Sunday, August 17, 2025

Pediatric Bodily Therapist Goes Viral On TikTok About Tummy Time Myths

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Tummy time — the apply of inserting your toddler on their abdomen for a couple of minutes at a time — is often one in every of a child’s first workouts, typically used as a approach to construct muscle energy of their neck, again, and shoulders. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not less than 15 to half-hour whole day by day by 7 weeks of age, with that quantity rising as an toddler continues to develop.

If a baby doesn’t very warm to the thought of being positioned on their abdomen, tummy time “necessities” can rapidly change into a stressor on a guardian fearful about their baby’s muscle groups and mobility.

However one American mother on TikTok, who gave delivery to each her kids in France, just lately revealed that tummy time with infants is “not a factor” within the nation; each of her pediatricians have been confused as to why the brand new mother was even asking about it.

“I had a number of professionals being like, ‘You shouldn’t be placing your child in uncomfortable positions particularly in the event that they’re not already getting themselves into that place. In the event that they’re rolling over onto their tummy, that’s one factor, however in case you placing them in positions that they aren’t in a position to get into naturally is developmentally inappropriate,” she mentioned.

After that video went viral, Dr. Bonnie Soto, a pediatric bodily therapist and a mother herself, made her personal video about tummy time, reminding mother and father that sure, it’s one thing advisable in America. However there are many methods to assist a child construct muscle.

“Okay, have you ever seen that video by now of the mother who had two infants in France and he or she introduced up tummy time to the pediatricians there and so they have been like, ‘No, no, no, no, we do not try this. Do not put your child in positions that they cannot get into on their very own. Tummy time is just not a factor’?” she requested.

“You realize, in case you stay right here in the US, in case you’ve been round my web page for some time, that tummy time is an enormous factor, and it’s important, however I do not suppose in the best way that individuals perceive.”

Soto explains that the thought behind tummy time actually took off after the “Again To Sleep” marketing campaign began gaining reputation.

“Infants have been getting a lot of quick little bouts of tummy time all through the day once they have been laid all the way down to sleep. There have been infants sleeping on their stomach. They’d get up, press up and go searching for a scorching second, and folks would transfer on,” she continued.

She explains that after the mother and father have been instructed that infants can’t be positioned on their bellies for sleep underneath any circumstances, mother and father started to take that notion into their on a regular basis. Quickly, mother and father have been inserting their youngsters in swings, bounce chairs, playpens, and so on.

“Folks have been sort of like overcompensating, overreacting there too and never inserting them on their bellies for play both, in all probability out of concern,” she defined. “This type of like uptick to the period of time that infants have been spending in containers as a result of they may maintain them on their backs there. So. we noticed an enormous enhance in torticollis and plegeosephaly.”

Torticollis, also called wryneck, is a situation the place a child’s neck muscle groups trigger their head to twist and tilt to as soon as facet. Plagiocephaly develops when an toddler’s tender cranium turns into flattened in a single space, as a consequence of repeated stress on one a part of the top.

Quickly sufficient, tummy time was being advisable by pediatricians with tips of how a lot and the way lengthy to apply the exercise.

“I believe mother and father get actually wired about it,” Soto mentioned. “Then it turns into this huge to-do, like, ‘Oh my god — I’ve to suit tummy time in,’ and oldsters are being instructed issues like your child has to do an hour of tummy time a day. Oh my gosh, that is loopy.”

As a substitute of regimented tummy time exercise on the ground, Soto suggests different ways in which mother and father can get in that muscle strengthening time with out having to emphasize about their child screaming on the ground throughout an often-despised bodily exercise.

“Roll in to tummy time after a diaper change for a couple of minutes and you may sit and chit chat with them. Your child wants to love snuggle you in your chest and take a nap, take a contact nap, get within the child service, or simply lay there and chit chat in your face as you are leaning again. These are like all a part of a tummy time program,” she mentioned.

“Your child wants free, unrestricted motion,” she added. “They want reference to you. You simply holding your child, snuggling them, shifting them round in several positions is sweet for his or her improvement.”

As for Soto’s ideas about French pediatricians and their ideas about tummy time, she’s calling a little bit little bit of B.S.

“Infants are fully depending on us for his or her positioning,” she mentioned. “So, this entire concept that we should not be placing them in positions that they cannot get into themselves… they cannot get into any positions by themselves. So, that is baloney,” she mentioned.

Although Soto nonetheless believes within the necessary of tummy time, she additionally notes that the act of constructing a baby’s neck muscle groups, again, and shoulders ought to not be a aggravating occasion for fogeys and infants alike.

“Infants shouldn’t be uncomfortable in tummy time. They should not be crying and fussing. You should not must pressure them to do it,” she concluded.

In line with the American Academy of Pediatrics, tummy time is crucial for a child’s muscle improvement. Pediatricians suggest that by about 2 months of age, infants get 15 to half-hour of whole tummy time day by day. Child hating tummy time? Place your self or a toy in attain for them to play with.

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