Rolling Over - Utica,MI

Hi E.,
I wouldn't worry to much about it, she will get what she needs to when she's ready too. Does she like to play on her back? Only 1 of my 5 liked to play on their tummy, the other ones always played on their back and learned to roll over back to front, instead of front to back. Once they got that down, they like to play on their tummy's because they could do what they wanted too. But I will tell you this too, 2 of them that did that wouldn't crawl, they would only roll where they wanted to go and was fast and good at it. One learned to crawl after she started walking at 10 months and the other one is only 7 months but shows no intrest in crawling because she can roll wherever she wants to go. Good Luck, but don't worry to much about it.
S.

I agree, let her get a little frustrated, but also get down with her and talk to her. I played peek-a-boo with my son to keep him entertained or even rolled him over myself and then back to his tummy for more time. To this day, my son is 8 months old, he hates tummy time, but we do it every day anyway. And yes, he did learn to roll back and forth so he doesn't have to stay on his tummy very long.

My dd also hated tummy time, so we did tummy time on my chest. She really liked it and was still lifting her upper body up to look at me. They will roll over on their own. I don't see how getting her frustrated is going to help her rollover, because she is not getting frustrated about not being able to roll over. By doing that you may cause her more frustration with tummy time and she may even like it less. My dd rolled from back to front first. We would do tummy time then let her lay on her back on her activity mat.

I had the same issue with my son who is now 5 months old. I found many solutions while going to physical therapy starting two months ago (he had tightness in one side of his neck) but I'm sure some of tips can help you too.

First thing, when your baby is on their tummy, the physical therapist had me hold the arms in so that they could be on their forearms to gain strength in their shoulders and neck. Kind of like doing the yoga pose for cobra. (have their upper body lay over a pillow or boppy until they have really good strength... it makes it easier for them to be angled up when holding their head up)

Next, they used one of those exercise balls in front of a mirror. The ball allowed you to hold them at different angles also designed to help them get used to tummy time while they gain strength plus bouncing helps keep them happy.

Finally and what helped my son enjoy tummy time more is to have toys that make sound, lights and have motion like the Vtech Learn and Discover Driver toy that you can find at Target AND changing positions. While playing on his tummy we would also roll him to his back for a little while, then side and back to tummy (never really having to pick them up... the roll was fun for him too). I noticed he might start to fuss on the tummy but would go back to enjoying the toy when changing position. I think the repositioning helps keep their interest.

These tips have helped considerably and my baby doesn't need physical therapy anymore but he doesn't enjoy his tummy soo much that we leave him on it for more than 15 minutes before he gets bored and crys... I'm hoping the frustration also encourages more rolling on his part.... he's soooo close.

Hi E.~

Don't worry! She will roll over when she is ready. I know it is hard b/c everyone acts as if every baby should hit every milestone at the time all the books say, but all babies are different. A lot of her learning to roll over has to do with how she spends most of her time. My son sleeps on his belly, therefore he is used to spending LOTS of time on his belly and would much rather be on his belly than back. He is now 5 months old and just started rolling over in a snap about mid March - that is from his back to his belly. With all three of my boys they rolled over from back to belly way before belly to back. You may want to try to help her roll over a few times and focus on her rolling from her back to belly first. I did this with my son by grabbing his legs and twisting his body and helping him over the rest of the way. He quickly figured out that if he lifted his legs to his chest his body would naturally roll to the side and he then had to work at it to get over the rest of the way. From here the opposite roll will come quickly. I actually woke up this morning to my son on his back - so at some point he rolled from his belly to his back. Be patient it will come with time. Before you know it she will be all over the place. My son first rolled over on March 17th and has already figured out how to push himself around by tucking his knees under him and pushing his body across the floor. It only takes a few times of practice and it happens. My oldest son is always telling me "Practice makes Progress." She will progress very quickly once she does it one time - just be patient.

I hope this helps and Good Luck!!!

My son just turned 8 months old. He started rolling over from his back to his belly when he was around 4 months old. He also did not like tummy time. No matter how much you put him on his belly and no matter how much he fussed, he still would not roll over from his belly to his back. Within the last month, he has started to really like being on his belly and has learned to roll from his belly to his back. I just think you need to be patient. When I told the doctor about him only rolling the one way at his 6 month appointment, she didn't seem to be concerned because he was doing other things a 6 month old doesn't really do, like sitting with no support, using the pincher grasp, etc. I do let my son fuss a little bit if he gets mad after being on his belly but if he gets extremely upset, I just show him how to roll himself over. She will get it eventually. She is only 5 months old. Charish every moment. My son has already pulled himself up on a chair and is positioning himself to crawl really soon. Once he crawls it will be all over. He will probably be pulling himself up on furniture more and walking before he is a year old! He is growing way too fast. So charish the tummy time and rolling over while you can!!! I hope this helps.

I have a 6 month old and I have the same problems I have been told by the doctor to let him cry for a couple of minutes and try again later. I try frequently through the day to put him on his tummy and I always get the same response about 2-5 seconds and he is crying but I do keep trying. He still does not rollover on a regular basis but one day he just got so mad about being on his tummy that he did rollover so I know he can do it. I put his favorite toys within his reach and he is now starting to get up on his knees to begin to crawl. Don't get discouraged just keep trying and it will happen.

E.,

My 5 mos old does the same thing, except she plays for about 5 -10 minutes before getting upset. She has rolled a few times, but not regularly. I let her get upset for a minute or two then rescue her. My son (now 4) did not roll until he started crawling at 14 months! Rolling is not a development milestone they need to hit. Don't sweat it.

