If you have just had a baby, then you know that is one of the most exciting and exhausting times in your life. There is so much that is going to go on in your child’s life, and it is hard for any parent or parents to try to keep up with it all. It is truly an amazing time.
That time is at its most amazing early on. The first year of your boy or girl’s life is one that is totally unbelievable. Things happen so quickly, and you see so much change happen. From the first time he or she smiles, to their teething process, to the first time that they call you mom or dad, there are so many incredible things that you will get to experience during that teething time.
All those events seem to overshadow some that are equally important, but don’t get the same kind of attention as other events. One of the biggest of these is when your baby is able to roll over for him or herself.
When Do Babies Roll Over?
This is one of those very important events in the life of your child. When your child is able to start controlling his or her head, then you know you are getting close to the time when they are able to roll over onto their stomach. The control of the head is an important indicator, because this shows that they have built up a significantly larger amount of muscle. They are stronger and are then able to start doing more things with their body because they have the strength.
Your baby will most likely be able to push him or herself over onto his or her stomach by about four months. They will have the strength in the legs to be able to kick the leg against the floor and gain enough momentum to be able to get turned over.
Within about two months of that time they will be able to flip and flop back and forth with great regularity. The neck and arm muscles are much stronger by that point, so the maneuverability will be impressive enough to be able to flip over in either direction with ease.
How Your Baby Will Learn to Roll Over
Rolling over seems so easy to us now, but there is a lot of work to it when you are only a few weeks old. This is how you can do some things to help your baby to learn. They are practical and easy to do.
At about three months, it is a good idea to start to place your baby on his or her stomach. This helps the infant to learn how to lift the shoulders and head. As a note, if the baby is having real difficulty holding up his or her head do not start doing this yet. What you will find is your baby will likely keep hitting his or her head against the floor and this can lead to a serious injury, especially if it keeps occurring. Make sure that the baby is able to hold up his or her head.
Also, you want to make sure that the infant is using their arms as support. If not, try to guide them to show how it is done. It is a good idea to spend a lot of time on the floor with your baby. Children often learn by modeling, and if you are demonstrating what he or she needs to learn, you can count on the learning process going much quicker.
If the muscles are strong enough at this point, it is very likely that the infant will flip over on their own. Just as a quick note, it is often more common for a baby to learn to flip from their stomach to their back first, but if they learn the opposite way that is not an issue. He or she has done nothing wrong at all.
When the baby has reached about five months, he or she will be strong enough to lift the head without issue and will probably be able to get up on their arms in a modified pushup position. This will eventually lead to crawling, which is quite common at this age.
What you want to watch for is if the infant is kicking legs, much like in a swimming motion, and rocking on his and her stomach. This is a very important step toward the crawling stage.
What If My Baby Is Catching on to Rolling Over?
This is not a problem. There are many things that you can do to help the baby to learn better. As was mentioned before, modeling is a great one. Get on the floor and lay on your stomach and roll to your back. Let your child see how you do it and have fun with it. If the baby sees you laughing and acting silly, he or she will likely do so as well.
Games are a great way to get the child to start doing an activity like this. Games are also a fun way to interact with your child, and help to form closer relationships. Both mom and dad should do this.
So Why Does My Baby Need to Learn to Roll Over?
This is a good question. Now that you know when do babies roll over, it is important to understand why they need to do so. This not only helps to teach balance and coordination, but it is a big step in the process toward being more independent. When the child is able to get onto his or her stomach or back on their own, it helps them prepare to start crawling and eventually start walking. If the child is unable to get from their back to their stomach this can cause some serious issues with their coordination in crawling.
You want to take the steps mentioned, if you find that your child is not learning to roll over on their own. Otherwise, this can hurt the child’s development.
