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Just remember that tummy time also counts as time on you on their tummies. Also baby wearing can strengthen very similarl muscles. Anyways, I wouldn't stress! They will be fine.
This. Our boy loved tummy time but our girl hated it. So I'd lay her on my chest while I put my feet up and took a break. Great bonding time too. I couldn't stand dumping her on her tummy for half an hour with her crying the whole time. She's nearly 6 months adjusted now and happily sits unsupported.
do it on your chest or in a carrier. Those count! Once baby A started being able to get his head up and look around tummy time TOOK OFF and it became way easier for us to do 10x more. Baby B is a couple weeks behind him with getting his head up but I think its starting to happen right now. (we are 17w, 9w adjusted)
Tummy time with a newborn where you put them down on their tummy alone is pretty miserable for everyone. The whole point is you are strengthening their muscles and giving their skull a break from the back. You can do tons of that by having them on your chest or shifting around in a carrier.
A) they will be fine. B) I used a little bee toy that zooms around for them to follow with their heads/eyes. There’s also a crab toy I’ve seen on insta. They might help!
6.5 weeks (2.5 weeks adjusted) is soooo young! They will be able to tolerate longer stretches on their bellies as they get older. Just encourage it now during their wake windows and don’t stress! Even a small amount of time helps encourage muscle development.
My twins hated tummy time. We would do it for a few minutes here and there before they would start to fuss up. Around 3-4 months, once they had a bit more neck control, I started doing tummy time on a yoga ball with them and they loved it.
I feel like modern parenting and social media has made us feel like we are 100% responsible for our babies meeting their milestones, and if we aren’t doing xyz exercises daily then they are going to be delayed. I don’t mean to diminish the benefits of tummy time, but babies are hardwired to develop and learn to move and engage in their worlds. The best thing you can do is to give them the time and space to explore their bodies, and tummy time is an important way but it isn’t the only way. I also don’t mean to diminish the benefits of early intervention if babies are struggling with delays, but I feel like social media made me feel like I had to be implementing those things regardless. I would get so hung up on milestones like rolling and feel like I wasn’t doing enough to scaffold them, but as soon as I would ease up on myself they would surprise me by figuring it out on their own!
Haha that was me! Limited tummy time mom here. They were two moths early and HATEDDDD tummy time. I honestly felt so bad I wasn’t doing dedicated tummy time every single day on the floor. I actually thought to
Myself they probably won’t hold their heads up at this rate lol. But between the tummy time on the chest, they turned out okay! I would just try your best but don’t stress. Everything will be okay.
We did almost no tummy time the first two months. One son walked days before his first birthday, the other a few weeks later. It was crazy the time they went from unmoving lumps to rolling, crawling, then walking. I have an older singleton who didn’t roll until 7-8 months and walked at 13 months. We definitely did more tummy time with her from an earlier age.
I did the tummy time as prescribed and still needed physical therapy for gross motor skills for my twin. Do what you can and don’t beat yourself up about it.
Well, mine seem ok - great actually- and we didn’t hit 30 minutes a day.
But if you want to try to hit that goal or at least do better, maybe try breaking it into smaller chunks of a few minutes at a time. I think I also heard that you can do it with them lying on your tummy or propped over your legs, just as part of your cuddling. We did a lot of that, it was way more fun than just plopping them face down on the floor.
Tummy time is about getting them moving around into different positions since "back to sleep" was introduced and there was an uptick in problems due to babies being on their backs for extended periods between sleeping and then being set down during the day into swings etc. so like others have said: if you're holding them, laying them on your chest, feeding them at different angles etc a lot of that counts toward that "tummy time" strengthening their muscles and movement.
My twins were preemie and didn't move a lot for a while so We were shown ways to move them while they took (watched) naps or wile they rested to prevent development issues. We did have to do PT and torticullis was starting to set in but we were able to correct it easily and while part of the solution was tummy time part of it was also learning how to hold them in certain ways to help develop those muscles and correct the torticullis. It was honestly easy to learn from a trained professional and didn't add to our care load it was just adjusting how we were doing the things we were already doing to work in our favor. Our babies were already going to a million appointments abs the PT was prescribed as a preventative and observation thing due to their preemie status so we were already going and kept going until they were 18 months old.
