Doctor Komarovsky on how to teach a child to roll over from his back to his stomach. How to teach a child to roll over from his stomach to his back, when it’s time to start exercises and other expert advice If your baby knows how to roll over but doesn’t want to

Yesterday we talked about flip skills in children. Today we will continue the topic of how to master these skills and what are the reasons that the baby does not roll over. You should not specifically start training your baby to stand or sit earlier than five to six months and before he learns to roll over. The best option would be when each of the new stages in the child’s development follows another stage very smoothly and in the right sequence. Of course, sometimes children can “skip” or significantly shorten some of the stages in development, but these stages will still alternate one after another.

Where does it all begin?
Just recently, most of the movements were inaccessible to your baby. But then he reached the age of three months, and he gradually began to try to reach for toys. And now the baby no longer lies calmly in one static position, and the child wants to turn on his side, and tries to roll over from his back to his tummy. But for each child, these moments in development are formed individually. Average. According to developmental norms, children begin to roll over on their sides at the age of four months, and then these skills gradually turn into the skills of rolling over from back to tummy by about five months. By the end of the fifth month and the beginning of the sixth month, many babies can already roll over both in one direction and in the other - from the stomach to the back or from the back to the tummy.

If your observing pediatrician determines that your baby's development is fully consistent with all age-appropriate standards, then there is no need to worry that your child will not learn any skills or will miss anything. Gradually, the baby will master and acquire all the skills that nature has given him. If at six months your baby does not know how to roll over at all and is not even able to do this, then you urgently need to consult with specialists - a pediatrician or a neurologist. The doctor will additionally and very carefully examine the child, rule out neurological disorders, and in parallel with this, he will recommend a whole range of exercises, as well as massages and many other procedures that will quickly and actively help the baby make up for lost time. If the baby needs your help and some manipulations, it is important to help the child prepare and carry out the coups.

This kind of exercise can help strengthen the muscles in the back, abdomen, neck muscles and prepare them for active and new movements. They are useful for children from the age of three months. First of all, you need to alternately bend and unbend the baby’s legs by analogy with the “bicycle” exercise. It is important to give your baby his thumbs on his hands to grasp. It is important to spread his arms to the sides, and then bring them together, collecting them into a “piece” on the baby’s chest. Often you need to lay the baby on the tummy, and you can start doing this already from the first month of life, and you need to start with one minute, and gradually increase the time the baby stays on the tummy to ten minutes. This exercise will help strengthen the muscles in the neck that hold the head in an upright position. You also need to start gymnastics, which is carried out after the preliminary massage procedures; the duration of their implementation does not exceed 10-15 minutes. And when the child begins to confidently hold his head, lean on his arms, he becomes more active and curious, you can begin the first exercises to teach him to roll over.

Why doesn't the baby roll over?
Sometimes parents go to the doctor with complaints that the child cannot develop the necessary skills by the time he reaches a key age. So, in particular, by four months he simply does not want to roll over. Why can this happen, what are the reasons for this phenomenon? First of all, the main reason for the baby may be his excess weight. Perhaps your baby’s weight is higher than normal, and all physical exercises are quite difficult for him. Not wanting to bother himself, he will prefer to just lie quietly and rest as much as possible, instead of working and working on his skills and mastering more and more new skills. This is the only reason to eliminate which you will have to review your little one’s diet and feeding standards. Especially often those parents whose children are bottle-fed have to deal with this phenomenon.

Another reason why a baby may not roll over by the due date may be prematurity. Babies who were born prematurely, especially much earlier, may lag far behind their full-term peers in development. This is quite normal, because outside the womb they have to learn not only new and established skills, but also actively catch up with those stages that they did not complete in time during intrauterine development. And there is nothing particularly terrible in this process; over time, your premature baby will level out in terms of his physical development and he will quickly catch up in the development of his peers.

