Best Mats, Gyms and Toys for Tummy Time

Lovevery’s beautiful, Montessori-inspired toys have quickly become cult favorites among parents in the What to Expect community. Not only are their products incredibly functional and engaging, but with soft, pleasant colors and a sleek design, they also simply look gorgeous in your home.

As one of Lovevery’s most popular products, The Play Gym offers countless ways to entertain your infant during tummy time and beyond. There are five play zones on the mat, and your little one will love rotating through each on his tummy, interacting with the embedded crinkly fabric, squeaky toys and textured fabrics. The gym also comes with high contrast cards, photo cards and a mirror that slide into a tummy time-friendly frame, so you can rotate them out regularly and keep baby’s view fresh. 

In addition to tummy time play, younger infants enjoy batting and kicking the ball, teether and wooden rattle that hang from the gym frame. And later on, you can transform the gym frame into a tent with the included cover that’s ideal for games of peekaboo and eventually imaginative play. I have personally used this play gym with two kids and can attest that it’s simply an excellent, grows-with-you toy — both of my boys got tons of use out of it during the tummy time stage, but it delivered plenty of playtime fun once they started rolling, sitting and eventually pulling up to stand, too.

The downside is that it’s on the more expensive side, and many parents understandably balk at the price. That said, you can easily get a year’s worth of play out of it. We retired it each time when my sons were around 18 months and became a bit too tall to fit in the tent as comfortably. If, however, you think you’d just use one or two of the included elements, you might be better off purchasing them individually).

Weight: 7.6 lbs.

Dimensions: 23.9 (H) x 50 (W) x 47 (L) inches

Age recommendation: 0+ months and up

Countless What to Expect parents recommend this Fisher-Price play gym, with many saying that the music is particularly captivating and seamlessly entertains babies during tummy time. Parents like that the mat is thick and supportive, and that it offers a variety of play modes: Your baby can interact with the hanging toys, the keyboard and the mirror). You can also attach the hanging toys onto the mat using the loops to help keep your baby engaged while on his belly.

“I loved how many interactive elements there were, and how easy it was to swap them out,” says Leah Rocketto, What to Expect’s Associate Commerce Director. “This made it feel like a new toy every time, which helped keep my daughter engaged.”

Leah also liked that you could use elements of the toy separately from the playmat. She, for instance, would unclip the handing toys to bring in the car or on walks in the stroller. This multipurpose element is a big plus with other parents too. Once your little one is comfortable sitting up, you can switch the positioning so he can access the keyboard more easily. And after your baby has graduated from sitting-up play, convert the light-up keyboard into a piano toy that parents say is popular with their toddlers — some reviewers say their 3- and 4-year-olds are still using it as a standalone piano. 

It also scores points for being easy to assemble and disassemble, with many families saying they’ve taken it with them while traveling.

Weight: 5.4 lbs.

Dimensions: 36 (L) x 18 (H) x 27 (W) inches

Age recommendation: 0+ months

True, its primary use is for nursing, but the Boppy is so much more than a breastfeeding pillow. With its clever C-shaped design and dense padding, the Boppy is useful to support your baby during tummy time and eventually, to prop him up as he learns to sit.

Countless What to Expect parents, including myself, recommend using the Boppy for a baby who seems to dislike tummy time. By supporting baby on his belly (with his arms under him to help push himself up), many parents find that this position gives their little one more head and neck control, not to mention a slightly different view of their world that can be interesting. More time on his tummy in this supported position will strengthen those crucial neck muscles so he feels more confident and capable on his tummy on the ground.

“We utilized a lot of tummy time toys which were all great, but could be very stimulating. With the Boppy though, my daughter could build those muscles while I read a book to her, which was a nice way to ease into naptime,” says Leah. 

Once your baby is a tummy time master, the Boppy can be used to support them while sitting or lying back (always while closely supervised; babies should never sleep or be unsupervised in an inclined lounging position.).

Weight: 2.85 lbs.

Dimensions: ‎20 x 16 x 5.5 inches

Age recommendation: 0+

You don’t need a special mirror to encourage tummy time play — any mirror that baby can safely see at their eye level will work — but parents love that this Baby Einstein mirror is designed for tummy time and offers additional entertainment options for little ones.

The baby-safe mirror is held by a small fabric floor mount that places an infant’s reflection at their exact eye level during tummy time. Babies like to grab onto the soft fabric on the mount while interacting with themselves in the mirror, and parents say that the included high-contrast cards are also a big hit.

“I loved that thing,” Christine Mattheis, What to Expect’s Editorial Director, says of the Baby Einstein mirror. “My daughter loved looking at herself, and grabbing at the blue panda knob because it made a crinkly sound.”

