Rolling

[alicatsg]

When should a baby be rolling by his/herself? My ds is 7 months old and doesn't really roll on his own at all (we've tried helping him but he ain't keen on his own). He seems far more interested in arching his back and looking over his head (if that makes sense). He's sitting quite well and is great on his front but ...

am worried cos everyone keeps going on about rolling being a key stage

Thanks in advance

Really don't worry. Our DS hated rolling (did it early on and then stopped pretty much) and only does it now because he is trying to crawl. He hated being on his front and is now getting frustrated as he wants to get moving and is stuck on his tummy and trying to bring his legs up.

Hmmm well problems rolling can signify later problems which is why it in included. Usually it doesn't though. Neither of my children were very good at rolling, but only one has problems. I think "how" they roll is more important than when and rolling develops in a series of stages. Once accomplished at child should roll by turning the head first then the rest of the body should follow. Ds2 (fine) did roll like this whereas ds1 (problems) was always crap at rolling. Until now. We actually taught him to roll at age 4 by rolling him in a duvet and then pulling the duvet to unroll him until he learned to do it himself- obviously wouldn't recommend that for a a 7 month old!

Was your son born by c-section? Ds1's OT was watching ds2 and I was explaining that he was a bit useless at stuff like that and she said that a lot of c-section babies appear to have some problems with sensory integration (whcih will affect rolling) because they've missed out on deep pressure during birth. She recommended rolling him up for 5 minutes or so each day in a blanket.

So I wouldn't worry too much about lack of rolling. It's included as it can- along with other things- signify problems, but is never really a problem by itself iyswim. My dson with the problems had other signs that things weren't quite right.

My niece didnt roll at all but crawled early on - whereas my ds rolled for England. He could roll at the speed of light and used to get himself around really well. Eventually crawled at 9 months then walked 2 days after his first birthday.
My niece crawled earlier than this but walked slightly later.
Not sure whether this is any help, but thought I would share my experience

My ds was practically walking before he started rolling. And my dd was crawling for several months before she started rolling. All by itself it's really not an indicator of anything except that they can't or don't want to roll. Don't worry.