Ways to Play

Pivoting in circles.

Expected Age Range: 5-6 months, or so.

Weight shifting and traction take center stage when it comes to moving around on their tummy.

On Their Tummy

Arrange Toys in a Circle

In order to encourage your baby to pivot on their tummy in a circle, you can try arranging toys in a circle around your baby, like the numbers on a clock. Give your baby time to notice and explore the toys, moving from one toy to the next at their own pace. 

Move One Toy in a Circle Around Your Baby

Choose one toy that your baby is wild about. Hold the toy in front of your baby’s face while they are playing on their tummy. Slowly move the toy to your baby’s side as they turn their head to track the toy. Place it on the floor to your baby’s side at a 3 or 9 o’clock position. Wait as they make attempts to pivot toward the toy. If 3 or 9 o’clock is too far, try a 2 or 10 o’clock position. 

Provide a Push Off With Your Hands at Their Feet

Pivoting is the first time your baby is mobile on their tummy. Before army crawling and hands and knees crawling. And their ability to be mobile on their tummy requires the ability to push through their toes and feet into the floor. 

If you’ve ever tried to help a baby learn to crawl, you’ve probably helped them by pushing them forward at their feet. But if you are trying to provide the least amount of assistance, you really only need to help them push off with their big toe. 

Take your thumb and push it against your baby’s big toe to provide them with a chance to push off from your thumb and move their body. Alternate left and right sides. 

You can also guide your baby’s foot down to the floor and help their big toe make direct contact with the floor to practice pushing off from the floor. 

Bicycle Legs on Tummy for Weight Shifting

Mobility on tummy also requires the ability to weight shift in a side to side manner. You can help your baby become comfortable with this weight shift by bending one leg, and straightening the other. 

When one leg bends, your baby’s weight will shift to the opposite side, and they will likely turn their head toward the side of the bent knee. Slowly switch between sides, allowing your baby to adjust to each weight shift. 

You can pair this activity with toy placement to their side.

In Supported Sitting

Propped Sitting

Once your baby has good enough head control, and they are consistently rolling on their own, you can begin practicing sitting.

“Propped sitting” is the first phase of sitting. Place your baby in “propped sitting” with their hands propped on the floor in front of them when you place them in sitting, slightly folded over, but with their chest off their legs. 

Try to bring their attention up from the floor with a toy. This will help them make attempts to push up through their arms and sit up tall. 

If their back is very rounded forwards and their chin falls to their chest, it is too early to begin practicing sitting. In this case, keep practicing tummy time. 

Why to Wait for Your Baby to Roll Before They Sit

The reason that I recommend that you resist the urge to practice sitting until your baby is rolling is because getting in and out of sitting requires trunk rotation and trunk side bending. Rolling is the building block skill that helps babies develop trunk rotation and side-bending.

If your baby has not mastered rolling, then getting in and out of sitting is going to be difficult for them. This is also one reason why some babies can maintain static sitting, but fling themselves backwards. They haven’t yet developed the trunk control, specifically trunk rotation, to get out of sitting through side sit.