23 Feb 😬Do you place your child on their back all the time because they “hate” Tummy Time 🥴However, baby now has developed a flatten head shape from lying on their back so much, you feel the need to prop them upright either in sitting or using a Baby Walker
Tummy Time is essential for babies
 because it helps babies to learn to strengthen their neck and shoulder muscles to improve their head control. Tummy Time also helps prevent a flatten head shape in babies, as they are not spending all day lying on the back of their heads. Many parents struggle with helping babies with Tummy Time and will mistake baby’s cries as baby “hating” Tummy Time. As a result, parents tend not to practice Tummy Time with their baby.
Over a period of 6 to 8 weeks, a newborn baby can very rapidly develop a flat spot on the back of their head where they rest their head the most. In respond to the mis-shapened head shape, parents will commonly start to prop their baby up in sitting or place them into a Baby Walker to stand. 
Placing babies into Baby Walkers is the worst thing to do, because statistically, Baby Walkers are the number 1 cause for head injuries in children under 5 years old. What usually happens in such accidents is baby either pulls items off the table edge down onto their head, or fall down steps while in the Baby Walker left free to roam around the house.
In addition, Baby Walker have been shown to cause delays in baby’s gross motor skills because baby is not spending time on their tummies and strengthening their neck, shoulder and core muscles to learn to roll, sit or crawl. Furthermore, if a baby spends a lot of time in a Baby Walker, they are more likely to learn to tip toe walk because they learn to push themselves forward by pushing through their toes. 
If you are struggling to carry out Tummy Time with your baby, reach out to My Favourite Physio on
 (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists 
today!
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