I know I’m not supposed to compare my baby to others, and I know that all babies progress at different rates, but I just saw a blogger post pictures of her 9-week-old baby who can hold her head up when on her stomach and prop herself up on her arms. My baby just lays there when she’s on her stomach. I can’t help but feel bad. I feel like my baby isn’t progressing as she should, and I feel like it’s my fault for not pushing her more.
Please, please, please tell me one of you had a 3-month-old who was still struggling to lift his/her head. Please.
In Lucy
I just wanted to say thanks for your commment – it made me feel better!
Andrew had a very wobbly head until 3 months. He was behind on most physical milestones. It drove me nuts at the time, but in retrospect it all happened in such a short period of time.
For us, tummy time helped best when propped up on the boppy. More motivation (harder to lay your head down when there’s no floor) and more arm leverage.
*hugs*
Max is the same… when I sit him up he will hold his head up for ages, but as soon as lie him on hos belly he gets all lazy and just lays there. I was stressing out a bit too, so I’m glad it’s not just Max 🙂
My little boy took FOREVER to lift his head up when he was on his tummy – he has a really big head. Conveniently, we have a friend who is a physical therapist who taught us a few exercises that helped a lot, one of them involving putting him on our exercise ball (holding him tight of course!) The boppy is also great, too.
I know it’s hard to not worry, but don’t be hard on yourself! Talk to your doctor about it if you’re concerned, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about!
Try not to worry, Cady! All babies do these things at different times. That 9 week old may lift her head up well now and then not be ahead in other areas. When Lucy is 3 years old you’re going to look back and think it’s funny that this worried you so much, but I do know it’s hard to think that far ahead.
My son is EXTREMELY lazy. He is 10 months old and he does not crawl. He is content to sit around. He also didn’t roll any direction until he was 6.5 months old, and he didn’t roll from back to front until he was nearly nine months old.
Your daughter is fine. I have been told ad nauseum that the “guidelines” of when babies should be doing things is extremely broad. Don’t worry (which I know sounds silly, but I hope you don’t!), all babies end up doing everything in the end. You can’t actually force them to do anything until they’re good and ready.