# Infant Arm Strengthening



## stanzi (Oct 28, 2005)

My DS had his 6 month checkup yesterday with our Nurse Practitioner and I wasn't surprised when she said that he needs to work on his arm strength since he cannot hold himself up at all. She said this happens quite a bit these days since so many babies sleep on their backs instead of their stomachs.

Beside Cranio-Sacral Therapy which she prescribed, she recommended more tummy time with a prop to hold up his chest so it encourages him using his arms. Does anyone here have any other exercises that may work well for arm strengthening?

Thank you!


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## Kathryn (Oct 19, 2004)

Huh. I would just give him tummy time. Never heard of that.


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## laohaire (Nov 2, 2005)

No ideas, but just a word of comfort. My DD at 6 months had no arm strength. She's 8 months now and can hold herself up pretty good (in the pushup position). I didn't do anything other than tummy time.


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## ChristinaLucia (May 1, 2006)

When do they start needing tummy time? I have a 9 week old who HATES it!


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## RedOakMomma (Sep 30, 2004)

Tummy time should start right away--otherwise you could end up with a kiddo who just plain refuses it. A good way to start it is to have the baby on your stomach/chest while you're *almost* flat (you head can be on the couch arm or something). Then they're looking up into your face and it's a happy sort of exercise.

Tummy time using the boppy (or a rolled up blanket) under their chest is a good way to start babies who don't want to push up on their arms.

Also, a good arm/trunk/neck strengthening exercise is to sit the baby on your lap, hold him by the arms, and gradually lean him back. Look for his head to stay tucked in to his shoulders--his head shouldn't flop backwards. Then slowly pull him up to sitting again, encouraging him to use his own arms and trunk muscles to pull up. As baby gets stronger, his head won't flop back, and he'll stay very solid through the whole exercise.

My son James didn't crawl until he was 2 because of low muscle tone. These exercises, and tummy time, help!!


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## Persephone (Apr 8, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *RedOakMomma*
Tummy time should start right away--otherwise you'll end up with a kiddo who just plain refuses it.

Not true. I've never done tummy time with dd. As a tiny baby, she would scream bloody murder if she was on her tummy. She didn't want anything to do with it, even if she was on our tummies. Yesterday my 3.5 month old spent several (maybe 10 tops?) minutes happliy playing on her tummy, looking at books and toys and trying to see if she could move around that way. I wasn't doing it to give her "tummy time", but just cause it seemed like a good change of pace from playing on her back in the play gym. (This is the same baby who rolls from back to tummy then screams cause she hates being on her tummy. I don't make her stay there if she hates it.)


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## RedOakMomma (Sep 30, 2004)

Perhaps I should have qualified my opinion. It was based on the advice of my sons' OT and PT, both of whom worked with my boys since they were about 4 months old. I'm sure there are some babies who will find, explore, and love tummy time on their own.







Some, especially babies with special needs or low muscle tone, need some encouragement. Also, I've heard from many doctors, and a couple PTs, that babies who start doing tummy time from the very beginning (first few days) rarely develop into babies that intensely dislike tummytime. Back when the advice was always to put babies to sleep on their tummies, babies didn't fuss about "tummytime" because it was the norm. Now that babies are almost always on their back when they're put down, tummytime can be a struggle. Starting from the beginning lessens the chance that they'll dislike the tummy experience.

$.02


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## Persephone (Apr 8, 2004)

I tried to edit my post, but it didn't let me. Figured I'd come back later.









Anyway. we play with dd a lot, like "airplane" when we hold her by the trunk and lift her over our heads. We did it really slowly the first time and not for more than a couple seconds. Now we can do it fast, and she likes it, and it's helped strengthen her head and trunk. Oh, before she was ready for airplane, we played "sit up lay down" with her. We'd pull her into a sitting position by her hands. She LOVED it, and never wanted to lay back down!







Now that she's older, we play "sit up stand up" which is bascially the next level of play. Same thing cept standing from a sitting position. I also play "slide" with her, when she stiffens her body on my lap, I let her slide down my legs til she's sitting on the floor. Then I pull her up by her arms. It really helps her arm strength. She also likes "horsie" when I lay on my back, and bend my legs so they're parallel to the floor (My shins are parallel). Then I put her on my legs, and we bounce. It's kinda like tummy time, but more fun. And it's a great leg workout for mom too!


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## tash11 (Mar 12, 2006)

My 3 month old HATES being on her tummy unless she is on me. then she will move herself back and forth between my breasts (its like she cant decide which one tastes better







). and I have pictures of her only 6 days old asleep on her stomach. of course she was one my chest at the time. most of the time now if I have her on my stomach she will just find which nipple she wants at that momment and latch herself on and nurse herself to sleep. so it doenst really work very well for exersize.

she used to do the pushup thing when she was like 4 or 5 weeks old. then she got better at holding her head up and she wont use her arms anymore. instead she likes to push with her feet.


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## stanzi (Oct 28, 2005)

Thank you, Moms!

Unlike many of your experiences, his trunk and neck muscles are very very strong...its just his arm muscles that are needing strengthening. We began laying him on his tummy every chance we get now. I hope that he gets used to it. I also am starting holding his arms and making him sit himself up and stand up using his own strength instead of relying on me!

Thanks again!
Keep those great ideas rolling!


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## ferretfan (Nov 13, 2005)

dd also had no arm strength when laying on her front at that age, she's now 7.5 months and is beginning to push up, and pivot around on her belly.

babies develop at THEIR own pace. peds/practitioners do not know everything, although they would have you believe otherwise


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