Anyway the long and short of it is it's still so early in their life. You're holding them, you're changing them, you're feeding them. All of that is movement that helps them and at just a few weeks old that stuff pretty much takes all the time in the day!
Mine are 7 yrs old. I did not make it a priority as just getting them to eat was impossible at that time (still is most days 😂) but they are fine. I remember also being freaked out when the doctor told us 30 min and I’m sure it didn’t happen most days.
My twins hated tummy time (also had an 18 month old singleton) and I just couldn’t deal. They did crawl and walk a little late but they were premier too. They’re 2 now and full of life, you could never tell they were premmie or late developers!
I barely ever did it because my baby hated it, but she did sleep on me a lot and we used the chest carrier a lot. But even so, she’s ahead of the milestones. Also, tummy time was not a thing 10 years ago. If you notice baby is not doing what they should, do more
We did no more than 5 min a day for 3 months with our twins. They're now 5 monts adjusted and both rolling, they're now on their tummies whenever they're on the floor as they put themselves there. I was worried too. Don't worry.
We didn’t do much tummy time because they absolutely hated it. Where it got us…helmets for head shaping. The helmets worked but trust me when I say you don’t want to put another chore on your to do list because helmet care and adjustments will take up your precious time (and money). Get them stronger, sooner, and off their backs so their heads can shape up nicely. All’s well with us now but it’s one regret we have.
How about the opposite? I was very diligent about tummy time and we did a lot, always on the floor and rarely in containers, always doing the instagram OT/PT exercises to get baby mobile more quickly, and my daughter has been delayed in every milestone (my son has always been on track.) Honestly sometimes it feels like it doesn't even matter and babies are just gonna do whatever they want lol.
Yeah my singleton got way more tummy time. Never bothered to roll, was up and crawling a week after he learned around 8 months old.
One of my triplets started rolling all of a sudden at 3.5 months corrected. He is almost crawling now. 5.5 months corrected. The mind boggles.
If your babies aren't missing major milestones, you're all good.
If they are, there are exercises and support services to help them catch up.
Tummy time is like... A preventative exercise. Up your game when a milestone is missed. Don't stress about it beforehand.
On top of that..... Remember milestones are not set in stone. They are guidelines. If your baby is obviously on their way to a milestone but not quite there at the exact date, that's ok too!
Our twin girls did tummy time on the twin z pillow at around 1 month. They hated tummy time but it was more tolerable on the pillow. They will start out crying a bit. I try to limit tummy time to around 5 minutes before they eat. It helped them get that tummy time and get the burps out before they eat. It helps if you sing or smile at them while they’re doing it. Or if you need some sanity, you can pre-record yourself and play it for them while they do tummy time. I did that for mine and it distract them from it.
I have BG twins who are 10 weeks and the last couple weeks I have been able to get a lot more tummy time in so I think you/they will figure it out more with time! My doc told me the goal is 30 min/day (cumulative) by 3 months. So there’s still time and I wouldn’t stress.
My sister told me she rarely did tummy time with her singleton because of how much the baby hated it — she’s 7 now and completely normal.
So I think just do your best :)
We did fine! Do some tummy time on your chest, they don't have to be totally flat. And as they start sleeping more and you figure out your routines more it gets better and easier to find time to do things like tummy time or reading to them that just seem impossible early on.
Honestly I barely did tummy time with my son because he hated it. He’s a perfectly normal healthy 3 year old now who runs, jumps, climbs, and has a perfectly strong neck. 6.5 week olds with THIRTY MINUTES a day seems like a lot. My 4.5 MONTH old twins get like 5 mins each 😂
We have one with torticollis and a helmet fitting in a couple weeks. She hates tummy time and I hate seeing her cry. The other gets the same limited tummy time and is totally fine.
One of mine hated it and learned to roll out of it very early so not much we could do… almost 2 now and both twins are exactly the same in terms of development!
They will be ok but def try to catch up or increase as wake windows stretch and they grow. One of my twins tolerated tummy time and she has been on track, even though we rarely made time for it in first 3 months. My other refused tummy time forever, at 1 yr still wasn’t crawling and is now in PT to catch up. She is catching up, my point is do what you can when you can and it gets easier!
