Tummy Time Tools^SM

Tummy Time Tools provides parents with ideas and activities to make sure your baby gets enough time on his tummy throughout the day, while he is awake and supervised. These activities include handling, carrying, diapering, positioning, feeding and playing with your baby. Increasing the amount of time your baby lies on his tummy:

• Promotes muscle development in the neck and shoulders
• Helps prevent tight neck muscles and the development of flat areas on the back of the baby’s head
• Helps build the muscles your baby needs to roll, sit and crawl

Tummy Time Tools

Download a printer-friendly copy of Tummy Time Tools:

English Spanish French

Japanese German Swedish

Why Do Babies Need Tummy Time?

Babies need tummy time because they are spending more and more time on their backs. In the early 90s, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Back to Sleep program successfully decreased the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in the United States by 40 percent by encouraging parents to place their babies on their backs to sleep. Around the same time, a number of infant carriers that doubled as car seats and carriers became widely used. This combination of back sleeping at night and daytime pressure on the infant’s head can create a flattening of the skull.

When a baby develops flat areas on the back of the head and possibly the forehead, it’s called plagiocephaly. Often, this flattening is made worse by a condition called torticollis. Torticollis is a single muscle or group of muscles that are tight or weak on one side of the neck, causing a baby to tilt or turn to one side. The muscle fibers can shorten because of continued resting in one position.

It is very important that an infant be placed on his back to sleep. However, it is also important to a baby's development that he get supervised tummy time and constant repositioning throughout the day.

The activities in Tummy Time Tools increase your cuddle time and contact with your baby and will enhance the time you spend together. Teach these activities to family members and other caretakers, so the activities become an important part of your baby’s day.

Tummy Time Is:

• Any activity that keeps your baby from lying flat in one position against a hard, supporting surface
• Anytime you carry, position or play with your baby while he is on his belly
• Beneficial to babies of all ages
• Fun, and it can be designed to be easy or challenging for your baby
• Adaptable, and changes as your baby grows and develops strength
• Always supervised—never leave your baby alone on his tummy
• A great time to bond with your baby
• More enjoyable when you play music or give your baby interesting toys to look at and play with

For More Information

If you would like to order a large quantity of Tummy Time Tools, please contact Colleen O'Berry at colleen.o'berry@choa.org or 404-785-5684.