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Six month milestones

17 replies

SamJTony · 20/03/2019 19:20

Please can someone offer me their advice or share their experiences. My six month old son learnt to roll back to front just before he turned six months. He does it all the time now but always gets stuck on his tummy. He is ok for a little while but always gets upset after a while as he can’t roll back the other way. He also cannot sit unsupported. His trunk strength seems to have improved lately but he tends to lean back and wobble around so there is no way I can leave him to sit. It feels like he is a long way off reaching this particular milestone. He is great when it comes to reaching and grabbing things, his hand-eye coordination is good, he has started giving himself his bottle (under supervision as it gets very messy) and seems to always want to stand - he really pushes down with his feet in a standing position. My health visitor said I should be concerned that he does not roll both ways yet and is not sitting unsupported. He is already seeing a paediatrician as a result of his hearing loss (moderate) but she told me that she would be referring him by now if we didn’t already have an appointment. This has scared me senseless that there is something wrong with my baby. He was born at 38 weeks and met his early milestones roughly in line with the guidelines although he was a little late in starting to reach for things. He is very sociable and smiley and extremely interactive with me, my husband and our family and friends. He is also very vocal. But I can’t shake the fear that there is something wrong with him. Is six months late not to be rolling both ways and not to be sitting unsupported? Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

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Jackshouse · 20/03/2019 19:23

Buy yourself a copy of Mary Sheridan Birth to Five. It covers all the milestones from, well I’m sure you guessed, birth to five. Development is not linear though, there will be times when children are accelerating in one area at the cost of another area.

popcorndiva · 20/03/2019 19:24

My DS was six months a week and a half ago and it was only in the last week he has been sitting. Once he got it you can't stop him. I honestly wouldn't worry.

recreationalcalpol · 20/03/2019 19:24

My 6.5 month old does neither of those things! He doesn’t even roll one way yet..

So, I hope I’ve no cause for concern. I really don’t think so, he’s a happy sociable baby, and I’ve no doubt he will get there with the physical stuff in time. I’m sure your baby is fine OP!

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moreismore · 20/03/2019 19:32

My 6.5 month old only just sitting without totally folding forward and I def wouldn’t leave her yet due to the wobbles! I noticed she got better v quickly with lots of practise. The more tummy time the better too, as long as not causing distress! I think your HV is being a bit premature in worrying

Rubyduby26 · 20/03/2019 19:33

My son is almost 1 now and he couldn't sit unsupported until just before 8 months.

He didn't do it until he could get himself into the sitting position! If I sat him down before he would just topple over and then as soon as he started crawling just before turning 8 months, he could go from the crawling position to sitting himself and ever since that he could sit up on his own!

He also never really rolled front to back. He had always been more comfortable on his tummy, loved tummy time! And sleeps on his tummy too!

I think as long as hes learning/doing some new things then I wouldn't stress, I know it's hard not to though!

Rtmhwales · 20/03/2019 19:49

Sitting is developmentally normally between 4 and 9 months. There's a huge range and tons of time left. My DS is nine months (but two months premature, so more like seven months developmentally) and has been rolling for at least five months everywhere but topples over in a sitting position. Each baby goes at a different pace and I'm not worried.

CJ1990 · 21/03/2019 10:21

My 6 month old, nearly 7 month, rolls back to front but can’t roll front to back. Very frustrating as she gets stuck like an upside down turtle and screams until I turn her over. Which happens at least 10, 20, 30 times every nap / bed time....aparently rolling is great fun until you realise you can’t get back....! 🙄

Don’t worry 😊

SamJTony · 21/03/2019 10:27

I think I’m more worried as the HV seemed to insinuate that there may be more cause for concern because my son has a hearing loss and sometimes there are associated health conditions. I thought it seemed a little premature but now I’m just so worried. I’m constantly getting him to practice his sitting and while it has improved he is still someway off where I think he probably should be. As for being on his tummy, he is fine for a while but he always does his ‘aeroplane arms’ so while his neck and chest muscles are strong as he keeps his head up, he hasn’t seemed to understand that he needs to put his arms out in order to roll back. Is it one of these things that one day, he will just get?

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Rosebud1302 · 21/03/2019 10:41

This makes me so angry that your HV has put this fear into you. Honestly I've heard so many things like this about some HV's and it is just completely unnecessary. I have many friends whose babies can't sit unaided yet. For my DS it happened almost overnight. One day I had to support him. The next he was wobbly but pretty stable. The next he was solid. Please don't worry. They all get there in their own time. Don't let people put the fear of god into you. You know your baby best and from the sounds of it he is developing really well in other areas. My boy is only just this week standing firm on the floor supported and he is 7 months.

SamJTony · 22/03/2019 08:28

Thanks everyone for your kind words of support and advice. I will try not to worry about this (can’t make any promises though 😜). It’s just frustrating as I just want to wake up one morning and he is able to do it but I guess I will have to be patient.

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Bombalarino · 22/03/2019 16:00

How bizarre, this sounds very normal to me!

HarrietM87 · 23/03/2019 14:44

My baby sat up at 4 months but didn’t roll either way until he could crawl at 7 months. I think he just didn’t like the sensation. Also hated tummy time so we rarely did it. In our NCT group all the babies have done things at different times and there were a couple not sitting at 6 months and all fine now at 11 months. Hopefully your appointment with someone more sensible than the HV will put your mind at rest.

MumUndone · 23/03/2019 14:58

Definitely normal to not be sitting at 6 months, and I'm sure he'll get the rolling both ways soon. Stupid HV.

Kariana · 23/03/2019 20:29

This sounds well within normal development. My ds took ages to learn to roll from front to back and then once he did finally learn he could only roll in one direction (eg. Left to right) so I used to find him stranded at one side of the room as he couldn't go back in the other direction. This was all around 6 months old. He couldn't sit up then either as I remember starting to wean him and having to sit him in things that provided support. I think he was at least 7 months before he did sit up properly and he certainly couldn't do anything like crawling.

By 11 months he was walking, which just goes to show that they can suddenly surprise you!

SamJTony · 25/03/2019 19:02

Thanks everyone. He is definitely making progress so I suppose that’s a positive sign. I’ve started using a highchair as we’ve recently started weaning but he really doesn’t like it and seems to slump forward and to the left. He also does this in his pushchair. I wouldn’t say he favors either side in terms of grabbing or reaching - is this likely to right itself once he can sit on his own?

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Rosebud1302 · 25/03/2019 20:35

My boy did the leaning and slumping thing too. Yep once he could sit up easier on his own it stopped :)

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