Why babies don't like tummy time

We've been pretty lucky with Rachel--she enjoys tummy time most of the time--but I've heard that a lot of babies don't like it all that much.

Today I think I figured out why.

Rachel had her two month check-up today. She's 11 lbs. 3 oz. (just over the 50th percentile) and is a little over 23 inches tall (in the 90th percentile). She's doing fine as far as muscle tone, hearing, vision, eating, and everything else the doctor checked on...and then we started discussing immunizations.

Here in Utah, babies are due for their Diptheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Haemophilus B, Polio, Hepatitus B, Rotavirus, and Pneumococcal shots at two months of age. That's a whole lot of needles. Luckily they've combined the Diptheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio and Hepatitis B shot all into one. And they didn't give her the Rotavirus one...so she ended up with just three shots.

Two nurses came with their needles glistening. They asked me to get her ready and set her on the table. I took off Rachel's pants so they could access her thigh and laid her on the table.

"It hurts less in the bottom," said one of the nurses, maliciously squirting fluid up the needle, "Flip her over onto her tummy."

I undid her onesie and helped Rachel roll over. No sooner had I stepped away than the nurses swooped down on her.

"On the count of three," said the other nurse, pulling Rachel's diaper down a bit so they could get to her fatty tissue, "One, two, three!"

And with that they both jabbed Rachel with needles, one on each cheek. Rachel did a big gasp. I think that just about ruined her opinion of the world--other than being hit in the head with a few rattles (Emma doesn't quite get how to play with Rachel yet) she was thinking everything was peachy keen. When the first round of needles was over, Rachel was howling but started to calm down pretty quickly. Perhaps she thought the pricks were a fluke. The third needle set her on an absolute rampage. They did it on purpose!

"Mom, they're poking my bum! Help me!"

Boy, did she ever give those nurses a piece of her mind, and she didn't stop there, either. She screamed and screamed and screamed, letting everyone know exactly how she felt about the situation. I tried to put her in the stroller so that we could go but she just screamed louder. I ended up bouncing her on my hip until she fell asleep, mid-yell.

As we walked out to the waiting room, everyone had a comment:

"Boy, does she have a set of lungs!"

"You're looking happier now."

"That wasn't so bad, was it?"

And then when we got back into the waiting room, a woman said knowingly, "Got some shots today?"

Good job, Rachel, they heard you clear out in the waiting room--through two closed doors.

With something that traumatic happening at such a tender age, no wonder babies don't like being put on their tummies.