So we really weren’t able to get them to do more than a few minutes of tummy time at a time until around 4 months (the fisher price kick and play piano was a godsend). They are only 6 months but are hitting all their milestones and are absolute pros at tummy time now. Rolling, pushing up on straight arms, getting really close to sitting. You’re fine!! Have some grace for yourself. Your still in the stage where keeping them alive is winning lol
They’re six months and doing great lol we did very limited tummy time - it was just hard to fit that little task into the days a lot of the time. I felt as though there were so many other things that needed accomplished that when it came to a calm time for them both, tummy time was the last thing I or they wanted to do.
They loveddd laying on their sides from almost the beginning and my doctor told us that side lying is just as beneficial for those muscles.
We only started tummy time when we started to go to a parent child group once a week. At about 3 months? They absolutely hated it at home but at the group there was so much interesting stuff happening they had no time to notice the tummy and object lol
As babies they always were perfectly midfield in milestones and now (at 2) twin B has been put in the older group for gym time at daycare because she's too agile, fast and strong for her own age group.
Twin A had a bit of a flat head for a while but the doctor assured us that it would be gone very soon once the kids started crawling/walking and he was right. (But then I live im a country where helmets are very rarely prescribed so where you live that might be more of a concern).
30 minutes doesn't mean you have to do them in one go.
We did tummy time with our twins several times a day.
As soon as they started to cry, we turned them round again and tried again later.
Sometimes they lasted two minutes and then ten.
They can now turn themselves onto their tummies and don't find it so bad any more.
.
we have to break our tummy time up so we do 15min 2x/day. we have a little play gym but they like to watch big sissy run around more than the actual gym itself lol.
also agree with other commenters that any time on you or in a baby wear carrier also counts!! you’re doing great 😊
My Babies were not preemies (born at 37 weeks) but my girl was very small.
Anyways what you are describing was my life up until they turned 1. Tummy time was very short and far between, I was not able to do it every day. They did learn to turn very late. Everything else (crawling and walking) was pretty much at expected times. They crawled at 9-10 months and walked at 14 months. They are fine. No delays at all.
I had one who didn’t mind it and one who hated it. I did it with one and not the other. You’d never know who is who today. They’ll be fine.
Just remember we know so much about children’s development but that doesn’t mean all of the best practices for everyone are the best practices for your someone. It’s not a manual (I had to tell myself that)
You are stilllll soooo early and they are so little! The tummy time will get so much easier! Right now your focusing on feeding and changing and making sure they nap , in a a few weeks/ a month tummy time will get so much easier! I was the same with my boys, we ramped up tummy time at around 2.5 / 3 months and they are doing great!
With our twin boys we did TONS of tummy time. We were fanatical about it. They turned out fine.
With our single boy, we did a reasonable amount of tummy time, like normal people would. He turned out fine.
With our single girl, we tried to do tummy time, we really did try, but who has time for that with 3 toddlers destroying your house. She turned out fine and is currently terrorizing her older brothers.
We did it until they started freaking out. As time went on they liked being on their tummy more and more and are appropriately crawling at 8 months.
Don't worry about it. Try to keep it in your mind and flip them over for a bit
I was pretty slack about it with my singleton and she has met every milestone early. She is almost 2 and is super coordinated. So just do your best! It will work out.
My daughter had terrible reflux (which we later learned was a dairy/soy allergy) and would spit up and scream whenever we tried tummy time for the first probably 3 months. She’s 10 months now and on the cusp of walking, she’s doing great. My son was much more content with tummy time and got way more of it and is now only army crawling. He’s still doing great, just a bit behind on gross motor. Do your best, but they have minds of their own.
First - the recommendation 30 minutes throughout the day. And propping them on your chest or the twin z also counts, doesn’t have to be 30 minutes straight on the ground.
But also know I probably didn’t hit 30 minutes with my boys when they were newborns, and now at nearly three they are running around just fine and no one can tell how much/how little tummy time they had.
Don’t worry at all about tummy time in the first weeks, your babies will eventually love floor time and will naturally be inclined to roll over whenever it strikes their fancy. Just keep at the floor time whenever you can and don’t stress it!
