my baby is 3 weeks and 5 days old and i have a couple questions?

Question

1.) my daughter hates tummy time, the dr said to have her on her tummy for 10 mins at a time 3 times a day, but she screams and cries, she seems miserable, i hate to watch her cry, she gets so angry that she moves herself around, by kicking her legs.what can i do to encourage her to like it? will her lack of enthusiasm delay her when it comes to crawling, holding her head up and walking?

2.) we finally graduated to eating ( breastfeeding) every 3 hours about 11 days ago, but for the last couple of days during the daytime she cries with hunger about every 2. what does this mean? is she having growth spurt?

Answer 1

You don't have to do tummy time at all.

I have 3 children and none of them have ever had 'tummy time' and I always think that if your child doesnt like something they will let you know about it and if your child doesnt like something you should listen to them.

If your child cries for more food between feeds then feed her, she can let you know when she is hungry or not, if your baby didnt want the rest of her bottle then she wouldnt suckle it and would dribble it out but you would NEVER try and force her to drink it would you - so its the same when your baby is hungry, as long as you watch her weight (which shouldnt really be an issue at that age) then feed her when she wants it.

Remember, you baby knows more about what she wants than your doctor - I went through all these anxieties with my first child and I found that my health visitor made me a nervous wreck so when I had my second and third I decided I would do what I felt was right for my child and I would 'listen' to what my child was telling me!!!!! All three of my kids are healthy, happy children who developed at a normal rate (my youngest was actually early in alot of his things)

A fine example of this is when my middle child (who was 7 weeks at the time) kept vomiting up his bottle but he was still crying when he was hungry but couldnt hold it down, it wasnt 'gastroenteritus' but this carried on for a few days and I was getting increasingly worried as he started losing weight and wasnt holding barely any of his bottle down, on the third day of this I took him to the hospital where they told me that he was fine and just advised me to give him 2 ounces of water to 3 scoops of baby milk - which I did but he still kept vomiting almost all of his bottle up, so I took him down the following day and they more or less said the same and sent me home - FOUR times in FOUR consecutive days I took him to the hospital as he was very underweight by now and still vomiting and the hospital STILL sent me home but on that fourth night I was feeling very emotional and helpless as I knew my baby wasnt right but no one was listening to me.
It was at my mums that my mum spotted a lump in his groin which she said looked like a hernia. I took him straight down the hospital and told them that he had a hernia - they checked, agreed and said it was twisted (meaning some of his intestine wasnt in the 'sac' that it should be in and had twisted out of it and food could barely travel through it) and he was immediately booked in for an operation to correct it.

When I took him for the operation, they took him off to be weighed and a nurse stormed towards with a face like thunder stating to me in a very angry voice 'DO YOU KNOW YOUR CHILD IS SEVERELY UNDERWEIGHT' - at which point I told her that YES - I DID KNOW and it was a pity that it took me 5 visits to the hospital and a diagnosis from my mum to get anyone to listen to me!!!!

So, be confident in yourself that your bond and love for your child has given you an instinct to know what your child requires MORE than any doctor or nurse can.

(Obviously don't stop seeing your doctor but trust in yourself that you will know whats best for your child!!!)

Answer 2

1. If your baby hates tummy time, one thing that worked for ours was not starting on a marathon at first. She got used to being in a certain position for a long time after all. Start by holding her periodically throughout the day on her tummy with your hands. If she fusses flip her back over and let her know it is ok. Then a little while later try it again, but a little longer. If she is hysterical stop and try again tomorrow. Pretty soon you can graduate to being on an object with an incline, or another thing that works really well is having her be on your tummy while on hers. This seemed to work our pretty good like a pillow or something so it wasn't just directly tummy time. Our baby has acid reflux so she didn't like being on her tummy that much because of the pressure. When she is older- say a month or two make it fun by putting toys in front of her and encouraging her to get them. It could possible delay crawling and holding her head up but really, every baby is different and I've never met any 2 year old who couldn't walk because they didn't like to be on their tummy. Actually it just tends to speed it up a little bit more the more time they spend on their tummy.

2. Some babies will cluster feed closer together to get more milk and help to increase your milk supply. They may also go through a growth spurt. Our baby did that about 3 weeks, then at 4 weeks she wanted every hour and one day it just went right back to every 3 hours again like normal.

Answer 3

1) not doing tummy time will cause your baby to develop some skills such as crawling later than her peers. The fact that she is kicking and moving herself around is a good sign. All that said though - I don't stress about tummy time too much in the beginning... around 2 months is when I start really making a conscience effort to make sure my child is on his/her tummy some every day.