Another reason why children may have difficulty rolling over from back to stomach and back is an underdeveloped muscular system. If the child does not have any existing congenital pathologies, then his insufficient muscle development will be a significant omission of his parents. During the first months of children's lives, especially active emphasis in the development of children will be placed on massages and developmental gymnastics techniques. It is these very simple and uncomplicated exercises, but performed regularly, that can help in the development of the muscular corset and provide the baby with proper and complete physical development. Under no circumstances should you neglect such exercises and activities, otherwise at a certain point the baby simply won’t have the strength to actively turn over.

Various infectious diseases can cause the baby to not roll over. Infections in children can cause delays in the physical development of children. They can significantly provoke calcium and iron deficiencies within the body, which children need for their normal growth and development. Sometimes this happens as a result of severe toxicosis of the mother during pregnancy, as well as infections she has suffered or severe stress. Even common colds suffered by a baby are dangerous, not to mention more serious problems with the baby’s health.

Also important in the development of a child and their mastering of skills are the individual characteristics in the development of the baby himself. Some children initially, literally from birth, may have a special character and bright personality. For example, without mastering the basic skills of turning over from tummy to back and from back to tummy, they may already try to sit on their own or crawl. All the reasons we described above that may interfere with a child’s ability to master rollovers are not yet a reason to calm down and not engage in physical exercises with the child and not develop the child. Parents, through exercises and activities, should help him master flips, as well as subsequent skills.

More articles on the topic “Physiological maturation”:

There is nothing more exciting than watching the development of a little man: how he begins to smile and make his first conscious movements. Rolling onto the stomach and back onto the back becomes a truly revolutionary event: after all, from this moment the baby begins to control the position of the body in space. Many young parents worry: will their child learn a new skill in time? Instead of waiting and worrying, it is better to act. A baby can and even should be taught to roll over.

As a rule, babies first roll over onto their stomach from a lying position on their back (at 3–4 months), and only then, on the contrary, from their tummy to their back (at 4–5 months).

So, the skill of changing the position of lying on the tummy to the position of lying on the back is mastered by babies from about 4–5 months. With the help of adults, a child can learn faster than just trying on his own. But mom and dad must be sure that the baby is ready for a new experience.

Factors that determine a baby's readiness to roll over

Please note that the age limits are conditional, since the development of skills depends on the natural characteristics of the baby. So, if a child is nimble, curious, active, then he will develop a little faster than a well-fed and calm toddler. Don’t forget about the factor of heredity: if you were a “rusher,” then your child will most likely be the same. And, of course, caring for the baby is of great importance. Regular gymnastics and massage will bring the moment when the child begins to actively move, including turning over from his stomach to his back.

When to worry - answers Dr. Komarovsky

Even if the deadline has come, and the baby has not yet mastered the flips, there is nothing to worry about. As Dr. Komarovsky says regarding the time when it is time to master certain physical skills: “Your child does not owe anyone anything.” Do more work with your baby, maybe it makes sense to get a massage. Dr. Komarovsky pays special attention to safety in this matter: when the little one begins to roll over, you cannot leave him for a second - literally in an instant the baby can roll to the edge of the bed or changing table.

But if at 6.5 months the baby still does not turn over, you should consult a doctor. First of all, you need to go to an appointment with a pediatrician, and he will refer you to the right specialist. Most often, such problems are addressed to neurologists, who study the medical history and prescribe suitable supportive therapy and a course of therapeutic massage.

As usual, the baby should roll over from tummy to back

A conscious, rather than accidental, tummy-to-back rollover occurs when something attracts the child’s attention (for example, a toy or sound), and the body needs to be changed in order to see, hear, or touch it. If the baby turns over “aimlessly,” such cases are not considered a conscious action. Observant parents will not have any difficulty distinguishing one from the other: after all, with a deliberate revolution, not only the posture changes, but also the facial expression.

Conscious turning over is possible only when the baby’s back, arms and legs muscles are stronger.

As a rule, the child rests on the elbow of one arm and transfers his body weight to this side, due to which he manages to lie on his back. Sometimes this happens in an attempt to grab a toy. The baby reaches out to her with his hand, loses his balance and can roll from his stomach to his back.

