Many children these days roll over late. Nisarga is one of them. Its not that he can’t. He just doesn’t seem interested.
He has rolled over from his tummy to his back and vice versa more than a few times. He can. But he is content to lie how he is. I must admit that I have some concerns over his muscle tone, particularly when I went and discovered that he has many symptoms of mild hypotonia. But his doctor is not overly concerned, and I dislike labels anyway, so I am simply plodding along, helping him to do more, unless the doctor suggests that there is a problem, which she clearly doesn’t think at the moment.
Anyway, here are some things I tried to encourage him to roll over:
- Tummy time – the god of all motor development. This can’t be over stressed. It is an opportunity for him to try doing things with his body by using his limbs to move in gravity.
- Variations on tummy time, like on an exercise ball, incline, rolled towel under armpits, etc.
- I support his movements by helping him move in the direction he is looking in. This may mean bringing over his hip or shoulder, etc.
- Alternating interaction and alone time – in nice chunks of time, say fifteen minutes at least.
- Propping his bottom up slightly when on his back, to encourage him to lift his legs and catch his feet. This is a good position for him to be tempted into rolling over.
- Sitting at his head and speaking, encouraging, giving toys, etc, so that he has to turn to watch me.
- Play by turning his body from side to side. The trick is to roll him when his body is moving with the movement – for example, arms coming over if I’m rolling him by his hips or legs, or hips turning if I’m rolling him from his shoulders or arms. Initially, it takes him a while to go with the movement, but after a few rolls, I can roll him from side to side really fast, and he is totally with the movement and enjoying it and asking for more. Don’t do this for too long, even if your baby seems to be loving it.
- Rolling and bouncing on an exercise ball (roll the ball, not the baby and bounce the baby, not the ball :D)
- Take a very soft scarf and drop it onto the baby’s tummy. Nisarga brings his arms and feet up and kind of hugs it and often rolls in his ecstace. This works specially well if the baby is not wearing clothes and can feel the light and soft material against the tummy.
Other things that may be possible are sessions in a swimming pool,