Rolls onto tummy but can't roll back - what do I do??

[JMmum]

My DS does this the minute I put him in his 'play pen' and then lies on his tummy and yells - he is 5 months old this week and has been doing this for around 2 and half weeks - is there anything I should be doing to help him learn to roll back over? I would leave him to figure it out but he gets so distressed so I pick him up as soon as he cries. Anyone else experienced this?

I don't know of anything you can do to help him. I think he just needs to figure it out for himself. My ds learnt to roll onto his tummy but couldn't roll back for another 6 weeks or so. I just had to pick him up when he got fed up. He is happier for longer now when he's on his tummy as he can hold his head up for quite a long time and play with his toys. He gets fed up after 10 minutes or so. It'll get better soon.

You just have to wait and he will learn to roll back.

I'm still waiting.... She's one and still gets stuck. Or perhaps she's just lazy 'cos she knows mummy will rescue her when she's had enough.

thanks for the feedback! somehow thought he would figure it out after a week or so - damn

Just wait until he starts crawling backwards but not forwards - DD used to get herself wedged in the fireplace!

My son could only do the other way for a month. I now have to rescue him, as he is doing the backwards crawl and getting really annoyed he is getting further and further away from the toy. He was under the sofa screaming this morning!!

it is just a waiting game til they figure it out for themselves. we helped ds1 by showing how to roll back each time rather than just rescuing him so he knew there was a way back. don't know if it speeded the process up but it was only a few days before he could roll right over and back

Afraid I am going to be mean. Not only should you not rescue too often, but you need to make him do "tummy time" ie stick him on his tummy deliberately so that he practices lifting his head and strengthens his neck ready for solids and movement.
now that we all sleep our children on backs and sides, they are so unusued to being on their fronts, and it encourages weak backs.
I do know what you mean though - my ds went through a really annoying phase of rolling onto his front asleep and then waking up in a panic as though face down in a puddle. I spent many a silly 10 minutes trying to teach him to roll back - not sure if it speeded things up though

can you watch for a bit and just laugh? make bets with your friends - use an oven timer and see how long it takes?

JMum - we're in exactly the same position at the moment dd (5 months next week) rolls on to her tummy and then gets really cross. Has been doing so for about 2.5weeks. We give her nappy off time before her bath, and it's then that she seems to to start trying to go back the other way. I do leave her to cry for a bit though - she'll work it out in frustration (spot the second child). She's a bit of a fatso, so not the most agile!
DS didn't roll over, so when he learned to crawl he went from sitting to crawling, with months of getting his feet stuck under him as he move into the crawling position. Even then he couldn't flex his neck up to see where he was going when crawling - he used to have to stop and sit down to work out where he's got to.
So Michaelah is right - babies need tummy time. Try putting a baby safe mirror under him so he can see himself and some sky.