25 Aug Is your baby not enjoying tummy time? Is your baby not yet rolling? Is your baby not able to sit up by themselves yet?

Did you know that the first rule of survival is to learn to HOLD YOUR HEAD UP? Neck muscle strength is so crucial in head control and building neck muscle strength begins right from Day 1. Tummy time is the key exercise to building neck muscle strength and helping baby to learn to hold their head up. It takes time for neck muscles to strengthen so baby needs to be doing tummy time twice a day starting at 10-15minutes per session building up to 1 hour per session.

Once baby is able to hold their head up, they will enjoy being on their tummy for longer. This will allow baby to explore and move and learn to reach for toys. Rolling will soon become a reality and sitting will be possible. Until your child masters head control, trying to learn rolling, sitting, crawling and walking is near impossible. Without good head control, even learning to eat and swallow becomes challenging at mealtimes. Without good head control, even breathing is challenging!

So if you haven’t been doing Tummy Time with your child, there’s never a better time than now to start. Begin with baby on your chest while you are lying down, so that baby has to hold their head up to look at you.

If you have concerns about your child and their head control, reach out to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists at My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to find out how we can help your child.

#tummytime #myfavouritephysio #specialneedskids #specialneeds #cerebralpalsy #grossmotorskills #earlyintervention #babyphysio #kidsphysio #bankstown #physio #physiotherapy