Christine added that it was the perfect travel toy, “because it folds flat and is soft and unbreakable.” Also nice: The high-contrast cards include a removable stroller link, so you can bring them with you on the go or remove the stroller link to loop the cards onto the mirror mount.

Weight: .75 lbs.

Dimensions: ‎10.6 (L) x 7.5 (W) inches

Age recommendation: 0+ months

What to Expect parents love crinkle books for tummy time, with many saying that the combination of looking at a book with the auditory stimulation of crinkle pages helped keep their little ones engaged while on their bellies. And with more than 6,000 five-star reviews, this top-reviewed crinkle book offers that and more, including high-contrast images, fun peekaboo flaps and soft fabric that babies love to touch.

Parents also like that this book has a link you can use to attach it to your stroller to keep your baby entertained when you’re on the go. And if it gets chewed or spit-up on, the book is easy to clean by throwing it in the washing machine, parents say. 

The only downside, if there is one, is that the story itself likely won’t captivate older babies or toddlers, so it has a shorter lifespan than some other products on this list. But for the price, it’s a great buy to entertain younger babies during tummy time and help encourage an early love of reading, too.

Weight: 3.2 ounces

Dimensions: ‎2 x 5 x 5 inches

Age recommendation: 0+ months

Many families find that water mats can be a fun addition to a baby’s tummy time routine. These mats usually contain small toys, and when your baby pushes up on his arms, the water moves the toys, capturing his attention. Over time, these kinds of products can help teach cause and effect, since your baby will realize that his movements are helping to shift the toys. This mat has a fish tank design and six colorful toys inside, and What to Expect parents say the design is a hit with their babies.

One downside with water mats is they tend to require some light assembly (in this case, inflating the mat and filling it with tap water) as well as some maintenance (parents say this mat can get some mold inside after a few months, so be sure to refresh the water regularly).

Finally, while all toys on this list are designed to be used when your baby is fully alert and awake and with your full supervision, that’s especially important with plastic materials. Make sure to always watch your baby closely while he’s using this mat to make sure his face doesn’t get pressed up against the plastic, Dr. Posner says.

Weight: 12.3 ounces

Dimensions: ‎6.65 x 6.46 x 2.13 inches

Age recommendation: 3+ months

This light bar is incredibly popular with What to Expect parents, who say that the music and lights help grab their babies’ attention during tummy time play in particular. It has three modes — animals, colors and xylophone — and lights up with your baby’s touch.

The bar is shallow and can lie flat during tummy time, but once your baby has learned how to sit, you can prop it up so he can still access it. It’s also lightweight enough that your little one can hold it in his lap, stroller or in a chair to play with as well. And because it’s on the smaller side, many parents say they’ve traveled with it.

“We brought this toy whenever we’d visit my mother and mother-in-law, since it easily fits in a suitcase and provides so much entertainment,” says Leah. “Even when we’d turn off the sound, my daughter was happy to spin the ball in the middle and press the buttons.”

But even with the sound off, toys that light up and play music aren’t for everyone — some babies, and parents, too, find them overstimulating. If that’s the case for you, this is one to skip.

Weight: .68 lbs.

Dimensions: 8.94 x 12.6 x 5.94 inches

Age recommendation: 3 months to 3 years

With gentle music, buzzing sounds, and the ability to move in either a circular or random pattern, What to Expect parents say that this small but mighty toy engages babies well during tummy time play.

This bee does a particularly good job of growing with your baby, too. It has three different play modes: one as a simple bee rattle;, another where the bee sits in the cloud and moves in a circle, which is ( ideal for tummy time;little ones on their tummies who can’t yet move to chase it around) and a third stage where it moves in a random pattern, which (great once your baby can start crawling after it). 

Melissa Bycofsky, What to Expect’s Executive Editor, was gifted this toy for her son and said it “definitely helped pressure my son into crawling.” “He would spin around to track it. . . [he’d also] sit and play with it and crawl with it,” Melissa says. 

Because it’s on the small side (just over 6 inches tall and wide) and offers a few different ways to play, this is a great tummy time toy to bring with you when traveling. Despite being small, however, it’s not ideal for small spaces. Melissa found that the bee traveled wide, even when sitting on the cloud. 

Melissa also said it doesn’t work great on carpet: It’s best on hard wood and foam mats without any texture to them. 

Finally, the toy requires three AA batteries, which may be a turnoff for some parents who would prefer not to have to continuously replace them.

Weight: 1.16 lbs.

Dimensions: ‎6.2 x 6.2 x 6.4 inches

Age recommendation: Designed for pre-crawlers through advanced crawlers