Tummy time is the exercise almost every baby resists and almost every parent is told to do more of. The usual advice is to persevere. A more practical approach is to change the reason they are lying there.
Why babies protest. Face-down on a flat surface, a young baby's entire field of view is carpet. Lifting the head is hard work, and there is no payoff for doing it. The muscles are weak precisely because they are new.
What changes with a card. Prop a high-contrast card just in front of your baby and slightly above their eyeline — so that seeing it properly requires lifting the head a little. Now the effort has a reward. Most babies will hold the position noticeably longer, and the head-lift is exactly the neck and upper-back work tummy time exists to build.
Practical setup:
- Place the card about 20 to 30cm from your baby's face, angled so it is visible from their position.
- Position it slightly above eye level — enough to encourage a lift, not so high they strain.
- Once they are engaged, move it slowly side to side to encourage tracking and rotation, which works the neck in both directions.
- Change the card between sessions. Novelty extends attention.
A concertina card that stands on its own is ideal, because it frees both your hands. Failing that, prop a card against a book or a rolled towel.
Other things that help: a rolled towel under the chest and armpits to raise them slightly; chest-to-chest on your body as a starting position for babies who hate the floor; short sessions immediately after a nappy change so it becomes routine; and a firm surface — soft bedding makes lifting harder.
How much. Start with one to two minutes a few times a day from the first week home. Build toward roughly 15 to 30 minutes total per day across several short sessions by two to three months. Total time matters more than session length.
Safety. Always awake, always supervised, always on a firm flat surface. Never leave a baby on their front to sleep — tummy time is an awake activity only. Stop if your baby is distressed rather than just complaining, and speak to your pediatrician if head control seems to be lagging or you notice a consistent preference for turning one way.