Video: how a baby (4 months) turns over from his stomach to his back and back

How to teach your baby to roll over

All the basic skills of a child need to be taught, since he does not yet have an idea of ​​how this or that movement is performed. Unconsciously rolling over is not considered a skill. Nevertheless, it is precisely this that gives a signal to parents: it’s time to start studying with the baby. This should be a game in which the stimulus will be the mother’s smile (the most valuable reward for a child in infancy) and verbal approval.

Useful exercises

Pediatricians, including Dr. Komarovsky, believe that classes can be combined with air baths: this will undoubtedly increase the benefits for the baby. For lessons to be effective, you should follow a few simple rules:

Exercises for mastering the skill of turning over from the stomach to the back are, in essence, strengthening the baby’s muscular system. You can start exercising from the first month of life.

"Bike"

Instructions:

"Capture"

Instructions:

"Pull-ups"

Instructions:

Laying on the stomach

You can place your baby on his tummy already in the first month of life, when the umbilical wound has healed. At first this will take no more than a minute. If the baby likes this position, you can gradually increase the time. Usually it lasts up to 10 minutes (after which the exercise becomes irrelevant, since the child can roll over on his own). Laying on the stomach is very useful, as it helps strengthen the neck muscles and teaches the child to hold his head.

You can place your baby on his stomach almost from birth.

You need to allocate about 15 minutes to complete this set of exercises.

Video: how to teach a child to roll over

What are the problems with turning over?

Learning to roll from stomach to back does not go smoothly for all children. Parents understand: every child is unique. But they are still wary if the child develops “not according to the script.” This is a valid concern: in some cases, the baby may actually need the help of a doctor.

If the baby is overweight, he will master all skills with a lag, so you need to consult a doctor and stabilize the child’s weight

Let's consider typical situations:

The skill of turning over from the stomach to the back is not an innate skill, but an acquired one, developed by caring parents who try to strengthen the child’s muscular system with useful exercises and create all the necessary conditions for full development and growth. But when expecting your baby to change positions, you should remember that all children grow and develop individually: some master flips at two months, others only at five. If you are still concerned about this, you should consult a doctor. It's better to be safe than to risk your baby's health.

In the first year of life, the child makes a strong leap in development. From a helpless, screaming baby with a set of chaotic and uncertain movements, he turns into a skillful baby who walks and communicates. One of the main stages on the way to a child mastering walking is the skill of turning over. The ability to turn the baby on its side, stomach and back indicates the strength of the muscle frame and dexterity.

Babies are not born knowing how to learn to roll over. This skill is formed due to the emergence of a need, for example, to get a rattle, or to better examine something. Each child’s ability to turn largely depends on his physical fitness. There is a set of special exercises, which is one of the ways to quickly teach a child to roll over.

What time does a baby start to roll over?

As mentioned above, the time when a newborn begins to roll over is determined mainly by the strength of its muscular frame. It is believed that the age of 3-4 months is the period when the baby is quite capable of starting to turn on its side. 4-5 months is the time when the baby can deftly control his body and begin to roll over onto his stomach and back. These frameworks are relative, and therefore in each specific case the norm will be different. So, for example, in the case of tall and large children, the time of turning onto their stomach may be delayed by 5-6 months, since it is more difficult for them to group.

If a child who has reached the age of 6 months cannot independently change his position, then this is a serious reason to think about how to teach the child to roll over.

Why doesn't the baby roll over?

Some mothers begin to worry why the child does not turn over, while his little peers have been trying to crawl for a long time. The reasons for this behavior may be:

1. Neurological disorders which are manifested by uneven muscle tone. This can also cause the child to roll over only in one direction. Massage, swimming, and special gymnastics for children will help solve these problems. More serious cases may require medications to be prescribed by a neurologist.
2. Child's temperament. Choleric children, like sanguine children, are extremely curious, and therefore quickly begin to strive to master space and become mobile. A child with a calmer nervous system may have contemplative interests and simply be “lazy.”
3. No need. The child does not want to roll over if he does not have a worthy motive for this. For example, in a family where mom and dad satisfy the child’s desires even before he has time to realize them, the child is unlikely to take the initiative in mastering a new skill.

