Rolling...

[Ennypen]

Hi all - I'm getting a touch of mommy paranoia about William and the fact that he is nowhere near to rolling yet.
He is 5 and a half months now and weighs about 22lb and is quite a tall little man. He does show some inclination to roll like turning his head and pointing his arms in the right direction and even ifting both legs - but he just hasnt been able to roll at all yet.
I have been following the Health Visitors advice and rolling him gently myself to get him used to it and show him what to do but he just doesnt seem to be anywhere near doing it himself yet...
When did your LOs roll, any more ideas about what I can do to help him?
He's learning to sit at the minute too - he can do it with a cushion but again is nowhere near doing it unaided...

[maggieruth]

don't worry too much!  William sounds like a clever wee bub to me and her certainly gets a lot of stimulation from you...
does William like tummy time AND being on his back?  i am certain that Ethan only rolled to get OFF his tummy
why don't you try getting William to play lying on his side?  its a good way to bring both hands together to examine objects that are still resting on the ground and it is another position to explore and its halfway to rolling over....
also, i don't know if your HV gave you any advice on HOW to roll William but i do this with Ethan by picking up on leg and bending it at the knee and hip and bringing it accross his body and pulling the other leg through... that way Ethan had to roll his top half whilst i rolled his bottom half, if i started with my hands crossed over we could roll over and back all at once (which Ethan used to love fast back and forth on the bed!)
can you take toys and get him to follow them and then put them out of grasp unless he rolls and reaches and guide him through this and praise him when he gets the toy?
as for sitting, sit him on your knees facing you and bounce him sometimes, this is usually lots of fun for babies and helps them learn how to make muscle adjustments to keep balance.
HTH!  or at least gives you some new things to play at! 

[Ennypen]

Maggie I knew I could count on you - if you had been on messenger I would have hassled you on there but here your wisdom is here for everyone!

William is not a fan of tummy time although I persevere with it. He started needing a pillow under him but hes now good at lifting himself up without  it. He will look at toys in front of him but he soon gets very grumpy and lies there and cries bless him. He doesnt try to do much - just kicks his legs and gets upset.

Thanks for the clarification of how you roll Ethan - your way sounds like good fun. Its similar to what the health visitor told me to do but I think Im going to have a go your way for a day or two see if he likes it.
I had started to let him play on his side and he does sometimes make the rest of the roll himself.

I guess its just a matter of give him all the experiences and he'll get there in his own sweet time.

Haha just as I said that about his sitting he sat and played with his wobbly pig toy for a good five minutes this morning - before falling over sideways - good job I was there to catch him. I think he's getting the idea of sitting far sooner than rolling.

Thanks again Maggie. Talk soon!

Helen xx

[cwolff]

How long does William tolerate tummy time?  And does he seem to turn his head, or look only in one direction?  Even when sitting, or lying down, does his head tilt to one side?  I'll explain why I ask later if he does in fact do this.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about and he looks both ways perfectly fine, I think you have to persevere with the tummy time because that is the only way he's going to develop the muscles needed to roll over.  Also, he's a big boy, and this may have something to do with his limited ability to roll.  He's just not caught up with his size yet.  And if your health care worker isn't worried, then I think you can relax a bit and just keep helping him turn over.

[Ennypen]

Hiya Cwolff!

William is toerating tummy time for about 5 minutes at the moment with the help of a selection of toys I save especially for it then he starts squealing and gets upset.

He can hold his head up well and can look both ways and his head is not tilted - hes got fantastic neck control and the full range of movement. There seems to be nothing medically wrong with him - he just seems to be taking his own sweet time to do it - I think what yousay about him not catching up with his size are so true. He's got a lot more to shift than your average 5 and half month old. I'll persever with helping him and I'm sure he will get there soon!

Ive been showing how to roll as you said Maggie - and today he almost did it.. trying to grab his new Growling Tiger beanie from Where's Boo!

Thanks both for your help!

[cwolff]

Glad to hear he's doing well with his head & neck control.   What also helps with developing those muscles is changing positions.  One activity time, try using a rolled up towel or boppy to prop him up and see if he can tolerate more tummy time.  And my DD hated tummy time due to a neck condition, so I had to use a towel, and discovered that Baby Einstein would hold her attention enough that she wouldn't fuss.  I hate to admit it, but that was fabulous.  Now she's fine, and likes her tummy.  But that's just been recently that she has tolerated more than 5 or so minutes.  Now she can roll herself onto her back, which seems to make her happy.  I bet once William decides he's ready to do it, he will catch on really quick and be going and going.

[yaya]

When should babies start rolling? My 11 week old will stay on his tummy for short periods of time but is nowhere near rolling, i have tried rolling him gently myself but he isnt all that interested!

[maggieruth]

hello!
babies all do things at their own speed and to their own interests!  is it just me or are most babes that don't do physical things early the ones who are babbling up a storm, etc?
i looked up when babies usually roll and the vague answer i got was between three and six months! 
what is important at this point is that the baby turns his/her head to follow an object accross their field of vision (a friend and i had great fun when our bubs were 3 1/2 months old discovering that if we lay our bubs on the floor on their backs and walked back and forth accross the room they looked like they were spectators at a tennis game!)
sometimes when your baby first accidently rolls, it scares them and they don't do it again for some time, until they develop better muscle control.
don't forget too that rolling starts from back to side and then all the way over so sidelying can be great for babies too.  tummy time remains good to help develop the upper body control to roll. bouncing and more "rough and tumble" play also helps babies develop coordination (just be careful and do what your baby seems to enjoy- rocking, bouncing, swinging, etc.
HTH!

[~BeckyD~]

Hi Helen!
Please don't worry, as maggieruth said, each baby is different and will progress at there own pace. Just so you know, at Williams age (a few weeks ago!!) Jack would only roll while in his cot when he was supposed to be sleeping! and that is from tummy to back.
He still has no interest in going from back to tummy, and does not roll during the day!
We have almost no tolerance of tummy time here cos whenever we try it, he thinks we are trying to get him to sleep(even though he is not in his cot!) so he just gets frustrated, but he won't try and roll himself over-how wierd is that? :?  :roll:

[Ennypen]

Sounds like our boys are very similar little beings - William went into his new cot on New Years Day and he immediately started to try to roll to expore the space.

Will is doing better at the moment. He can't roll over but hes got the top half right and shows interest so Im hoping it won't be too long before he's flinging himself around the floor hehe.

H xx

[EASYconfusedMom]

Just to relieve your stress, my LO doesn't roll at all and she is 7.5 months.  She does the shoulder roll, but not the hips.  My mom is a PT with disabled kids and is helping me work on it, but if she isn't worried about it, I don't think you guys need to be.  Sounds like you're all ahead of me!