Rolling baby

[GillLevey]

My 16 week old dd has recently started rolling which is great but after a few minutes on her tummy she gets really annoyed and starts crying because she can't do or see anything.

This is a problem because I have to keep her in her bouncer a lot or carry her around. I used to be able to leave her to play on her activity mat but the instant I put her down she rolls over and within 5 minutes she is upset.

Does anyone know how long it takes for them to go from rolling to crawling?

Will she be happier and more able to amuse herself when crawling?

My DS started rolling at 16 weeks, and he started crawling at 24 weeks. TBH, the more time your dd spends on her tummy the stronger her back and neck will get, so she can prop herself up and have a look around. My ds used to get in a right paddy when hed rolled onto his tummy and couldnt get back again. He soon mastered it.

btw, when she starts crawling, you wont be able to leave her for a minute, as she'll be into everything

By DS is just at the army crawling stage - is it called creeping? He started rolling at 14 weeks - he is now 24 weeks. In that time he has really transferred from enjoying being on his back for wanting to always be on his front. 10 weeks sounds a long time but he only had that grumpy stage on his front for a week or so. You could try placing toys just in front of him. Or rolling around with him on the floor. You could also try sitting her up with support. DS loves to sit now and moves from sitting to face down or face up. Am trying to kid proof the house at the moment!

Thanks for your advice. I'll try the toys idea.

I spend some time laying on the floor with her which helps for a while.

I hope she stops the grumpyness soon as I am starting to really look forward to going to work! I know I'll miss her loads but I find it really tiring keeping her occupied all day.

Do you know any ways to encourage her to crawl or should I just let her do it when she's ready?

There are some toys which encourage crawling - we have just bought one. It is a drum which plays music and rolls about the floor. meant to encourage crawling - I saw it Mothercare. He seems to love it.
I know what you mean about keeping them occupied. I try to leave him on his own to enable him to learn to play on his own but I am up and down every few minutes just to check on him.
the other thing that I should warn you about is the rolling over at night, when DS did it for the first time I was all panicked about SIDS and whether he would cope. Now he prefers to sleep on his front and rolls over just before dropping off. A sleeping bag stops him from moving about so much in his cot but he still worms his way around.

Thanks. That is something I've been worrying about. She's not in her cot yet as she's only just outgrown the moses basket. I'll try the sleeping bag idea when it cools down a bit. Before then I'll have to make sure I tuck her sheet in securely.

I had this grumpy on the tummy problem too! Echo what everyone else has said - it passes after a short time, don't worry. So does the needing to entertain them constantly.

As for the rolling onto the front in the sleep thing, I had HEARD (obviously not an expert, but..) when they can actually roll over themselves in their sleep, there is no need to worry. Easier said than done, I know, BUT your alternative is to set your alarm for every half hour through the night to make sure she hasn't rolled over again? I looked at it like this and felt a hell of a lot better!

I put her in the cot for the first time last night and within 5 minutes she was on her tummy and went to sleep like that. I kept worrying about her so I turned her on to her back after she had gone to sleep. She was in a completely different position by the time she woke up this morning. I guess I should stop worrying as there's not much I can do about it when I'm asleep and she's strong enough to lift her head of the mattress anyway.

DS1 never slept properly when he was little - I thought it was the moses basket but looking back all he ever wanted to do was sleep on his tummy. I am sorry I cannot be helpful about how old he was at this point, but we just kept putting him down on his back and by the time he was 18 months he was starting to sleep on his side or back more often. I didn't do the popping in every half hour to check, too exhausted. He's 2 now.

I think some children just do sleep on their tums... DS2, being his own little person, has never felt the urge to sleep on his tummy at all, and indeed wakes up in horror if he rolls over by mistake.

try to show her how to roll back!!!
Crawling could be ages yet...my ds4 is almost 10 months and not crawling properly

Thanks for the sleeping bag idea Spoo. I thought she might complain that she couldn't roll over but she just laid there quietly and was asleep within 15 minutes. Maybe it's like a swaddling effect.

She's started to bring her knees up underneath her now. Hopefully it won't be long!

put a mirror in front of her it can give you a couple of minutes piece when they look at themselves for a bit.