She'll be fine personally I think the whole roll over thing is way over rated my daughter is now 9 months old and I swear she took forever to roll over then the next thing I knew she was starting to do the "army crawl" she now is walking around tables almost taking steps most likely by 10 months shell be walking all over. So relax everything will go just fine :-)

Hi E., My son is 16 weeks and pretty much does the same thing as your daughter. In addition to being on the floor with him, once he gets fussy, I'll actually roll him over (watch the arms) to his back. He likes his back and I'm hoping that gives him some understanding and mobility to roll over in the future.

My son is 6 1/2 months old now, and barely rolling over. He too hated tummy time, and I worried about his crawling abilities! HOwever, he's been sitting up on his own for a month, and pulls and keeps himself in a standing position, so my ped. said not to worry b/c his muscles are there, he's just not ready :-)

I practice with him, distract him with noisy toys on the ground etc...but overall, as long as he's wiggling around, I'm happy. I do let him fuss for a bit, and put toys out of his reach too...but his laid back personality keeps him from getting upset!

I honestly do think he might walk before he crawls!

My son started rolling when he was about 6 months. He still rolls at 10 months and is just now starting to show an interest in crawling. All babies are different and do things on their own schedule

frustration is OK, to a point. What do you do when you get frustrated? You change things... now is a perfect opportunity to start the habit of teaching your daughter to get a little mad and then change things. She will learn to roll over, then get on all fours, then stand, then walk then run, etc... Believe me once she's mobile (and she will be), you will yearn for the days when you could just set her down for a second and know she was safe!

Hi E.!

Don't stress out!! Your daughter will definitely learn to roll over. I personally think too much emphasis is stressed on "tummy time". Babies learn to roll over from backs to tummies on their own and Voila! there's tummy time! Then comes the tricky part - figuring out how to roll back onto their back! (That's where my boys got frustrated, but they eventually figure that out, too.)

I suggest helping your daughter out whenever you feel she's had enough trying. There's no point in making her try herself. She'll just get frustrated and you'll feel bad when you hear her screaming.

My daughter did not like tummy time at home, but we went to infant play groups for Moms & babies and a Breastfeeding Support group. In those arenas she was more tolerant of tummy time because with all the other babies on the floor, she had more to look at. Be sure your daughter has something to look at/keep her attention to better tolerate tummy time. You can also try laying down & have her lay on your tummy/chest so she is looking at your face during tummy time. I do agree that you should leave her down for a few more minutes than she wants to be there to become more comfortable with it and/or to inspire her to roll over.

Hello! My son, who is almost 5 months does not like tummy time either. He will do about 2-3 minutes, like your daughter and then gets really mad. He is almost ready to roll from back to tummy. My first son (now almost 3) was the same way and he learned to roll over sometime during his 5th month. My boys were just too busy looking around and tummy time limited them.
Tummy time is important, even if she only wants to do it for a few minutes. Have you tried getting on the floor in front of her? Try not to worry, I am sure she will learn to roll just fine.
If you get any good advice, please pass it along.

Every baby has their own personality and their own way of going about things. Your girlfriend is right about letting her get a little frustrated b\c it does help with their ability to learn and self confidience. I would let my daughter vry for a bit just to see if she did do this or that. It's all normal and she will roll over when she's ready. Now if she hasn't mastered the skill when she's 10 months old I would worry but until then enjoy!!

My daughter was the same way. Sometimes I would put her on her boppy pillow for tummy time and that would calm her down for a few extra minutes. Eventually she ended up playing more while she was on her back. Then she learned how to roll from her back to her stomach. After that she would roll herself over, struggle for a while, and then lay her head down and cry. This only lasted for about a half of a month then she started trying to crawl. Now that she's trying to crawl she enjoys tummy time. Also by trying to crawl she also figured out how to roll from her tummy to her back. So I would say it's nothing to worry too much about, she'll probably eventually enjoy tummy time:) Another tip: Sometimes I don't let my daughter know I'm watching her. Sometimes when she thinks she's alone, she's more adventurous.

I had a guy that did this. You could try to teach her to put one hand on the floor and push. Repeat this exercise several times and she'll get it and feel so great when she does it alone!

Hi E.,

My daughter was the same was except she didn't even last a couple of minutes it was more like seconds...

So my husband would lay on his back on the floor and then lay her on his tummy (on her tummy) and she loved it. That is how she got most of her tummy time.

But we also let her struggle on the floor a little bit, I found that if I was down there with her with a toy she liked she did better than if I just rolled her over and walked away.

Hi we couldn't really put our daughter on the floor because our new dog was young but ya know what they will eventually do it no matter what it is in their instincts. And my little girl who is now one, never even learned to crawl but yet she is walking. all in all don't worry about it SHE WILL LEARN Good Luck

sounds good to me. the baby IS only 5 mos. Don't worry so much about too much. Every baby is different and makes milestones at different times. Look at the "experts" who write the books on baby growth; they all have different opinions, which just means all babies are different and have their own individual schedule for doing things. can't push it, mom. She'll be fine.

Don't sweat it! Not every baby is on the same schedule -- she'll roll over when she's ready.

Hi E.,

My 5 month old just started rolling over and it's just something that they have to learn on their own. Some babies just don't roll over or crawl for that matter, some just go straight to standing and walking. Don't beat yourself up or worry too much. Try playing with her more and more while she is on her belly, that may help to encourage her. Good luck!

K. F

Don't worry, that's my tip....my daughter wouldn't even last that long on her stomach...she eventually learned to roll from her back and actually she hardly ever rolled over at that age. She is 8-1/2 months, crawly, rolling over and standing up on everything. Some just don't do everything "they" tell you they are going to do!