Tummy Time and Crawling

by Becky
(Ohio)

I found a very effective way to teach tummy time and crawling. My son has cerebral palsy and some issues with over extended muscles. Once he gained head control and enjoyed being on his tummy more, we noticed a problem.

When he would be on his tummy, he wanted to keep his arms straight back and off the ground, along with his legs up off the ground.

To correct the problem, the therapists gave us many different positions to sit in and help correct the problem... all of which were complicated, hard to remember and harder to execute.

I learned that he would pull his arms forward, if I would sit or lay next to him and hold his feet down gently. When I would hold his feet to the ground, it would remind his brain to bring his arms up in front of him.

His brain had to re-train his muscles on what to do with his arms. So after he consistently got the reinforcement of keeping his legs down and arms up front, it improved drastically.

From straight back, to up at his sides and now in front! He'll be 10 months next week and he's crawling!