The importance of Tummy Time and various positioning in the early life

     Benefits of providing various positioning in the early life
  • Prevent and improve head shaping and decrease cosmetic deformity
  • Prevent muscle tightness and asymmetry
  • Facilitate normal patterns for growth and development
  • Provide sensory exploration of self and environment

The developmental issues when lack of variety of positioning

1) Skull deformity: is the result of staying in the same position for long period of time.

2) Muscle tightness and asymmetry: is due to the lack of variety in positioning.

3) Delay motor development: when only one position is provided, muscular shortening can develop rapidly which can then lead to delay in motor development.
When baby's arms are tight with a "W" position (see muscle tightness in arms and legs) and is placed on tummy, he becomes uncomfortable. This leads to irritability and crying. When this occurs parents always put baby back to supine position. As a result baby spend less time prone and develops weakness of the upper body muscles, making it difficult to push up in prone position, which then impedes normal milestones.

4) Sensorimotor feedback for learning and self exploration deficit: baby who are only placed supine and is not given sufficient prone and side-lying positioning lacks in sensory feedback for learning and self-exploration.
In prone position, infants easily discover their hands and have their whole body in contact with the surface, providing sensory feedback through their hands, face and other body parts. The baby can easily suckle on his fists and is exposed to a lot of tactile sensory input to the face and mouth when in prone position. Side lying also facilitates this oral and visual exploration. This feedback of normal posture and movement is essential to the development of normal motor control.