Using a wedge - the tumtum - to support infant tummy time | From a pediatric OT

Tummy time is a HUGE pain point among parents, including myself.  Parents often ask themselves, “Am I doing enough tummy time with my baby?”, “What is the best way to complete tummy time with my newborn?”, and “What do I do if my baby dislikes tummy time?”. 

There are so many answers to these questions, but the short answer is infant tummy time is SUPER challenging. And most infants struggle initially because of the level of difficulty in the beginning. That’s why it’s so important to have a few tools in your toolbox to support your infant’s tummy time from the very start. 

Utilizing products and positions is a great way to encourage infant tummy time tolerance from the start and a product I discovered with my second child is a tumtum wedge. 

The tumtum tummy time wedge is like no other product on the market and was developed by a pediatric PT. 

This tummy time wedge was built with the parent and baby in mind. The shape, material, and style of the wedge is 10/10 making it a top recommendation for new parents. The wedge’s slightly inclined shape, easily wipeable material, and multi-usage options allow for this wedge to be a staple not only during tummy time, but in other positions too. 

So, let’s discuss the many uses of this tumtum wedge and how this product can be used in tummy time throughout the first year. 

Let’s start with early infant tummy time. 

Because trust me - you may run into some bumps along the way when it comes to tummy time. 

Tummy time on the floor (or solid surface) can be started as soon as your baby’s umbilical cord falls off (around 2 weeks of age). I recommend waiting until this point to avoid any injury to the umbilical stump. 

Before this point in time, I recommend placing your baby belly down on your chest when completing tummy time. This will be a very practical & easy position that allows for you to feel close to your infant while also beginning to encourage positive positions from the very start. At this time, you are recovering from your delivery and your baby is starting to adjust to their big world, making this position appropriate for bonding and recovery.

After the umbilical cord has fallen off (YAY), you can begin to experiment with other tummy time positions on a solid surface.

You can start to place your baby belly down on the tumtum wedge, which will elevate your baby’s chest and allow for more ease in this tummy time position. 

At this point, after approximately the 2 week mark, you can look for your baby to tolerate only short bouts of tummy time. Ranging from only a few seconds to 1-2 minutes initially, your baby will begin to develop more and more strength over time making tummy time much more enjoyable for you and your infant. 

You may also consider placing your infant’s elbows underneath their chest in order to allow more leverage in tummy time on the wedge. You will begin to see your infant lift their head, turn to the sides, and hold for 1-2 seconds while their elbows after underneath their chest on the wedge. This is GREAT, as head control and neck strength are the very first milestone to develop with your little one. Head control and neck strength lay the foundation for ALL other milestones like rolling, crawling, walking and more movement based activities, making this tummy time position very important. 

Your baby may spit up in early infant tummy time, but no worries! This is totally normal as their gastrointestinal system, along with their body, is adjusting to their new world. The tumtum wedge is made of an easily wipeable material so there will be no concerns with constantly washing the cover or worrying about bacteria harvesting. This is a big deal compared to other tummy time products on the market… trust me - I’ve used them and the tumtum wedge is DEFINITELY superior.

In the early days of tummy time, you may find it helpful to complete with your baby in just a diaper to avoid slipping. You may also provide support at your baby’s bottom while in tummy time on the tumtum to stabilize your baby and encourage more enjoyment. 

One thing to remember with tummy time from an early age is that it gets better. Continue to practice this position with your baby using the tumtum and watch your baby begin to enjoy tummy time more and more. 

Now, let’s talk about tummy time as your baby grows. 

Around the 3-4 month mark, head control will begin to improve and develop significantly. Your baby will begin to lift their head and look around very often with large improvements in tummy time tolerance and strength. 

Once your baby is around 5 months old, they may begin to show interest in being positioned with their arms straight in tummy time and will also begin to prop up on their arms straight. This is common and normal for infant tummy time as this is laying foundations needed for crawling skills in later infancy (around the 9 month mark). 

Your baby will begin to prop on arms straight and may roll out of tummy time from their belly to back easily. 

You may consider using your tumtum to allow your baby to prop over the wedge with arms straight to support a couple things: prevent rolling out of tummy time and encourage arm strength needed for crawling in the future.

Consider bringing your baby’s body out a little allowing their arms to dangle over the edge of the tall portion of the wedge. Encourage your baby to place their palms on the floor with their torso and body remaining on the wedge. 

To encourage tolerance and enjoyment in this position, you can place an exciting toy at floor level. This will allow your baby to use their hands while propping on arms straight which will keep their attention and spark enjoyment. Consider using a sensory bag or a sensory bin when completing this propping position over the wedge to further encourage tolerance to position and also sensory development.

You may also consider placing items up above your infant’s head to encourage lifting and looking which will also distract your baby in this arms straight propping position. 

One thing I’ve learned over the years as a pediatric OT is distraction is EVERYTHING and toy placement is IMPORTANT. 

Try encouraging this propping position with your baby using the wedge once they are over the age of approximately 5 months old to lay solid developmental foundations for the future.

In addition to using the wedge in tummy time, try encouraging sidelying, sitting, and back play on the wedge at the appropriate times. 

Sidelying can be completed using the wedge as early as day one, as well as using the wedge in back play. 

Sitting development begins to take off around the 5 months mark, so consider using the wedge to encourage sitting with your baby. Here are some more strategies to encourage sitting with your baby.

The last position you can encourage with this wedge is crawling from the tummy time position. 

Typically, around 8-10 months, an infant begins to assume hands and knees positioning needed for contralateral crawling development. Contralateral just means using both sides of the body together and that’s what we want to see in crawling - using both sides of the body in an alternating pattern to move about throughout the environment.

If using the tumtum wedge to encourage crawling from an infant tummy time position, consider placing the baby on their tummy and encourage them to crawl up and over the wedge. 

When placing your baby on their belly, you want to encourage them to enter a hands and knees position. Consider checking out this post on my Instagram feed for a visual. 

Once your baby is on their hands and knees independently and showing signs of wanting to crawl forward, you can encourage the child to crawl up onto the taller portion of the wedge and over the wedge as a whole. Crawling up onto the larger portion and then crawling down the incline will be more of a beginner level task compared to crawling up the wedge. As your baby becomes more proficient and comfortable in crawling, you can encourage them to do both!

Crawling over taller items allows the child to position themselves on their hands and knees and encourages appropriate strength needed to achieve the milestone. You can help your baby by lifting a leg to initiate climbing over the wedge. This climbing over items also encourages skills needed for kneeling which leads to pulling to stand when the time comes and appropriate strength and coordination has been established. 

When completing this climbing and crawling prep activity, consider stabilizing the wedge in place to avoid injury. Any time we are encouraging climbing and crawling, we want to be sure to keep the baby safe to avoid the infant from falling. 

Using the tumtum wedge to encourage infant tummy time is AMAZING, and this wedge can be used many other ways throughout the first year. The angle of the wedge and differences in the height of the sides serve as a great baby item to encourage all of these positions. 

This wedge is also wonderful in preventing “flat head” from developing with your baby by building tummy time tolerance and enjoyment from the start. 

~Brooke Boruff, OT, Infant Insights