Rolling Over...or not yet question

[smiles2012]

My daughter is 4 months old this week. She is not rolling over, but her pediatrician said she is plenty strong and is not concerned. She said to "work with her on it".....

I have been of the mindset that she will hit milestones when she is ready, and I haven't really "worked on" anything. I don't think she got as much tummy time as she should have the first three months because she HATED it. Now, she can push up, but really shows zero interest in rolling over...even when she is super mad about being on her tummy. I give her a little assistance and she rolls over and smiles HUGE. But she never even tries on her own.

Has anyone "helped" their child reach this milestone?

Also, when did your child first roll over. My baby book says I did it at 3 months.....

[clairebear3]

I don't have any advice for you i'm afraid because my DD is only 10 weeks but she also HATES being on her tummy!  I give her about 2 mins of tummy time a day and she lays there with her head and legs in the air like a fish grunting and being very unhappy.  If I let her lay slanted on me she stretches her neck up and looks around.  If I hold her up she supports on her legs so I think she's plenty strong enough, but she just hates laying face down too :)
 

[Triniity]

Hi,

I was totally obsessed with tummy time and rolling and reaching milestones with DD1. I made her lie on this funny bellyswings and watch baby einstein dvd - that much obsessed I was

Now I have DD2 - being baby nr 3 and I so much calmed down.

I read about babies being carried wrapped up in some distant country, and when they are "released" at around one year of age, they just start walking within a day. (I don't know where I read this though)

I believe that most of the motoric development is this little neural cells that need to connect to the muscle cells to make them move. They grow down from the brain, and some grow faster and some slower. It takes the time that it takes.

I believe as long as there is nothing physically wrong with your little one, there is no need for training. You  cannot make the little cells grow any faster anyway.

follow your mommy instinct, that's my advice!

P.S. I did not do any tummytime with either DS or DD2. They hated it, so I left it.

[skycheattraffic]

I wouldn't push it but I would give her opportunities. My DD loved tummy time but I put a rolled up receiving blanket under her chest to help prop her up a bit so she could look around better. I also didn't use Velcro swaddlers and stopped swaddling after maybe four weeks since she broke out of the swaddle (using a receiving blanket) in a few minutes. She always hit her milestones in the crib at night before she ever showed me her new skill in the light of day (rolling over, belly crawling, pulling up to stand). Some kids aren't rollers. Mine loved being on her belly so she was highly motivated to roll from her back. If I put her down on her belly she would stay there and rolled belly to back much later than back to belly. If you're interested in seeing what she is capable of, you can put her down on the ground on her belly, her back and each side and maybe one of those positions would motivate her to roll to a more comfortable one. I wouldn't worry or push her but you can experiment to see what she prefers :-)

[butterfly_mommy]

My DS didn't roll over till he was about 7 months. MY DD2 who is only 5 weeks rolled over from her tummy to her back last night 2 times and is almost rolling from her back to her tummy. They will do it when they are ready. Also babywearing helps strength the core.

[smiles2012]

Thanks everyone! I like the ideas and it's good to hear everyone's stories. I don't really know anyone with babies right now, and you'd be shocked how many toddler moms "just don't remember"

Anyway, I do like the idea of using a receiving blanket, and she will eventually roll when placed on her side...but I think that's just momentum!

I'm gonna trust myself for now because she is reaching all other milestones.

[AnnaR]

I was worried about my son not rolling over on "schedule" too because in a mom's group I was going to I saw babies younger than mine rolling over and mine was no where near where they were.  Because he was mostly on his back and hated tummy time, he ended up rolling over from back to front first.  That happened around 6 months and from front to back around 7 months.   Once he started it didn't happen every day, maybe 2 or 3 times per week if that, and I'm pretty sure there were weeks where he didn't do it at all.  Now he is 8.5 months and rolls over when I put him down and just in the past few days started to get on both his hands and knees.

One thing I tried with him to help him from back to front was to motion to him to give me his hand.  Then I would gently pull on his hand until he tightened his muscles and helped him out in flipping to his side and then rolling over.  We did that quite often and it started becoming easier for him because he worked out the necessary muscles.  He did it to the point that he'd give me his hand on his own while lying on his back as if to say that he wanted me to flip him.  Eventually he started to get how to do it on his own.  If your daughter is pushing off with her arms already that's a good sign, it is what she needs to eventually push herself over.

[smiles2012]

So no rolling...but! I left her for five minutes on her play mat on her tummy and she was mad...of course, because she HATES tummy time...but she scooted and did a full 180! I was so proud and helped her rollover to her back, and of course ALL SMILES! She was only upset for being on her tummy. This whole "back to sleep" thing is funny, because she loves being on her back to see the world and my generation only liked tummy!