What should I do to get my baby to roll over?

In order for the child to roll over, it is necessary to do special exercises and massage to strengthen the muscles of the back, abdomen and limbs. Exercises with kids on a fitball are quite effective and exciting.

To stimulate the baby's desire to roll over and take a different position, it is recommended to lure him with bright and musical toys. “Baits” should be placed in the visibility zone, but at a certain distance, so that he cannot immediately reach them, but tries to make an effort to do this.

How to teach a baby to roll over?

You can teach your child to roll over onto his stomach and back using the following exercises:

1. The child's arms are crossed on his chest and spread to the sides. The motor stereotype obtained during this exercise will help when turning over from your back to your stomach, when you need to press one hand to your chest and use the other to help yourself roll over.
2. The left leg is thrown over the right, bringing it to the surface on which the child lies. This movement should encourage the baby to complete the maneuver, turning over onto his stomach. Same thing in the other direction.

Usually, after a child masters the skill of turning onto his stomach, after a couple of weeks he begins to master turning onto his back.

If the baby does not want to roll over from his back to his stomach, you should show him a beautiful toy... Three to four months is just a conditional age “bar”...

From the moment of his birth, the child gradually immerses himself in the world around him, beginning to closely study it. At the same time, his perception is transformed under the influence of many factors, constantly expanding and absorbing more and more information. Already in the first three months of life, the baby shows activity, the degree of which depends on individual characteristics. An important role here is played by heredity and the course of pregnancy in the mother.

Although the dependence of a baby’s liveliness on his health and genetic predisposition has not found indisputable evidence in medicine, some trends can still be traced. According to studies, 30% of children have weak or increased mobility passed on to them from their parents. Sluggish behavior due to functional disorders of the internal systems of the body was detected in 25% of cases. In other children, motor skills are formed without any clear patterns.

The baby starts to move

Developed motor skills of a baby are the key to his future health and normal formation of skeletal muscle tissue. After birth catharsis, the newborn’s body begins to rapidly adapt to life outside the mother’s womb. Chaotic shudders of arms and legs are replaced by rhythmic and increasingly confident movements. The more often a child is at rest, the more intensely the motor functions of his body work. After just a month, the baby can touch and grasp objects in his fist, turn his head and smile joyfully.

Among new mothers, the question is often asked: “At how many months will the child be able to roll over onto his side, onto his stomach?” It is impossible to answer this unequivocally, since children develop in different ways. Some babies quite quickly change their body position from back to side as early as two and a half months, and at three months they begin to easily lie on their stomach. Others can roll over on their own only at four months of age, which is also quite normal. A full-term healthy baby gains weight more slowly and usually develops faster than a lazy “chubby baby”.

Prolonged child development

If the baby does not want to roll over from back to side, then onto stomach, at four months, there is no need to sound the alarm and go to expensive clinics. It is possible to correct a slight delay in motor development without outside help. It is necessary to clearly understand that the child is absolutely normal, and if you intervene a little, he will easily catch up.

To get professional advice, it is enough to show the baby to a neurologist who can understand why he refuses to move. It is quite possible that the baby is simply lazy, and the doctor will give detailed recommendations on how to fix this. It should be borne in mind that three to four months is only a conditional age “bar”, which may shift somewhat.

If, after an examination, the doctor confirms that the child meets the norm for age-related development, then we can say with confidence that he will implement the skills inherent in him without complications.

Teaching your baby to do flips

To develop the ability to roll over from back to side, and then onto the stomach, a baby must first of all be taught how to fix its head well (as a rule, the baby acquires this skill in the first month of life). And if the baby does not want to roll over, then you should teach him to lie on his stomach with his head raised vertically for at least 10 minutes. Moreover, this should give him pleasure - no coercion, which can cause children's fears and only aggravate the problem.

The concept of “coup” refers to the baby turning over from his back to his stomach - a healthy child’s conscious desire to change his body position while lying on his back. If a child does not know how to perform such flips, but instead falls on his back, this indicates a violation of muscle development.

