Home Gym

The following are some suggestions for anyone whose newborn hates tummy time. And when I say 'hate', I mean truly abhors it!

The best thing I ever bought is a wedge. It's made of foam so it's comfortable and sturdy at the same time, and I always put a blanket or quilt over it in order to keep it clean. Much easier to throw the blanket/quilt in the wash than the wedge.

We used (use) the wedge in a lot of different ways. The most obvious is putting Anna on her belly and putting toys in front of her to encourage her to stay on her belly. We also positioned her so that her shoulders were at the top and her hands dangled over the edge - we put the toys on the floor to encourage her to play in this position for awhile. We did this particular exercise to strengthen her neck and shoulders. We also put a bench in front of the wedge and placed toys out of reach to encourage her to look up and turn her head in different directions.

The wedge also taught her how to go from a lying down position to a sitting position. In fact, I didn't think she able to do this and one day she just did! I was so focused on the belly time and teaching her how to roll back and forth that I didn't show her how to transition in this way. And because it seemed that up until now I had to show her what her body could do, I was certainly surprised when she showed me instead! It was a very triumphant moment for sure!

Once she learned to do this by pushing up with her left side, we would offer her left hand our hand so that she could sit up by pushing up on her right side and holding onto our hand. Even though she still only goes from lying to sitting on her left side, this exercise made her more aware of her right side which was an important part of her overall development.

Now that Anna can walk and crawl we use the wedge sparingly, but it's still a great tool. We let her crawl up it and she likes to walk up it too even though she tends to lose her balance. But now she just gets up and continues on with her game!

It's amazing - I have spent so much time with her because of her situation and have been so concerned that she would have an unnatural attachment to me as she grew. But she astounds me every day by her independence and the stubbornness that goes along with it. We've learned that Anna tells us in her own way when she's not ready to learn something and are surprised over and over again when she acquires a new skill. We're just so proud of our baby girl!