How to teach a three-month-old baby to roll over from back to stomach

After the birth of their first child, parents pay attention to every little thing that happens to the baby, trying not to miss an important moment in development and, if necessary, respond to deviations in a timely manner. By the first three months, the baby becomes active and does not want to lie in one position. He tries to turn his head in different directions, studying the world around him, and makes his first attempts to roll over onto his stomach and back. If a child does not roll over from his stomach to his back at 5 months, this is not yet a reason to panic. Some babies take longer to develop their physical activity. As a rule, the first efforts to roll over from back to tummy are observed at four months of age. Many people cannot cope without outside help. After a month of attempts, the child learned to roll around in the crib on his own. Everyone can roll over from back to tummy without much effort, but there are situations when the baby cannot turn back (from tummy to back). In this case, parents should think about exercises that will tone and strengthen the muscles of the neck, arms, legs and chest.

How to teach to roll over from back to stomach

The ability to roll over is one of the important motor skills that a baby has to master.
In order for a child to enjoy a new skill by 5 months, comprehensive training is needed. According to pediatricians, the child’s first independent attempt to roll over should occur between 3 months and six months. This may be an accidental revolution, but it will tell you that a start has been made and the baby will master the skill on time. But, first of all, this skill depends not so much on specific deadlines, but on various factors. Among them:

heredity;
baby's weight;
health status.

Babies begin their first attempts at turning from their stomach to their back quite early. Normally, by 4 months the child masters turning over to one side. By 5.5-6 months, a healthy baby is able to roll over in both directions at will.

Sleeping in a crib

How should a newborn sleep in a crib? Emotional and physical health depends on how the baby falls asleep. The main thing is to ensure that there are no unnecessary objects in it, that the surface is even, smooth, and that the bed linen is clean and ironed.

The child should not be completely covered with a warm blanket, as this can lead to suffocation. The baby will feel more comfortable in the crib if the mother places it next to hers.

Poses options:

the most natural one is on the back. At the same time, turn your head to the side so that the baby does not choke if he burps;
you can put it on its side, and put a small cushion or a rolled up towel under the back so that it doesn’t turn over;
If you are not swaddling, put cotton scratch pads on the arms so that hand movements do not wake you up.

Children can sleep on their stomachs, however, this position is not advisable. Everyone is different, so parents need to determine the ideal sleep position on their own.

When should a child sleep on a pillow? In the first year, it is necessary that the entire body is at the same level. You are allowed to place a thin diaper under your head. The exception is a special lining in the shape of a “butterfly” with a notch in the middle. A simple pillow is placed after reaching two years of age.

At what angle? Make sure that the angle of elevation of the baby's head in relation to his body does not exceed 10 centimeters.

What pillow should a child sleep on? There are clamps to make installation easier. If the baby sleeps in a cradle, a thin diaper folded four times is placed under the head.

Dr. Komarovsky on how to teach a child to roll over from back to stomach

Pediatricians often call the anxiety of caring mothers who constantly worry whether her baby fits into developmental norms the “worry mommy” syndrome. Such parents do not leave specialized forums for young mothers and overwhelm the pediatrician with a lot of questions, one of which is: “Is it possible to teach a child to roll over from his back to his stomach?” The famous children's doctor Evgeny Komarovsky tells whether this should be done and how to deal with the child correctly.

Optimal age to start rolling over on your own

Before talking about deviations in which a child does not roll over onto his back, you should understand at what age he should do this. Inexperienced parents may make the mistake of trying to push the baby to perform movements that are beyond his age. The muscular system of a newborn is very weak, requiring some time for independent efforts. Muscles form and strengthen during the first 6 months of life. The optimal age to start training to strengthen the muscular skeleton is 3 months. A set of exercises is performed to tone muscle mass. The positive effect of classes is determined when the baby begins to respond to new toys, turns his head towards the voice, and begins to spin around in search of interesting events around him.

As a rule, the child first learns to change body position from back to stomach. The optimal age for turning over is 5 months. At this time, the baby should easily lie on his side and then on his back. After this, the child tries to learn movements in the opposite direction. This period occurs towards the end of the fifth month and the beginning of the sixth month. If a child does not roll over from his stomach to his back at 6 months, this is not a problem. It is necessary to continue to do physical exercises and massages. By five to six months of age, babies become very active and learn to crawl.