In order to do this, you need to do a few simple exercises with it every day. Before starting gymnastics, the child must be well warmed up to avoid muscle and tendon strains. Particular attention should be paid to foot massage, since this part of the body contains acupuncture points that stimulate the development of all internal organs.

If the child shows displeasure - cries or kicks, you need to accustom him to exercises gradually, adding a new exercise every day. The warm-up time is approximately 15 minutes, and it is recommended to do it before each child’s workout.

Thematic material:

You can prepare your child to perform developmental gymnastics by the following steps:

• bend both legs in turn with a gradual increase in tempo;
• we allow the baby to clasp his thumbs and spread his arms to the sides, then bring them back;
• massage the hands and perform careful circular movements with them;
• let the child clasp his fingers, after which we begin to slowly pull him towards us by the arms;
• We place the baby on his stomach and motivate him to raise his head and fix it in an upright position.

Gymnastics for the development of motor skills

After the child’s body has warmed up sufficiently, you can move on to basic exercises that encourage him to roll over:

1. Starting position – lying on your back. With one hand, you need to lift and fix the baby’s right ankle, and with the other, do not let the left leg bend. Hold for 30 seconds, then change legs. Repeat four times on each side.
2. Starting position – lying on your back. When fixing the ankle, we bring one leg behind the other like a “scissors” exercise, hold it for 10 seconds and return it back, after which we change the leg. Repeat eight times on each side.
3. Starting position – lying on your back. Carefully bend the leg at the knee and slowly move it to the side so that the knee joint comes into contact with the surface. The arm will immediately begin to move behind the leg. Let the child grab his thumb and pull himself up in the direction of the turn.
4. Starting position - lying on your back, the right leg is crossed over the left, while the latter must be fixed. With moderate effort, we begin to pull on the right leg, while not allowing the baby to roll over too quickly. After turning over, the handle may get stuck under the body, so traction can be increased until the child pulls it out. If this does not help, it is necessary, without ceasing to pull the leg down, to begin massaging the shoulder in the area of ​​the upper point of the armpit.
5. Starting position – lying on your side. We hold the child by the shoulder with one hand, while with the other we move the pelvis in the direction of the revolution. After this, we do the opposite: we pull the handle in the required direction, while the pelvis remains fixed.
6. Starting position: lying on your stomach. Grabbing the baby by the body, we lift him up so that he begins to push off from the surface with his arms. Repeat three to four times.

Gymnastics for the development of the baby’s motor skills must be carried out at least seven times a day, and the baby will soon learn to roll over first on its side, and then from back to stomach and back.

Dr. Komarovsky points out the need to create the most comfortable conditions for the child during his training. If the baby does not want to roll over on his side or from his back to his stomach, you should put him on a hard surface and show him a beautiful toy or an unusual object. Things should interest him and make him reach for them, first with his hand, and then with his whole body. That is, the baby will have the motivation to move, and pretty soon he will begin to roll over on his own. Thus, day after day, month after month, your baby will grow and develop.

From the age of three months, infants learn to hold their heads up independently and lie on their stomachs, which allows them to fully see the people and objects around them. Then the babies begin to roll over from their back to their stomach and back. What if the baby refuses to do this? Why doesn't a 5.5 month old baby roll over?

What can a five month old baby do?

At 5 months, the baby can independently grab a toy lying nearby. He can do this with one hand or with both at once. The child has a good grip and fine motor skills are more developed than adults.

From birth, the baby is constantly studying the world around him, in which every object has its place. An object is understandable to a child only when he can touch it and even taste it. If a child gets tired of a toy, he consciously throws it away. If the baby is interested in a thing, but he cannot get it, then the baby will clench and unclench his fingers, looking at it.

Before the age of one year, children have fine hearing and react acutely to any sound. A five-month-old baby listens with interest to cheerful music and begins to move animatedly when it plays.

Many babies make certain sounds at 5 months, such as "na" or "da." Moreover, not just one sound is pronounced, on the contrary, it is repeated for a long time. If those around you are touched by this, then the baby will cheerfully coo over and over again.

