Thursday, May 22, 2008

Flat and Twisted

My baby has a nasty flat spot, and he keeps his head mostly in the same direction (he can turn, just doesn't want to). We are taking him for physical therapy week after next to help him turn his head more easily. In the meantime I need to do more tummy time with him...

I need ideas - really, really... My boy HATES tummy time. He isn't learning to pick up his head, and he just falls asleep after getting really frustrated with the whole idea.

I've tried toys - works for a few seconds and then... yawn zzzzzzzzzz.

I've tried singing - whaaaaaaaaaaa (might be me though)

I've tried being his little drill sargent - whaaaaaaaaaaaa

I've tried using a Boppy pillow to prop his chest up - he almost suffocated because he couldn't lift his head out of the stuffing. VERY scary for Mommy!!!

Help me! I need more tummy time ideas!!!!! Even if you think I say I've tried it, it is OK to reiterate what worked for you. The more detail the better!!! Oh, and if you have flat spot or Torti.collis stories to share please do.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Chieftain, though he will suffer being on the floor for tummy time, prefers to chill on us as we recline on a the sofa or a chair. Be at a good angle, not too upright, not too flat on the back. I suspect Jim will do the same thing as the Chieftain, that is, practice lifting his head and looking around.

Be careful of your nose, though, the side to side control takes a little while...

Unknown said...

Oh, I'm sorry. Maggie never liked tummy time, either. Still doesn't, in fact. We're going to PT as well, because at her 9 month appt, she wasn't making any attempt to move (crawl, scoot, pull up, sit up, roll, etc).

But you asked about tummy time ideas: the one thing I could get her to do was to have tummy time on a yoga ball. I would drape her over the ball, hold onto her feet, and roll her back and forth. She thought it was very funny.

Hopeful Mother said...

Hi there, I have some info on torticollis.

Our little Alex had a minor case (since he was so cramped up with his brother in there!). Honestly, our doctor didn't diagnose it until we bugged him about it and we were so worried. (after Alex was about 2 months old) Alex would only turn his head in one direction, and he often slumped his head down when in the carseat or being held. His head was never flat but he did have the torticollis.

The therapy that we did involved holding his head straight between our hands and counting to 10 - and then repeating 3 times - during each diaper change. That worked really well, and after just a few weeks there was a significant difference.

He was delayed compared to his twin brother as far as independent head support, probably about 1 1/2 months late - but he is now doing great and is better on his tummy than his brother.

Just wanted to give you some reassurance that it can be "remedied" with a lot of persistence on your part!

MrsSpock said...

Wish I had some useful advice, but alas, no...I hope our guy's gaze preference doesn't turn into this...

Stacie said...

I wish I had something to help you, but I don't have anything. Jason will just give up and go to sleep on his tummy, too. He has pretty good head control (he would pick it up and hold it if he was lying against our chest), but the earlier days were the pits because he would never try when on the mat. And then there is Shawn, who would never be on his tummy long enough for tummy time. He would just automatically roll over! Does it help for me to say that it doesn't seem to be an issue for either one now? Good luck.

Furrow said...

They all hate it at first. Zo would scream and cry and then fall asleep. We just started letting her nap on her tummy (while we were in the room) and that seemed to turn it into a good thing for her. The one thing that would get her moving was to put her pacifier just out of reach. She would wiggle and stretch and scream for it, and when she got it, she would collapse in exhaustion. Kinda mean, but now you can't keep her off her belly. She started crawling at 6.5 months, though, and is a danger magnet, so be careful what you wish for.