Note! If your baby does not roll over from his stomach to his back at 7 months, you should think about his physical characteristics. It is recommended to consult a surgeon or orthopedist for examination. At this age, the child should move and crawl well. In case of developmental delay, lack of desire and attempts of the baby to roll over, medical attention is required. This is not the norm.

Norms

Developmental norms, which so often make mothers feel inferior, are a very vague concept, says Evgeny Komarovsky. Each child develops according to his own individual program, and comparing him with other children is stupid, and sometimes even criminal. Mothers can never simply compare, but strive to do something so that the child “catch up and overtake” the neighbor’s baby.

The inferiority complex is strengthened by friends who, according to them, had babies tossing and turning from side to side as early as 2 months, and at 4 months the baby began to sit up. The feeling of catastrophe is generously given by local pediatricians, who at the next appointment state that if the child does not roll over on his own at 4 months, then this is “bad.”

As a result, the mother, driven to despair by disturbing thoughts, is ready to do anything to teach her child, at any cost, to do what he cannot yet do at his age.

The problem does not exist with the child, says Evgeny Komarovsky, but with the parents, who attach too much importance to the words of “experts” - neighbors, grandmothers, girlfriends and virtual acquaintances from the Internet. In this situation, it is necessary to treat the mother, not the baby: give her valerian, train her nervous system and endurance.

The standards that “experts” and the local pediatrician refer to exist only in theory. According to them, the average baby begins to roll over at about 4-5 months of life. However, in practice, everything happens differently. Some children make attempts to roll over before this period, while others do not roll over even after 6 months. Such a “lag” is not necessarily caused by illness or some kind of inferiority that restless mothers instantly come up with in their thoughts. There are enough reasons:

Individual characteristics of temperament (the child is lazy, slow, calm),
Body features (the child is well-fed, weighs a little more than normal),
A combination of the two above factors (very often a well-fed toddler is lazy, slow and drowsy).
The child was born premature.
A flexible and thin child will begin to roll over earlier than his plump counterpart. However, this is not at all a reason to sound the alarm and urgently take some active measures.

Sleeping position

Parents themselves choose what position a newborn baby should sleep in, because children under 2-3 months do not yet know how to roll over and sleep as adults do.

The following provisions are distinguished:

on the back;
on the stomach;
on the side.

The parents' task is to ensure that the baby is comfortable and safe in the chosen position. Babies sleep on their backs with their arms up and their heads turned to the side. In this position, babies are most relaxed, but they can frighten themselves with their hands.

Sleeping on the stomach is considered dangerous, but some babies sleep only this way. Parents need to make sure that the baby's head is turned to the side. In this case, you cannot use a pillow to prevent the baby from suffocating. It is better if the child sleeps on his stomach only during the day.

How to choose a position? It is recommended to monitor the baby. If he is comfortable, then let him sleep on his back, side or stomach, but you need to ensure safety. According to pediatricians, lying on the side is the most optimal position for resting, since the baby will not choke when regurgitating. For convenience, place a cushion from a blanket under the backrest.

Side position

It is not recommended to leave the baby on one side for a long time. The baby is turned over from one side to the other after 2-3 hours. This is required for the correct formation of the skeleton. During daytime sleep, change sides every time you lie down.

How long can a newborn sleep on its side? Babies sleep on their sides for about 3 months, but the baby needs to be periodically shifted to the opposite side. As children grow up, they learn to roll over and take a comfortable position.

In a stroller

The conditions for sleeping in a stroller should be the same as in a crib. A hard mattress is placed in the stroller, and a folded diaper can be placed under the head. The baby will not need a pillow. In a stroller, babies mostly sleep on their backs. During the walk, parents are advised to close the stroller from drafts and dress the baby according to weather conditions.

What should parents do?

First of all, Evgeniy Komarovsky advises to calm down and stop comparing the baby with norms, other children and the experience of friends. If the mother is only worried about the fact that the baby at 5-6 months does not roll over from his back to his tummy, and there are no other complaints (nothing hurts, nothing bothers him), then he should leave the child alone and wait until he the muscular system will become so strong that he will be able to turn over easily and naturally. This happens to every child at its own time.

