This weekend marked a momentus occasion for Mr. Ranjit Singh; not only was it his parent's one year anniversary, it was also the first weekend where Ranjit was consistently able to stay on his tummy with his arms supporting him for 5 minutes at one time. Big deal, you say? It is, it is!!Why? Until 1994, when the American Academy of Pediatrics started urging parents to put babies to sleep on their back, most babies slept on their tummy and were used to being in that position. Today, most babies are much more comfy on their back, where they spend their sleeping hours (not to mention time spent in car seats, swings and bouncy seats). As a result, it is recommended that as much of a baby's wakefulness be on their tummy, or tummy time, so that they can eventually learn to crawl. This is usually met with much fussing from babies, since they are just not used to this perspective. The fact that their head is so big and heavy probably doesn't help either.
Our little Ranjit is no exception. I don't know if he's too young despise anything at this age, but if he isn't, it's safe to say that he DESPISED tummy time. From the first week our doctor started recommending that we put him on his belly for a few minutes a day so that he would be used to the position. When we got him home and turned him over (that itself being a challenging feat for me), he started whimpering and crying so heartbreakingly that I immediately flipped him back on his back. I thought it would get better as time went on but it never failed;it seemed like he would only be able to spend 10 seconds at the most on his belly before he started looking at me like I was betraying him somehow.
So the first two months came and went with several failed miserable attempts to put him on his belly, which I thought would remedy itself as he got older and he developed better neck control. (besides, I thought anything that can make a baby cry that much must not be right, right?) When we went to the doctor for his two month check up, however, I was slightly frazzled to learn that Ranjit's head was getting a little flat from being on his back too much. Upon more research I was even more alarmed to hear that since the "Back to Sleep campaign", there has been an epidemic of plagiocephaly, or "flat head syndrome". While this syndrome is more a question of aesthetics, its remedy (a baby helmet) is expensive and uncomfortable for the baby, who has to wear the helmet for 6 months.
Thus I became a Tummy Time Nazi, making sure Ranjit gets at least 10 minutes of tummy time a dat, whether it be on my belly, Ajit's belly, Sunita mami's lap (it's so cute, you have to look at her in action), his boppy or just on the floor. We recently learned the "monkey hold", which also gives him his tummy time. Crying or no, I knew that Ranjit would never forgive me if I let his head get flat and made him wear a helmet for his infancy.
And it worked!! He is now able to support his neck quite comfortably, which makes me happy to no bounds. So here I present all his forms of tummy time, which resulted in the above picture. Hooray for Ranjit!
Our little Ranjit is no exception. I don't know if he's too young despise anything at this age, but if he isn't, it's safe to say that he DESPISED tummy time. From the first week our doctor started recommending that we put him on his belly for a few minutes a day so that he would be used to the position. When we got him home and turned him over (that itself being a challenging feat for me), he started whimpering and crying so heartbreakingly that I immediately flipped him back on his back. I thought it would get better as time went on but it never failed;it seemed like he would only be able to spend 10 seconds at the most on his belly before he started looking at me like I was betraying him somehow.
So the first two months came and went with several failed miserable attempts to put him on his belly, which I thought would remedy itself as he got older and he developed better neck control. (besides, I thought anything that can make a baby cry that much must not be right, right?) When we went to the doctor for his two month check up, however, I was slightly frazzled to learn that Ranjit's head was getting a little flat from being on his back too much. Upon more research I was even more alarmed to hear that since the "Back to Sleep campaign", there has been an epidemic of plagiocephaly, or "flat head syndrome". While this syndrome is more a question of aesthetics, its remedy (a baby helmet) is expensive and uncomfortable for the baby, who has to wear the helmet for 6 months.
Thus I became a Tummy Time Nazi, making sure Ranjit gets at least 10 minutes of tummy time a dat, whether it be on my belly, Ajit's belly, Sunita mami's lap (it's so cute, you have to look at her in action), his boppy or just on the floor. We recently learned the "monkey hold", which also gives him his tummy time. Crying or no, I knew that Ranjit would never forgive me if I let his head get flat and made him wear a helmet for his infancy.
And it worked!! He is now able to support his neck quite comfortably, which makes me happy to no bounds. So here I present all his forms of tummy time, which resulted in the above picture. Hooray for Ranjit!
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