Facilitate rolling in 5 month old

Hi All
I am currently "forced" to treat a 5 month old boy with a L torticollis as the pediatric physio has left town. His torticollis is improving and he has full passive movement. Active rotation is improving but not full range yet.
My main concern is that he is not rolling yet. He has good head control and good extension onto his arms in prone. Sitting well with support and this is improving weekly. He takes weight on his legs when held upright.
How do I facilitate rolling - please help

Dear ?
I will attach some information about "normal development" and motor systems.
If you really want to learn more about normal and variablility in motor development I suggest you have a look at the following site.

Karen E. Adolph > Home

This young professor has researched so much on motor development. Prepare to need some time... She has written so many articles. One on the cultural differences in motor development is especially interesting and to the point regarding your question.

The best advice I can give you is facilitate the child, and wait, give him/her time to react. Do not make the mistake of not waiting long enough and passively assisting.

We now know that most prematurely born children are slower in reaching their developmental milestones.

good luck

Esther

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

Dear Pam and Esther, thnx both of you for such an informative posts.

Thanks Pam and Esther
Your input has been very helpfull. He has progressed and is showing positive signs towards rolling.
Marie