Convince to roll over!

There are other ways to gradually turn the fetus in the womb into the desired position:

Communication with the child. Mommy, sitting comfortably in a chair, mentally directs her gaze inward, to the child. She speaks her thoughts out loud, talking about how dangerous the prospect of breech birth is. Thus, you can convince the baby to roll over and explain this necessity to him. You can also convince with the help of tactile contact by stroking the abdomen and light massaging. To do this, the mother must communicate with the child every day for a certain time, while persuading him to take the desired position. Hand movements must be directed so that the child follows them and thus turns over.
A child’s natural curiosity can also be used for your own purposes. So, the turned on flashlight needs to be applied to the mother’s belly and moved in the direction necessary for the revolution. The child seems to be carried away by the light outside and turns over.
You can also resort to acupuncture. It is safe for expectant mothers if it is done by a specialist. The influence on the meridians contributes to the child turning over.

What can't you do?

In their attempts to help their child with physical development, parents should not go too far, says Evgeny Komarovsky. So, there is no need to hang a five-month-old baby in a jumper, or put an older baby in a walker (read more about this in the article “At what months can a child be put in a walker and is it worth doing this”). These devices are very amusing and touching for parents, but the benefits from them are much less than the real harm. Early verticalization threatens the child with serious problems with the spine in the future, sometimes so serious that it can result in disability.

All activities, if you decide to actively help your child, should be reasonable, gentle and competent. There is no need to teach a child to sit, toss and turn, stand or walk if his muscular system and spine are not ready for this. When they are ready for the baby to accept a new body position in space, he will definitely do it himself - this is how nature works.

Thus, the task of parents is only to create favorable conditions under which the strengthening of the back, tummy, legs and arms, as well as the spine will proceed faster.

Treatment methods

To prevent negative developmental situations, the child’s physical development should be monitored from an early age. Be sure to pay attention to the condition of the baby’s muscle tissue and bone apparatus. Prolonged and intense loads are excluded. Algorithm for correct training:

In the first month of life, the baby should be placed on his tummy. The duration of the procedure starts from one minute and reaches 10 minutes;
by the age of three months, new exercises are introduced that allow the child to hold his head, twirl his arms (bicycle, massage, rubbing legs and arms, pulling up by the arms, when the baby becomes good at holding the hands of mom or dad;
at 4 months the baby needs help when trying to roll over on his side. It is recommended to simply offer your hand so that the child grabs it and pulls himself up.

A correctly structured algorithm of classes will allow the child to develop well physically. Don't overdo it and try to get ahead of events. Each child develops at its own pace. He just needs care and attention from his parents. The process of turning over should be natural, not inconsistent with the physical abilities of the baby.

What to do if the baby does not roll over

If the children you know are already starting to roll over, but your baby is not yet, do not rush to sound the alarm. But if, in addition to the absence of coups, the child is apathetic and lethargic, does not respond to bright toys or loud sounds, cries and screams for no reason, spits up a lot and often, does not smile and does not walk by three months - this is a reason to contact a neurologist and orthopedist.

Hypertonicity may be the cause of late turning over. In this case, you can help the child with a massage, exercises with flexion/extension of arms and legs, and it is also good to do exercises in a pool or bath.

Your baby may be a little larger than others and will need help managing his own body weight. To do this, you need to do exercises and wait until the baby becomes strong and strong enough to turn on its own.

Also, with normal development of the nervous system, a child may begin to roll over later due to the fact that he is not very active and curious. Some babies have a phlegmatic temperament from birth and are in no hurry to get to know the world around them. This is also normal: children, like adults, can be quite different from each other. What you can do is to develop tactile and visual interest in the baby, but it is important to carefully monitor that the baby does not become overexcited or overtired.

It happens when a child begins to roll over only in one direction. If you exclude inconvenience and neurological diseases, most likely the issue is the uneven development of the muscle corset. In this case, after consulting a pediatric neurologist, you need to contact a specialist in infant massage.

In general, advice to parents boils down to the fact that they need to bathe the child, do exercises and exercises with him, do not overfeed, and follow a rest and sleep schedule. Then the baby will have enough energy, strength and curiosity to develop and explore the world and begin new discoveries.