I wondered if anyone could help. I am either holding or wearing DS2 who is nearly 10 months, most of the time he is awake. This suits him and I for closeness and attachment reasons, plus keeping him safe from a slightly aggressive DS1! However, although he is sitting fine, he hates being on his tummy when awake (sleeps happily in tummy all the time), and shows no interest in moving. DS1 was also carried a lot and was very late with physical milestones (walked at 20 months). I am not at all concerned about when my babies “do” things, however my concern is that I may be hampering development. Any thoughts? Do I just need to chill and enjoy the benefits of baby wearing? Or should I put him on his tummy more when awake even if he hates it? Many thanks for your help!

As far as I’m aware wearing baby in a sling is as good as tummy time…not sure where I heard it but pretty sure it won’t hamper their development!

I’ve read the same as Ronnie, wearing baby gives same benefit as tummy time- it’s all about head control really. I’ve worn all three of mine and they all develop at different ages but they have all had amazing head control from very early on. If baby is happy to sleep on tummy then I wouldn’t worry- non of mine liked being on their tummy in the day

Personal experience - eight babies, five carried almost permanently in arms (long time ago and no acess to sling knowledge lol), 3 in slings, no tummy time as all hated it, 1walking confidently outdoor at 11 months, 2 walking at 12 months, 1 not walking until 18 months, 1 at 20 months, 5 crawled and progressed to walking via the expected route, 3 didn’t crawl (bum shuffled or knee shuffled),  all spent time sleeping on tummies - some more so than others.
I really wouldn’t even think about it - lots of babies don’t like to be on their tummies. Th main reason tummy time is so heavily promoted by HV’s is because of the rise in flat head syndrome, brought on because babies are spending LESS time being held than ever before and more time with their head flat in their cot/crib etc due to the high emphasis on preventing SIDS by sleeping on their backs.

Becks xx

What the others said - tummy time is meant to replace something babies would already be getting through being carried in arms. 

My first baby had the most tummy time, because we were late to babywearing and I kept trying to persuade her to be put down.  She crawled latest of any of mine (nine months).  My second had a fair bit of time on the floor, because she was very colicky and liked the pressure on her stomach, so she would sometimes cry in arms (even in colic-relieving positions) until I laid her down.  She was my earliest crawler.  My other two were rarely put down, and crawled at six and five months respectively.  All of mine so far have walked between nine and twelve months, all being carried almost exclusively at the point they started walking (seems to correspond with a period of increased stranger anxiety in my babies).

So from my four, I see no relationship between time being held and confidence in propelling themselves.  It’s not as if they *never* touch the ground by the time they’re nine months or so.  xxx

My two also hated tummy time, and were carried.  I never bothered to put them down that way, to me it always looks really uncomfortable for a baby.  They will crawl etc when they are ready to, I suspect the only way this would be ‘delayed’ is if they are permanently strapped into a pram.