Moving into tummy time, together: Touch and transitions aid parent confidence and infant development

Abstract

“Back to sleep” messages can reduce prone practice for infants, with potential for motor delay and cranial deformation. Despite recommendations for “tummy time,” young infants fuss in prone, and parents report uncertainty about how to help infants tolerate prone positioning. We hypothesized that a Child'Space Method lesson, teaching proprioceptive touch and transitions to prone, would facilitate prone tolerance, parent behavioral support, and parent self‐efficacy. This randomized study recruited parents (N = 37) of 2‐ to 5‐month‐old infants. On two visits, parents answered questions about infant behavior and parent experience, and played with their infant. Lesson group parents had the lesson following the first free play. One week later, lesson parents reported that infants tolerated more prone time and that parents showed more supportive behaviors in bringing infant to prone, as compared to waiting parents. Lesson parents’ efficacy, and infant behavior during play, trended in the hypothesized direction. The study demonstrated how a lesson in preparatory touch, and gradual transitions, promoted infant prone tolerance and also parent support of rolling, side‐lying, and prone positioning. The lesson could be incorporated in parent education and early pediatric visits, helping infants and parents negotiate the prone challenge and setting the stage for further parent support of infant development.

Interventions by Caregivers to Promote Motor Development in Young Children, the Caregivers’ Attitudes and Benefits Hereof: A Scoping Review

“…Six articles were included for analysis. A chain search found three additional articles, and all nine articles were included in the analysis [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. See the screening process in Figure 1 .…”

“…A general element across the included studies was that the caregivers received some form of knowledge, guidance and practical experience with activities they carried out with the young child. In three of the studies, the interventions beside supervision of the caregivers also included the use of toys (e.g., a rattle or a grasp ball) [ 31 , 35 , 37 ]. However, there were differences in how much supervision the caregivers received, the dosage of how much they must train with their child and the length of the interventions.…”

“…However, there were differences in how much supervision the caregivers received, the dosage of how much they must train with their child and the length of the interventions. The interventions varied from 1 week [ 37 ] to 36 months [ 34 ]. The interventions reported impact on the young child’s motor development, as well as on the behaviour of the caregivers who must carry out the training.…”

Parental Practices and Environmental Differences among Infants Living in Upper-Middle and High-Income Countries: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The practice of the tummy time position showed important benefits for preventing obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, and plagiocephaly while improving motor performance, and the ability to move in prone, supine, crawling, and rolling positions [ 49 ]. However, parents must not only supervise but also interact and play with the infant, so that this is a pleasurable activity [ 50 ].…”

Effect of a multicomponent intervention in postnatal mothers’ groups on meeting the Australian Physical Activity Guidelines for infants: protocol for a randomised controlled trial

“…Due to the association of tummy time with improved health outcomes and the low rates of adherence to the guidelines, an intervention designed to improve tummy time practices is required. Previous studies have demonstrated positive effects of parent education programmes on tummy time practices 15 16. Further work using objective measurement and complementary strategies would be beneficial to continue making progress in this area.…”