Facilitate rolling in 5 month old

[PamVersfeld]

Hi Marie

Rolling at 5 months is still very much a "happen by accident" occurrence. The baby lies with hands to feet, turns the head to look at a toy and flops over onto his side. Or he may push away with one leg in supine and reach across with the same arm - and then flip over.

This happens more easily if the baby has typical mobility - ie is not hypermobile. Chances are that if the baby had a torticollis he may be have some joint hypermobility and or a bigger than usual head.

Not all babies reach the described milestones at the average time - many take longer to develop skills, especially babies who are hypermobile or cautious. Infant torticollis has also been shown to be associated with delays in reaching milestones

(See also Are infants with torticollis at risk of a delay in early motor milestones compared with a control group of healthy infants? Ohman A, Nilsson S, Lagerkvist AL, Beckung E. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2009 Jul;51(7):545-50. Epub 2009 Jan 26. Pubmed abstract at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...m&ordinalpos=7 )

The more important question is: What else is the baby doing?

Pushing up onto elbows in prone
Starting to reach for toys in prone.
Bringing hands to feet in supine
Kicking asymetrically
Reaching for toys in supine
What happens when he is put into side lying - does he reach with the upper arm for toys? Does he push himself back into supine?
How active is he in lying generally?

One way to get him rolling is let him lie with a pillow under one side so that his weight is shifted more onto one side. Get him to reach forward and across the body - and in this way encourage him to start rolling into prone.

More about hypermobile babies at Babies and toddlers with low muscle tone and joint hypermobility | skillsforaction.com

Best wishes

Pam