02 Jun Did you know that babies should be rolling by 5 months old

Did you know that babies should be rolling by 5 months old
Rolling is an important milestone because babies  learn to cross the midline with their arms and legs, which allows them to rotate their body to turn. This rotation or twisting motion of the body to roll over is important for balance later on when they are learning to run, hop, skip and jump. Rolling from back to tummy and tummy to back is an important transitional skill that allows baby to learn to move from position to position and explore their environment. Being able to roll will allow baby to then learn to turn to their side to sit up later on.

Babies who do not learn to roll from their tummy to back or back to tummy tend not to enjoy tummy time and often do not learn to crawl but instead they tend to bottom shuffle. When a baby does not roll or crawl, they miss out on the opportunity to strengthen their tummy muscles, back muscles, shoulder muscles and hip muscles. In the long term, this results in the child having poor fine motor skills for writing and poor coordination and balance for hopping, jumping and running when they are in school.

You can help baby to learn to roll every time you are changing a nappy by encouraging baby to turn their head to look at a toy on the side they are rolling to while taking the opposite hip and leg across their body to roll towards the toy. By 5 months old, typically developing babies should be able to roll from tummy to back and back to tummy by themselves.

If you are concerned that your baby is not yet rolling, reach out to My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4232 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists today.

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