I recently got my hands on the book, Begin With A Blanket (affiliate). The book is awesome and packed with ideas for baby play. I personally think the newborn stage is hard when it comes to “playing” with your baby. I recently shared one of my ways to fit tummy time in during the first days at home. Begin With A Blanket has given me even more ideas on how to add tummy time into our day with a newborn!
Newborn Tummy Time
I absolutely loved the idea of placing your newborn on an elevated surface such as a table instead of on the floor. That way it is easier to interact with your newborn. It’s easy to get face to face in this position so your newborn can see you (or your toddler!). Of course you must be with your newborn at all times when on an elevated surface. Even if they can’t roll yet on their own there is still the potential for reflexive movement. I actually ended up placing a blanket over our large ottoman in our family room. It worked great!
While doing tummy time in this position I also added a bag of rice (1 pound) to the scenario thanks to a suggestion from the book (affiliate). It totally makes sense as in the first month of life your baby generally still has flexed legs resulting in a lot of the weight being shifted towards their head. The bag of rice over the hips anchors the baby’s hips resulting in not as much weight shifting forward. A genius idea!
With the elevated surface and the bag of rice I was able to get down face to face with my baby during tummy time. There was no protest to tummy time from my baby when in this position.
Tummy Time Freebies