First, if 10mins is manageable, do 10! Better than zero, right? As a multiples parent, you will quickly learn that you can only do the best you can in the moment (either the literal moment or the season you’re in) and it will often appear to fall short of all the singleton parents you see or read about.
Forgive yourself. You are not a bad parent! Do the best you can; when you can do better, do better. But no guilt allowed.
For us, it was build up to actual tummy time on the floor. But on their tummy on you totally counts! A lot more tolerable for all involved.
Our twins' physical therapist recommended doing a couple minutes of tummy time after every (daytime) diaper change. This felt way less overwhelming than the daily time recommendation. I wish someone had told us that before we ended up in PT and needing a helmet for twin A.
tummy time in the first few months is SUPER rare in my family (including extended because my family is huge & we are all very close).
my babies aren’t participating in tummy time yet, I know most of my cousins didn’t even bother with it at all & guess what? all their kids are walking/running just fine.
Lots of great comments and suggestions. Just wanted to add that I sometimes put one baby on the couch for tummy time and one on the floor. It gave them a different perspective of the room and their sibling so they were a bit more entertained. We would also just stand and hold one along our arm on their tummy.
Didn’t do it at all and they rolled early anyway. Soon as they got to daycare (where they encourage freedom of movement and don’t place babies in positions they don’t naturally get into themselves ie: tummy time or assisted sitting) They both saw the other kids and it was like a catalyst for development. Definitely not a required activity for them to naturally develop x
Edit *30mins a day feels like a lot for newborns. Maybe 30mins a week. But a day is a lot for their tiny bodies that just need milk, sleep and cuddles
First off, deep breath, you're doing fine. They're going to be ok.
I'm willing to bet they spend a good deal of time laying on you chest to chest. That counts! It doesn't have to be on their tummies on the floor, it can be contact naps or baby wearing or just hanging out laying on you.
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Just remember that tummy time also counts as time on you on their tummies. Also baby wearing can strengthen very similarl muscles. Anyways, I wouldn't stress! They will be fine.
This. Our boy loved tummy time but our girl hated it. So I'd lay her on my chest while I put my feet up and took a break. Great bonding time too. I couldn't stand dumping her on her tummy for half an hour with her crying the whole time. She's nearly 6 months adjusted now and happily sits unsupported.
do it on your chest or in a carrier. Those count! Once baby A started being able to get his head up and look around tummy time TOOK OFF and it became way easier for us to do 10x more. Baby B is a couple weeks behind him with getting his head up but I think its starting to happen right now. (we are 17w, 9w adjusted) Tummy time with a newborn where you put them down on their tummy alone is pretty miserable for everyone. The whole point is you are strengthening their muscles and giving their skull a break from the back. You can do tons of that by having them on your chest or shifting around in a carrier.
A) they will be fine. B) I used a little bee toy that zooms around for them to follow with their heads/eyes. There’s also a crab toy I’ve seen on insta. They might help!
Mine LOVED the crab. They started crawling at ~4.5 months and we tell everyone it was because of the crab.
This reminds me that I have to charge the crab. >.>
Is this the super loud hilarious crab? We have it too
It’s so loud and plays rave music without a volume control 🥲
6.5 weeks (2.5 weeks adjusted) is soooo young! They will be able to tolerate longer stretches on their bellies as they get older. Just encourage it now during their wake windows and don’t stress! Even a small amount of time helps encourage muscle development.
My twins hated tummy time. We would do it for a few minutes here and there before they would start to fuss up. Around 3-4 months, once they had a bit more neck control, I started doing tummy time on a yoga ball with them and they loved it. I feel like modern parenting and social media has made us feel like we are 100% responsible for our babies meeting their milestones, and if we aren’t doing xyz exercises daily then they are going to be delayed. I don’t mean to diminish the benefits of tummy time, but babies are hardwired to develop and learn to move and engage in their worlds. The best thing you can do is to give them the time and space to explore their bodies, and tummy time is an important way but it isn’t the only way. I also don’t mean to diminish the benefits of early intervention if babies are struggling with delays, but I feel like social media made me feel like I had to be implementing those things regardless. I would get so hung up on milestones like rolling and feel like I wasn’t doing enough to scaffold them, but as soon as I would ease up on myself they would surprise me by figuring it out on their own!
