How to teach a baby to roll?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mom needs to call the pediatrician and ask how s/he recommends "teaching babies to roll over."

I've never heard of teaching babies to roll. You might give them incentives to roll, like putting a toy just out of reach, or putting them on their tummies or something, but they roll when they're developmentally ready to roll.

Plus, it sounds like these babies CAN roll over, they just don't do it very often. My baby was like this--she could roll, but she almost never did. It's not a very efficient way to move around, really, so I kind of understood her point.

I'm the first PP and this was kind of my point Babies roll/sit/crawl/walk/talk when they are ready. I have seen SOME evidence that a baby who is reluctant to crawl should be taught (basically just manipulating their arms and legs to help them feel how they need to coordinate their muscles) but even that research is sketchy at best and I would never criticize a parent for letting their child develop in their own time (even if it means skipping the crawling stage).

OP, your charges have rolled over. They are physically capable of it. They are also still only 4 months old - depending on SO MANY FACTORS beyond our control they might start rolling over and over and over tomorrow, in two months, or never again because really, what's the point? If their pediatrician thinks something needs to be done, he or she is the one who should explain how/what/why because ANYONE who has had a baby or who has worked with babies knows that (if they are otherwise developing normally) these things don't need to be taught and will happen when that particular child is ready. Period.

Just an FYI- Crawling is not a neccesary developmental milestone. There are many babies who never crawl and it's fine as long as they figure out some way to get around.

Well, like I said, there is some evidence that babies who skip the crawling stage are behind in other things later in life (too lazy to find the articles right now - so sorry, so stupid, so fat, etc.) but whether that's causation or correlation I have yet to be convinced on. Some people feel very strongly, like you, that it isn't necessary while others feel equally strongly that it is a critical step for developing specific neural pathways in the brain. To each parent their own methods and beliefs - we are all going to screw up our kids a little bit and this isn't an issue I'd go to the Thunderdome over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you google Magda Gerber?

She's got the best research to date.

[Anonymous]

They can roll though, they just don't roll all the time. They are fully capable of doing it