Baby says let me move!

I work with babies (actually just kids 2 and up, but I think 2 is still in baby-range) so this was massively interesting to me.

To sum this article up: babies need to play on their tummies.

When babies don't get time to play on their tummies they don't get a chance to develop their muscles properly. They also get funny-shaped heads.

Tummy time is really, really easy. You put the baby on the floor tummy-side down. Baby looks around, plays with stuff, drools on the rug, uses many great muscles, maybe scoots or coos or other baby things. You might wonder why this is tough and I'll tell you two reasons:

1. Babies cry. They actually need tummy time from the time they're incredibly tiny - 5 days old even! Yes, you can put a fresh, new baby on the floor! Weird. But if babies are not used to working their bods on the floor they'll totally wail.
   
2. "Baby containers" (car seats, exersaucers, other tummy-side up contraptions) are so easy. While the floor (or bed, or whatever) doesn't have bright, shiny, noisy toys built-in, it's actually the best baby container around.

Babies, being smart creatures, are telling us something, and I'm quite sure that they're right: Enough! Keep it simple!

Think about that when you're fretting about the Nintendo Wii, cable, a cozy recliner... maybe some tummy time is just the ticket.