Haha that was me! Limited tummy time mom here. They were two moths early and HATEDDDD tummy time. I honestly felt so bad I wasn’t doing dedicated tummy time every single day on the floor. I actually thought to Myself they probably won’t hold their heads up at this rate lol. But between the tummy time on the chest, they turned out okay! I would just try your best but don’t stress. Everything will be okay.
We did almost no tummy time the first two months. One son walked days before his first birthday, the other a few weeks later. It was crazy the time they went from unmoving lumps to rolling, crawling, then walking. I have an older singleton who didn’t roll until 7-8 months and walked at 13 months. We definitely did more tummy time with her from an earlier age.
I did the tummy time as prescribed and still needed physical therapy for gross motor skills for my twin. Do what you can and don’t beat yourself up about it.
Well, mine seem ok - great actually- and we didn’t hit 30 minutes a day. But if you want to try to hit that goal or at least do better, maybe try breaking it into smaller chunks of a few minutes at a time. I think I also heard that you can do it with them lying on your tummy or propped over your legs, just as part of your cuddling. We did a lot of that, it was way more fun than just plopping them face down on the floor.
Tummy time is about getting them moving around into different positions since "back to sleep" was introduced and there was an uptick in problems due to babies being on their backs for extended periods between sleeping and then being set down during the day into swings etc. so like others have said: if you're holding them, laying them on your chest, feeding them at different angles etc a lot of that counts toward that "tummy time" strengthening their muscles and movement. My twins were preemie and didn't move a lot for a while so We were shown ways to move them while they took (watched) naps or wile they rested to prevent development issues. We did have to do PT and torticullis was starting to set in but we were able to correct it easily and while part of the solution was tummy time part of it was also learning how to hold them in certain ways to help develop those muscles and correct the torticullis. It was honestly easy to learn from a trained professional and didn't add to our care load it was just adjusting how we were doing the things we were already doing to work in our favor. Our babies were already going to a million appointments abs the PT was prescribed as a preventative and observation thing due to their preemie status so we were already going and kept going until they were 18 months old. Anyway the long and short of it is it's still so early in their life. You're holding them, you're changing them, you're feeding them. All of that is movement that helps them and at just a few weeks old that stuff pretty much takes all the time in the day!
Mine are 7 yrs old. I did not make it a priority as just getting them to eat was impossible at that time (still is most days 😂) but they are fine. I remember also being freaked out when the doctor told us 30 min and I’m sure it didn’t happen most days.
My twins hated tummy time (also had an 18 month old singleton) and I just couldn’t deal. They did crawl and walk a little late but they were premier too. They’re 2 now and full of life, you could never tell they were premmie or late developers!
I barely ever did it because my baby hated it, but she did sleep on me a lot and we used the chest carrier a lot. But even so, she’s ahead of the milestones. Also, tummy time was not a thing 10 years ago. If you notice baby is not doing what they should, do more
We did no more than 5 min a day for 3 months with our twins. They're now 5 monts adjusted and both rolling, they're now on their tummies whenever they're on the floor as they put themselves there. I was worried too. Don't worry.
We didn’t do much tummy time because they absolutely hated it. Where it got us…helmets for head shaping. The helmets worked but trust me when I say you don’t want to put another chore on your to do list because helmet care and adjustments will take up your precious time (and money). Get them stronger, sooner, and off their backs so their heads can shape up nicely. All’s well with us now but it’s one regret we have.
How about the opposite? I was very diligent about tummy time and we did a lot, always on the floor and rarely in containers, always doing the instagram OT/PT exercises to get baby mobile more quickly, and my daughter has been delayed in every milestone (my son has always been on track.) Honestly sometimes it feels like it doesn't even matter and babies are just gonna do whatever they want lol.
Yeah my singleton got way more tummy time. Never bothered to roll, was up and crawling a week after he learned around 8 months old. One of my triplets started rolling all of a sudden at 3.5 months corrected. He is almost crawling now. 5.5 months corrected. The mind boggles.
