Tummy Time: Why It Matters and How to Make It Actually Work

Since the Back to Sleep campaign in the 1990s dramatically reduced SIDS rates by putting babies on their backs to sleep, tummy time has become the deliberate counterbalance — supervised, awake time on the stomach that gives babies the muscle-building practice they used to get more incidentally. It's not optional extra credit; it's how a baby builds the neck, shoulder, and core strength needed for rolling, sitting, and eventually crawling.

When to start

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting tummy time from the first days home from the hospital — not waiting until a baby has some head control first. That's a common misunderstanding worth correcting directly: head control is the outcome of tummy time, not a prerequisite for beginning it.

How much, realistically

• Newborns: several sessions a day, 2–5 minutes each, right after a diaper change or nap while they're calm and alert

• By 2 months: working toward 15–30 minutes total per day, spread across short sessions

• By 3–4 months: the AAP's target is roughly 30 minutes of total tummy time per day

• By 6 months: up to 60 minutes a day is a reasonable goal, continuing until baby is crawling on their own

If your baby hates it — and many do

A baby who screams the moment they're placed on their stomach isn't unusual, and it doesn't mean tummy time should stop — it means the approach needs adjusting. A few things that genuinely help: doing it on your chest instead of the floor at first (your heartbeat and voice are calming, and it's still tummy-down work), keeping sessions very short and frequent rather than one long stretch, getting down on the floor at eye level to interact rather than leaving baby alone, and using a rolled towel under the chest for extra support in the earliest weeks.

What to avoid

Tummy time should always be supervised — never leave a baby unattended on their stomach, and it should never be used as a substitute for the back-sleeping position at naptime or bedtime. The two guidelines work together, not against each other: back to sleep, tummy to play.

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