More nimble babies at this age can crawl. Baby doesn't want to roll over at 5 months? But every child is individual and there is no identical development pattern.

Independent coups

Why doesn't a 5 month old baby roll over? In domestic pediatrics, there are norms for children of a certain age. According to these standards, at 4 months the baby can roll over independently. But the indicated age is just a convention, because all children develop differently. Some, due to prematurity or hyperactivity, are slightly behind or ahead of the average stages of development. Therefore, you should not be afraid that a 5-month-old child cannot roll over.

It is much easier to roll over from your back to your stomach, but it is not so easy to do it back. Most children master the reverse rollover by six months. But there are no exact dates, because some babies can roll over even at 3 months, while others only at 6. Therefore, every 5-month-old child is different. Development, what one should be able to do and at what age are popular questions among young parents.

Conditions for baby to roll over

Each motor skill is closely related to the others. During the first year of life, the baby learns many elements of physical activity, and it is impossible to achieve success in one by skipping over another. If important conditions are met, parents will not have to worry about the fact that a 5.5-month-old child does not roll over.

• Development of basic skills. Is your baby unable to hold his head up on his own? Is it difficult for him to lie on his stomach? Alas, he will not master coups for long enough. Therefore, it is important to train children's muscles.
• Accounting for surface quality. It is difficult for a child to roll over on a soft bed or sofa.
• Interest. It is very important to attract the child’s attention with some object or bright toy. The baby will become interested and want to get to the desired object.
• Emotions and mood. A good mood is the key to good luck. Flips can be practiced when the baby is in a good mood. Interest will not appear in a sleepy, hungry, sick or restless child.
• Safety. Of course, such a condition is considered irrefutable. Don't forget about safety rules. It is coups that are the period when a child can get injured. Every movement of the baby needs to be controlled. It is better to teach your child to roll over on a warm floor.

The child does not roll over - what is the reason?

It rarely happens that a child at 5.5 months does not roll over. But if such a problem exists, then perhaps the whole point is in the physiological development of the baby. Often everything depends on the work of the muscles; if the child cannot roll over on his own, then the muscle corset is poorly developed. There are several reasons, and they are as follows:

• general hypotonicity;
• spinal muscle dystonia;
• insufficient development of the abdominal muscles.

Additional contributing factors include the following:

• congenital diseases;
• infection;
• anemia;
• injury;
• prematurity.

Parental help

Do you have a 5 month old baby? Development of what a baby should be able to do - the issues discussed above. Now let's talk about how you can help your baby master this motor skill. First of all, you need to listen to the following recommendations:

1. A flat surface is required for training. You should not constantly carry a child in your arms, because muscle training is an independent physical activity. Leave the baby to just lie on the bed for 5-7 minutes.
2. Professional massage, which should only be performed by a specialist.
3. An auxiliary warm-up that can be done when changing diapers (flexion and extension of the legs).
4. Exercises. It is useful to use an inflatable large ball for gymnastics, on which the child lays out. The ball with the child lying on his stomach can be slightly rotated to the sides.
5. Simulated swimming. During bathing, it is advisable to allow the child to move his arms and legs freely.

Assistive exercises

To strengthen the back, neck and abdominal muscles, it is necessary to physically prepare the child from three months. The following exercises are suitable for training:

1. Alternate flexion and extension of the baby’s legs. The exercise is similar to cycling.
2. Give your baby the opportunity to grab onto your thumbs. Slightly spread his arms to the sides and bring them back.
3. It is advisable to pull the baby towards you in the same position. After some time, the baby will pull itself up on its own.
4. It is advisable to regularly place the baby on his stomach. The posting can be done as early as a month. This method helps strengthen the neck and back muscles.

It is better to do gymnastics after a massage. The exercises should not last longer than 15 minutes, especially if the child does not roll over at 5.5 months. Once the baby begins to hold his head up and is active and curious, you can begin to roll over.

If the pediatrician confirms that the child is developing normally and there is no reason for concern, then there is no need to worry about the fact that he cannot roll over. All the skills inherent in nature will manifest themselves sooner or later.