Baby neck strength - 3 months

[CDx]

Hi Ladies,
Looking for a bit of advice! Arran is 12 weeks and as yet cannot lift his head up himself during tummy time on his play gym. If he is hungry and we are holding him he thrusts his head about lifting it no problem at all but when we try tummy time he's happy to just move his head from side to side. I've bought rattles and bells to see if the noise will stimulate him but still nothing.

Otherwise he is doing really well, he's active on his sensory matt, babbling away to himself and full of smiles it just seems he has no interest in lifting his head.

He was 2 weeks early and a small baby at 5lb 11oz, even now he is only 9lb 2 oz - could this be something to do with it?

His neck strength when lying on his back at 6weeks was fine but there was a slight concern when they put him forward, he has 2 further checks on this and there is still a concern there. We have to go back on the 24th of July so I am trying to do all I can to help him in the meantime but we aren't quite there yet.

Any suggestions?

Cx

 

[kumber]

Not all 12 week olds can hold their heads up at tummy time, some develop this later than others. I'm not sure why they're frequently checking him, I've never heard of that before. The game mentioned on Baby Centre might be worth a try?

 

[Ella1979]

Yes, being small and early could be something to do with it. I have video of my daughter when she was 5 months old doing tummy time and barely lifting her head off the mat. She was 4 weeks early, 3lb 11oz and took ages until she could hold her head steady. Even at 8 months there's video of her in her bumbo with her head bobbing about. We were under the care of the paediatrician but they never expressed any concerns. In the end her neck did strengthen and now (aged 3) you'd never know she had so much trouble.

They'll have some pointers for you when you see them on 24th, I'm sure. Just keep on with the tummy time as that is supposed to help xx

 

[Aimee84]

Have you tried the lemaze spin and explore garden gym? It's designed for tummy time. It's an activity may with an extra bit in the centre which u lay them on and they can spin round on it using their feet or hands, Eva is just getting to grips with it. Also it's on offer on Amazon atm

 

[LaceyKeo]

DS was like this. Took him forever to figure out lifting his head, to the point I got concerned about it.

Then someone on here gave me the best pick-me-up. That was: "how often do you see teenagers walking around with their heads on their shoulders because they never learned to hold then up?".

I stopped worrying after that.

He'll get there hon, try not to let it worry you xx

 

[clairebear22]

He may just have weak neck muscles due to being early? If you hold him away from you with your hands underneath him in a sort of superman flying position can he hold his neck in line with his spine. Does that make sense? I he can then his neck muscles definately work so maybe just need a little time (and a lot of tummy time) to strengthen up nicely. It's good that he is having further check ups

 

[littlemonkey]

My boys have both hated tummy time. My eldest just suddenly got to about 16 weeks and decided to push himself up and loved it from then. My youngest is nine weeks and he hates it too. We hold him against our chest a lot which he likes, and when we hold him like that he will lift hishhead up happily.

 

[kitten2014]

we have done tummy time daily since 1 wk old starting a few mins up to now 15-30mins per day...I tried everything at first - ee level, toys, noises but for me setting her on her playmat on our bed helped and the thing that suceeded in getting the 45 degree angle was the tv and especially cartoons, not the best way but it does now mean she can hold her head steady for 20seconds staring at tv and once or twice has babbled (a sign she's happy doing it occasionally), I found ensuring her hands were under chin and elbows same height both sides helped and would then roll her over gently onto tummy (thus introducing her to the sensation of rolling over too n not so scary as just putting them on tummy but only did this from week 7 I think...) I have since managed to get long periods when playmat on floor but she definately prefers softer landing lol...just trying to encourage the left/right head turning now as tv can't achieve that...