My 5 month old can't roll over...

[Summer1216]

Should I be worried about this yet?

He can turn from his back to his front, but generally chooses not to as he hates being on his belly.

When I put him on his belly, he hates it. He starts crying, and within a few seconds, screaming, then puts his face down in to the covers/bedding/floor and goes rigid with his screams and starts having a hard time breathing...

But he won't turn himself back over! Should I be worried about this? 

[FloridaBorn]

My 5 month old daughter isn't a big fan of rolling over either.  Curious to hear what others say!

[Knitting Mama]

Cecilia was like this. She was perfectly capable of rolling from front to back at 9 weeks old-- I have video of her doing it for several days in a row. But then she stopped entirely. She also hated tummy time SO very much but wouldn't roll off of her tummy. Around 6-7 months she stopped hating tummy time and started working on crawling. Now at almost 9 months she rolls both ways like crazy and crawls around. Don't worry, your son will get there too!

[EmTheWife]

My ds is now almost 8 months...

At 4.5 months he could go from tummy to back, and from back to side, but just couldn't get all the way over.  He started rolling from back to tummy well at about 5.5 months (about the same time he figured out how to get on hands and knees, which was a big incentive to him as previously he hated being on his tummy).  Even now sometimes forgets he can roll over, especially if someone is nearby, because he wants them to roll him over instead of making the effort.

[lach]

My daughter didn't roll over until she was 10 months.  I think she just never saw the point of it.  She hated being on her tummy.  She's 3.5 now and has no motor issues.

[slgt]

Totally normal.

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

My DD never rolled over and hated tummy time too. She started to crawl at 10.5 months, and walked at 12 months, so it didn't slow her down in that respect.

A comment about tummy time though - apparently there are some links between lack of tummy time and fine upper body motor control issues later in childhood - children who didn't do tummy time and build up those muscles can apparently have issues with things like learning to print - I have a friend with a graduate degree in occupational therapy who pointed me to the research. My DD is showing signs of this at 5, and we're doing some remedial motor control work to make up for it. I'd have worked harder on the tummy time if I knew.

[Knitting Mama]

Originally Posted by Perdita_in_Ontario 

My DD never rolled over and hated tummy time too. She started to crawl at 10.5 months, and walked at 12 months, so it didn't slow her down in that respect.

A comment about tummy time though - apparently there are some links between lack of tummy time and fine upper body motor control issues later in childhood - children who didn't do tummy time and build up those muscles can apparently have issues with things like learning to print - I have a friend with a graduate degree in occupational therapy who pointed me to the research. My DD is showing signs of this at 5, and we're doing some remedial motor control work to make up for it. I'd have worked harder on the tummy time if I knew.

From what I understand, a lot of the same control can be built by wearing the baby in a vertical position (e.g. legs froggied in wrap, Mei Tai, etc).

[Summer1216]

Oh good... I wear him lotus style (and cradle, and hug hold in the moby), and he can already sit up very well on his own and is playing really well with toys, grabbing and dragging things towards himself, and sometimes passing things between hands (though perhaps on accident).

He just HATES tummy time, and I haven't had the heart to leave him like that and let him scream.

I was wondering if that was some major mile-stone (like crawling) that he might be damaged by missing. 

[Knitting Mama]

Well, like I said earlier, Cecilia was a lot like that until the last couple of months. I am going to guess that had she been fine with tummy time, she would have crawled earlier, but as is, she is crawling at nearly 9 months and that's within the range of normal, so I really wouldn't worry yet. He might come around like Cecilia did.

[P.J.]

As far as I remember, the normal range for rolling over is anywhere from 3-7 months, so you are still well within that. No worries!

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

Hmm I thought I posted this yesterday but it didn't go through.

From what I understand, being upright in a carrier will help with neck control and spine strength. Certainly my DD, who was carried a lot, had a strong neck early. But it doesn't have the same benefit for the finer motor control that kids need later for writing etc.

This is just something to keep in mind. I wouldn't (didn't) push tummy time on a kid that hates it either probably - but something to be aware of, and to perhaps see if you can do remedial stuff when they're a bit older (have reading time on their tummy, etc - this was my OT friend's suggestion).

[mom2happy]

I have an 8 month old here who could care less about rolling over. Some babies just skip that. I would say if the baby is grabbing things and tracking objects, smiling ...... not to worry at all.

[superlove]

my 6 month old has only rolled over about 3 times, only from tummy to  back.  I've heard that bigger babies start moving later?  not sure if that's true.

[newmamalizzy]

Same thing happened with DD.  She's 9 months old now and started rolling regularly about a month ago.  I agree with the "she didn't see the point" comment that another poster made.  Now that she's crawling, she definitely sees the point!  I'd only worry if this doesn't develop along the way to normal acquisition of other motor skills.