Tummy Time...Isn't All It's Cracked Up To Be

So you go to the pediatrician who tells you all of these things you should and shouldn't be doing with your baby:

• Place your baby on her back to sleep
• Don't leave blankets in with your child while she's sleeping to eliminate the possibility of suffocation.
• Don't swaddle your baby for bedtime or naps.
• File their nails instead of using clippers.
• Give them plenty of tummy time.
• Don't give infants/toddlers milk, peanut butter, strawberries, or egg whites until they are at least 1 year old.

Most of these things are sound pieces of advice and should be followed to the T. Blankets in a crib can cause suffocation. Swaddling baby kind of falls in this category also. Filing nails, while it is a HUGE pain sometimes with such tiny fingers that do not like to be held still for any length of time at all, is much better than trying to use clippers and taking a chunk out of your baby's nails (sorry for the imagery but that's how I look at it). Also, not giving them those certain types of foods is good because it can help prevent allergies of those certain types of foods. All of these things are great pieces of advice. The two pieces of advice that I have found difficult for Lola to live by are: putting her on her back to sleep and tummy time. Lola absolutely will NOT sleep on her back. She might lay there for a few minutes but then she decides that she does not want to be there anymore and demands for us to flip her over. Yes she is a pancake baby: she needs to be flipped at the appropriate time.

Proof of her sleeping on her tummy. My pediatrician's worst nightmare.

Another rule that I have found to be very difficult for a 2 month old is tummy time. (If any new moms read this and have any ideas of how to make it better please let me know because I have tried everything to make her enjoy this.) I'll lay her down on her play mat and within 5 minutes she is screaming like we've killed her or she falls asleep. Puts us in a very hard position in trying to develop her motor skills. Man it's not fun. So bring on the endless screaming every time we lay her on her tummy when she's not up for it...it's the one rule that we need to follow more.

Little Lola and the few minutes of tummy time she would handle.

But man is she cute while she's doing it!!