The Importance Of Tummy Time In Babies

Babies are not born with the ability or knowledge of how to move their bodies, besides a few instinctual reflexes that they use to survive the beginning days and weeks of life. This is due to their new environment outside of the womb which includes gravity, a factor that a newborn infant has not been exposed to until birth, along with the fact that an infant 's muscles are still developing (Meyerhoff, 2016). Therefore, they are dependent on those around them to move and adjust their bodies for them. Then the question might be asked: how does a baby begin to learn how to move and use their body in this new environment? A widely known and recommended technique that is used to develop muscle strength and prevent motor delays in infants is Tummy …show more content…
It promotes proper development of the skull and prevents plagiocephaly, or the flattening of the head. The position promotes the actions of reaching, pushing, and crawling which strengthens the arm and shoulder muscles, as well as the formation of hand arches that are necessary for the further development of fine motor skills. Tummy time assists in the development and stretching of the hip muscles. Also, the leg muscles that are associated with crawling are being developed during Tummy Time. Not only is the infant 's back strengthened in this position, but posture strength and skeletal alignment is taking place. Lastly, neck muscles are strengthened during Tummy Time, which lend to better head control (Baby Begin, 2016). Each body part is catered to individually through this one technique, while the child is learning how to navigate their new surroundings and being physically …show more content…
Not only that, the research has shown that Tummy Time decreases the rate of motor delays and skull deformities in infants. All of this is important to biomechanics because biomechanics is the study of forces on a body that is preforming different complex movements. To be able to preform these movements, whether they be in a sport or in a daily living activity, the body needs to be able to appropriately respond to forces. But first, the body has to know how to respond and work under the non-contact force that impacts all humans, which is gravity. Tummy Time teaches an infant to use their bodies under the force of gravity, while also developing motor skills. This is the basis for which more complex and coordinated movements are build on top of; such as rolling over, crawling, walking, running, squatting, pitching a baseball, rock climbing, so on and so