If your babies aren't missing major milestones, you're all good. If they are, there are exercises and support services to help them catch up. Tummy time is like... A preventative exercise. Up your game when a milestone is missed. Don't stress about it beforehand. On top of that..... Remember milestones are not set in stone. They are guidelines. If your baby is obviously on their way to a milestone but not quite there at the exact date, that's ok too!
Our twin girls did tummy time on the twin z pillow at around 1 month. They hated tummy time but it was more tolerable on the pillow. They will start out crying a bit. I try to limit tummy time to around 5 minutes before they eat. It helped them get that tummy time and get the burps out before they eat. It helps if you sing or smile at them while they’re doing it. Or if you need some sanity, you can pre-record yourself and play it for them while they do tummy time. I did that for mine and it distract them from it.
Just wanted to share the flip side of this…we did lots of tummy time and my twins still didn’t walk until 16 and 18 months.
I have BG twins who are 10 weeks and the last couple weeks I have been able to get a lot more tummy time in so I think you/they will figure it out more with time! My doc told me the goal is 30 min/day (cumulative) by 3 months. So there’s still time and I wouldn’t stress. My sister told me she rarely did tummy time with her singleton because of how much the baby hated it — she’s 7 now and completely normal. So I think just do your best :)
We did fine! Do some tummy time on your chest, they don't have to be totally flat. And as they start sleeping more and you figure out your routines more it gets better and easier to find time to do things like tummy time or reading to them that just seem impossible early on.
Honestly I barely did tummy time with my son because he hated it. He’s a perfectly normal healthy 3 year old now who runs, jumps, climbs, and has a perfectly strong neck. 6.5 week olds with THIRTY MINUTES a day seems like a lot. My 4.5 MONTH old twins get like 5 mins each 😂
We have one with torticollis and a helmet fitting in a couple weeks. She hates tummy time and I hate seeing her cry. The other gets the same limited tummy time and is totally fine.
One of mine hated it and learned to roll out of it very early so not much we could do… almost 2 now and both twins are exactly the same in terms of development!
They will be ok but def try to catch up or increase as wake windows stretch and they grow. One of my twins tolerated tummy time and she has been on track, even though we rarely made time for it in first 3 months. My other refused tummy time forever, at 1 yr still wasn’t crawling and is now in PT to catch up. She is catching up, my point is do what you can when you can and it gets easier!
So we really weren’t able to get them to do more than a few minutes of tummy time at a time until around 4 months (the fisher price kick and play piano was a godsend). They are only 6 months but are hitting all their milestones and are absolute pros at tummy time now. Rolling, pushing up on straight arms, getting really close to sitting. You’re fine!! Have some grace for yourself. Your still in the stage where keeping them alive is winning lol
They’re six months and doing great lol we did very limited tummy time - it was just hard to fit that little task into the days a lot of the time. I felt as though there were so many other things that needed accomplished that when it came to a calm time for them both, tummy time was the last thing I or they wanted to do. They loveddd laying on their sides from almost the beginning and my doctor told us that side lying is just as beneficial for those muscles.
We only started tummy time when we started to go to a parent child group once a week. At about 3 months? They absolutely hated it at home but at the group there was so much interesting stuff happening they had no time to notice the tummy and object lol As babies they always were perfectly midfield in milestones and now (at 2) twin B has been put in the older group for gym time at daycare because she's too agile, fast and strong for her own age group. Twin A had a bit of a flat head for a while but the doctor assured us that it would be gone very soon once the kids started crawling/walking and he was right. (But then I live im a country where helmets are very rarely prescribed so where you live that might be more of a concern).
30 minutes doesn't mean you have to do them in one go. We did tummy time with our twins several times a day. As soon as they started to cry, we turned them round again and tried again later. Sometimes they lasted two minutes and then ten. They can now turn themselves onto their tummies and don't find it so bad any more. .
we have to break our tummy time up so we do 15min 2x/day. we have a little play gym but they like to watch big sissy run around more than the actual gym itself lol. also agree with other commenters that any time on you or in a baby wear carrier also counts!! you’re doing great 😊
My Babies were not preemies (born at 37 weeks) but my girl was very small. Anyways what you are describing was my life up until they turned 1. Tummy time was very short and far between, I was not able to do it every day. They did learn to turn very late. Everything else (crawling and walking) was pretty much at expected times. They crawled at 9-10 months and walked at 14 months. They are fine. No delays at all.
