Rolling over

[Roxie85]

Hi,
This is my first baby and everything i have read says if your child isn't rolling by 6 months to speak to someone.
Well my little girl is almost 6 months and cant roll front to back or vice versa. If you put her on her tummy she can reach for things but doesnt press up on her arms, she also tends to just like to suck on her hands instead of looking at the toys.
She much prefers to be led on her back where she shuffles to reach things instead of rolling or stood up in her door bouncer/jumperoo
She doesnt sit yet either, but can hold herself steady for a few seconds.
I think she is perfectly happy and i can see her learning things all the time, but all this talk that she should be rolling by 6 months worries me especially when all the other babies i know are already doing it and they are much younger than she is.
Remind me to stop being stupid as she will get there eventually!

[newintown2014]

Hi Roxie, I can totally relate to you worries as my DD was the same - she only started rolling over front to back a couple of days after she turned 6 months. Rolling back to front and commando crawling came soon after that and now at 9 months she is crawling on all fours at lightning speed and cruising. My take on this is that the span of what is "normal" seems to vary by several months (just from observing other babies) and babies do not develop according to textbooks! I wonder whether personality also plays a role as my DD at that stage was a very quiet baby and did not seem overly interested in reaching out for toys or getting to them, etc. It was as if once she got to a stage where she wanted things badly enough, she also figured out how to move closer to them. Anyway, I am sure your DD will get there soon, so try to relax and enjoy this quiet phase!

[Dizzy81]

Hi Roxie,

Don't worry, every child is different. To help my dd to roll, I would play a game called 'rolling, rolling rollinf'. Where I'd lay her on the floor and sing rollin, rollin, rollin in and roll her over. This got giggles and helped her along the way. Xx

[Roxie85]

Thanks everyone. I knew deep down that I shouldn't worry but sometimes when you get these things that tell you they should be doing this by this point it makes you worry about things you hadn't thought of before.
We spend most of the day playing on the floor so am sure she will do it when she can be bothered!

[NorahBone]

Also worth mentioning that some babies don't roll, at least not until they are crawling. It's not included in the developmental records in the red books for this reason - it's nothing to worry about! I agree with NewInTown that babies learn new skills best when they really want or need to.

[NorahBone]

Sorry, it is in the red book, but not all babies do it :)

[DeWee]

Ddd1 didn't roll until she found a use for it-that was getting onto her front to crawl. She crawled at 9 months, and rolled at about 9.5months.

[ZuleikaD]

DS2 didn't roll till after he crawled and cruised - about 11m. Ignore all books except the NHS Birth to Five book.