2) YES! Growth spurt is a definite probability! The average growth spurts are 1, 3 and 6 weeks then 3 and 6 months. Just feed her on her demand and your body will do what it needs to make sure your baby has enough to eat.

Answer 4

1. That whole "minimum requirement" for "tummy time" is *BS.* It takes all of us a while to figure this out, but it's true: babies don't learn by being encouraged or shown. Ever! It's not a parent's responsibility to cause development. It just happens! As long as she is not restricted or neglected she'll be fine. They learn new physical skills because they have physically developed to readiness. When she is ready for tummy time she will not hate it any more. Do NOT feel guilty for not forcing your child into an uncomfortable position for X minutes per day because some doctor recommended it. Go with your gut feeling about what is right for her. She will not be delayed. Depending on your daughter's particular anatomy and developmental schedule, she may never do tummy time - and she may never need it to learn to sit up. My daughter never did roll over before she sat up by herself, at six months like they're supposed to. Some kids never crawl before they walk, too.

2. Yes, it's almost certainly a growth spurt. It can be very trying when baby wants to eat every hour or whatever and you can hardly put her down, I know! But it passes.

Answer 5

I think 3 weeks old is far too young for tummy time - especially for 10 minutes! i started mine at about 2-3 months and just for a few seconds at a time!

Lay facing her so she can see your face for encouragement, and perhaps start propping her up over the arm of a sofa or something, so she isn't completely horizontal.

No, not liking tummy time will not delay her with crawling and holding her head up, don't worry. Tummy time was not done regularly when babies were first put to sleep on their backs and physiotherapists were mainly concerned with lack of shoulder strength in older children.

My friend's 3 month old has no tummy time and can hold is head up perfectly. Crawling is something that can or won't happen regardless of anything, it seems!

Breastfeeding - in an ideal world, you don't clockwatch - you just feed your baby when they want, for as long as they want, with feeding on demand, so go with her needs. probably a growth spurt, maybe just a bit more active that day, perhaps it's hotter and she's thirsty - don't seek to find answers when it's so hard to determine - just feed her, that's the breastfeeding philosophy.

Answer 6

1. The reason doctors want you to give tummy time is mostly to keep them off their back, because that will cause a flat head. I barely gave my daughter tummy time and she had great head control. However, she was rarely on her back. She was held a lot, and if you hold your child up so she has her head against your shoulder, she'll develop great head control. Anyway, the most important thing is to make sure she's not just lying on her back all the time.

2. She is probably going through a growth spurt, feed her when she wants to be fed. 3 hours between feeds for a 3 week old is a looong time, though. In general, babies who are put on a schedule don't develop as well as those who are fed on demand.

Answer 7

1) My son hated tummy time too. I never made him stay on it a full 10 minutes at a time. I did it for just a minute or two until he got upset and then I helped him turn himself over and just did that multiple times a day. He was able to turn himself over way ahead of schedule so it didn't do him any harm.

2) She might be! Growth spurts happen so often and they definitely increase hunger. Feed her when she's hungry and don't worry about those schedule guidelines. Guidelines are meant to be flexed for individuals.

Good luck with her, and may every minute of the sleep you get be restful. :)

Answer 8

1) Tummy time doesn't have to be on the floor. You can also do tummy time with you lying on your back and the baby belly down on top of you. The close contact will help keep her calm and she'll still have a chance to strengthen and work out her neck muscles.

2) Sounds like a growth spurt. Your milk production should increase with her increased demands and you'll be able to settle back into longer periods between feedings in a few days.

Answer 9

My son at 3 weeks old didn't like being on his tummy either. He was was having tummy aches because he was lactose intolerant. Being on his tummy aggravated it. Mommy eating dairy when baby is breastfeeding and lactose intolerant may cause problems. She may not be eating as much during feedings because it hurts. They do also have growth spurts. Try feeding her longer each time.

Answer 10

1.Do not force her to do tummy time right now, she is still too young or cut about to only 10minutes one time a day. Wait until she is about 6wks before you push it to 2 or 3 times a day for 10 minutes.

2. You are exactly right your baby is a growing girl feed her as much as she wants as often as she wants. That may help her to be less hungry at night so you can get back to sleeping through the nights..

Answer 11

Honestly, I have never heard of this lying the baby on the stomach, 10 minutes, three times a day, must be some new thing. I would gently rub her back and sing to her. Did the doctor tell you why this is necessary ? It sounds like your baby is not getting enough milk every three hours. Is she nursing long enough at each feeding ? Does she fall asleep while nursing, if so, you have to gently wake her to continue eating. I breast fed my five on demand, in the 1970's & 1980's, so we never paid strict attention to the time. Try nursing longer at each feeding time. Best of luck.