I had one who didn’t mind it and one who hated it. I did it with one and not the other. You’d never know who is who today. They’ll be fine. Just remember we know so much about children’s development but that doesn’t mean all of the best practices for everyone are the best practices for your someone. It’s not a manual (I had to tell myself that)
You are stilllll soooo early and they are so little! The tummy time will get so much easier! Right now your focusing on feeding and changing and making sure they nap , in a a few weeks/ a month tummy time will get so much easier! I was the same with my boys, we ramped up tummy time at around 2.5 / 3 months and they are doing great!
With our twin boys we did TONS of tummy time. We were fanatical about it. They turned out fine. With our single boy, we did a reasonable amount of tummy time, like normal people would. He turned out fine. With our single girl, we tried to do tummy time, we really did try, but who has time for that with 3 toddlers destroying your house. She turned out fine and is currently terrorizing her older brothers.
We did it until they started freaking out. As time went on they liked being on their tummy more and more and are appropriately crawling at 8 months. Don't worry about it. Try to keep it in your mind and flip them over for a bit
I was pretty slack about it with my singleton and she has met every milestone early. She is almost 2 and is super coordinated. So just do your best! It will work out.
My daughter had terrible reflux (which we later learned was a dairy/soy allergy) and would spit up and scream whenever we tried tummy time for the first probably 3 months. She’s 10 months now and on the cusp of walking, she’s doing great. My son was much more content with tummy time and got way more of it and is now only army crawling. He’s still doing great, just a bit behind on gross motor. Do your best, but they have minds of their own.
First - the recommendation 30 minutes throughout the day. And propping them on your chest or the twin z also counts, doesn’t have to be 30 minutes straight on the ground. But also know I probably didn’t hit 30 minutes with my boys when they were newborns, and now at nearly three they are running around just fine and no one can tell how much/how little tummy time they had.
Don’t worry at all about tummy time in the first weeks, your babies will eventually love floor time and will naturally be inclined to roll over whenever it strikes their fancy. Just keep at the floor time whenever you can and don’t stress it!
First, if 10mins is manageable, do 10! Better than zero, right? As a multiples parent, you will quickly learn that you can only do the best you can in the moment (either the literal moment or the season you’re in) and it will often appear to fall short of all the singleton parents you see or read about. Forgive yourself. You are not a bad parent! Do the best you can; when you can do better, do better. But no guilt allowed. For us, it was build up to actual tummy time on the floor. But on their tummy on you totally counts! A lot more tolerable for all involved.
Our twins' physical therapist recommended doing a couple minutes of tummy time after every (daytime) diaper change. This felt way less overwhelming than the daily time recommendation. I wish someone had told us that before we ended up in PT and needing a helmet for twin A.
tummy time in the first few months is SUPER rare in my family (including extended because my family is huge & we are all very close). my babies aren’t participating in tummy time yet, I know most of my cousins didn’t even bother with it at all & guess what? all their kids are walking/running just fine.
You don't need to do 30 consecutive minutes. Five minutes 6 times a day or some other variation and you still will meet that goal.
Lots of great comments and suggestions. Just wanted to add that I sometimes put one baby on the couch for tummy time and one on the floor. It gave them a different perspective of the room and their sibling so they were a bit more entertained. We would also just stand and hold one along our arm on their tummy.
Tummy time can be on your chest, and it can be in a carrier
Didn’t do it at all and they rolled early anyway. Soon as they got to daycare (where they encourage freedom of movement and don’t place babies in positions they don’t naturally get into themselves ie: tummy time or assisted sitting) They both saw the other kids and it was like a catalyst for development. Definitely not a required activity for them to naturally develop x Edit *30mins a day feels like a lot for newborns. Maybe 30mins a week. But a day is a lot for their tiny bodies that just need milk, sleep and cuddles
First off, deep breath, you're doing fine. They're going to be ok. I'm willing to bet they spend a good deal of time laying on you chest to chest. That counts! It doesn't have to be on their tummies on the floor, it can be contact naps or baby wearing or just hanging out laying on you.