down on the floor. The babies are fretful and it is awkward for them.

Recalling her own experience, she set about creating an off-the-floor tummy time solution that would help parents communicate with their babies in a gentle, easy way and at the same time help babies develop fully, and feel more secure.

Tummy With Mummy® is a tummy time platform, a seat and a recliner for babies up to six months, with a crawl and play mat for when they are old enough to sit up and crawl. It is a hygienic, versatile solution for parents unhappy about floor-based tummy time.

It can be carried in its compact bag shape to take on trips, used for feeding and for baby massage, is ideal for those vital tummy time parent-child bonding and learning sessions and helps babies’ heads to develop their naturally rounded shape.

Tummy With Mummy® is on sale from June. For more information visit www.tummywithmummy.com

click here for more details or to contact Tummy With Mummy Ltd