{"id":3069,"date":"2011-02-15T02:02:55","date_gmt":"2011-02-15T07:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/?p=3069"},"modified":"2011-02-15T02:31:12","modified_gmt":"2011-02-15T07:31:12","slug":"babies-back-to-sleep-tummy-to-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2011\/02\/15\/babies-back-to-sleep-tummy-to-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Babies: &#8216;Back to sleep, tummy to play&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Deborah Compton<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since 1994, the \u201cBack to Sleep\u201d campaign has decreased the incidence of deaths due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).\u00a0 In addition to decreasing the deaths due to SIDS, however, the campaign has also decreased the amount of time that babies spend on their tummies.\u00a0 With most babies spending less time on their tummies, there have been increased motor delays in infants.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, the American Academy of Pediatrics has endorsed the \u201cBack to Sleep, Tummy to Play\u201d campaign.\u00a0 Spending time on the tummy (or in a prone position) encourages development of strength in the neck, arms and upper back.\u00a0 Increased strength of the neck, arms and upper back encourages head control and turning, rolling, and crawling.\u00a0 Besides strengthening, tummy time prevents or minimizes skull deformities (or flat spots on the back of a baby\u2019s head), which in severe cases can lead to problems with brain development.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Rounding-at-VWCH-logo-2-2011.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-3071\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Rounding-at-VWCH-logo-2-2011.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" height=\"142\" \/><\/a>Because there is still a risk of death due to SIDS with sleeping on the tummy, it is still recommended that infants are place on their backs for sleeping through the night and for naps.\u00a0 However, when an infant is awake and supervised, it is advised to place infants on their tummies at least 2-3 times per day.\u00a0 This activity can be initiated right after birth or at least at 1 month of age when the umbilical cord has fallen off.\u00a0 If it is implemented later in infancy, babies may be less tolerant to lying on their tummy.<\/p>\n<p>As babies are enjoying tummy time, caregivers are encouraged to play with them to promote further development.\u00a0 Below are great ways to play with babies while they are in &#8220;tummy time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lay babies on one&#8217;s chest so that they will lift their heads to look      at the caregiver&#8217;s face.<\/li>\n<li>Put      toys in a circle around babies to encourage reaching and scooting on      their tummy.<\/li>\n<li>Place      a mirror in front of babies to encourage them to look up.<\/li>\n<li>Lie on      one&#8217;s stomach with a baby.<\/li>\n<li>Prop      a baby\u2019s upper arms over a small pillow or nursing pillow.<\/li>\n<li>It may      also be wise to wait for at least an hour after a meal for the baby\u2019s      comfort.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol><\/ol>\n<p>Parents and caregivers are vital to the development of infants\u2019 motor skills.\u00a0 If you do notice delay of your baby\u2019s development, physical or occupational therapy can be implemented to improve the motor skills and educate the caregivers.\u00a0 For more information about tummy time or a baby\u2019s motor development, call Debby Compton, PT, DPT, at Van Wert Count Hospital\u2019s Physical Rehabilitation Department at 419.238.8626.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Deborah Compton Since 1994, the \u201cBack to Sleep\u201d campaign has decreased the incidence of deaths due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).\u00a0 In addition to decreasing the deaths due to SIDS, however, the campaign has also decreased the amount of time that babies spend on their tummies.\u00a0 With most babies spending less time on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 01:52:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}