TUMMYTIME!™ METHOD CLASSES
Why Does Your Baby Need Tummy Time?
Babies need to be active from birth. Tummy time is a great way to encourage your baby to get moving and start building muscle strength. By giving your baby a chance to develop their muscles, you will be helping to stimulate your baby’s development. Your baby is learning how to move their body outside of the womb. It is important for your baby to learn to use his or her neck, shoulder and arm muscles when in tummy time.
Why is tummy time important?
The TummyTime!™ Method (TTM) is important because it works on sensory and reflex integration, it's great for stretching and giving abdominal organs a massage and it’s FUN. Tummy Time is the foundation of all sensorimotor skills throughout life!
Tummy Time!™ Method was developed by occupational therapist Michelle Emanuel, and is "a scientific, evidence informed program developed to uniquely address the needs of babies in the newborn to precrawling stage of life." (M. Emanuel).
Some of the Benefits:
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Posture: Promotes optimal head shape - Most babies are sleeping on their backs, so they spend long periods of time with pressure on one area of the head. Babies are then placed on their backs to play, further reinforcing the pressure on that area of the head. Over time and through the influence of gravity, this can lead to a flat spot on the side baby likes to turn to.
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Health: Eases tummy function -helps to reduce reflux and gas, promotes optimal bowel movements
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Movement: Encourages movement and developmental progression - It is the key to typical development of movements and motor skills. It helps build arm and hand function, prepares baby for sitting and crawling.
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Optimizes tongue and oral function - tummy time is the BEST position for baby to engage in strengthening tongue and oral skills for optimal latch and feeding.
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Facilitates sensory skills - hand to mouth, sensory input to mouth, lips and tongue all happen easily in tummy time.
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Promotes visual development - builds visual motor skills, looking up, binocular vision, moving eyes side to side independent of head movements.
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Connection: It's best for baby's neurodevelopment to have support and connection from a parent, sibling or family pet during tummy time. Engaging in back and forth facial expressions, vocalizing back and forth, smiling and encouraging touch helps babies feel safe and secure in tummy time. When babies feel safe and secure, they can enjoy the experience of learning to move and play.
"If anyone has an infant, I HIGHLY recommend this class!!! We have worked with Beth for 8 weeks and the difference we see in H is incredible! She is SO amazing and has taught us so much unbelievable information!" Michelle
How much Tummy Time does my baby need?
Your baby should work up to an hour of Tummy Time per day by 3 months of age. Aim for a few minutes at a time, several times a day.
Don’t get discouraged. Every bit of Tummy Time with your baby makes a difference.
