My boy won't roll!!

My boy is 6months old and I'm starting to get concerned. He doesn't roll. We give him lots of tummy time and put toys out for him to go for but he doesn't roll. The clinic sister has filled me with fear saying " He has to roll before he crawls." Shouldn't he be doing this by now??

My baby is almost 5 months and isn't rolling yet, either. I was worried about it at first but she is developing in other ways such as trying to sit and taking weight on her legs for extended periods of time. I've decided to just let her go and develop at her own pace.

My girl is now 9 1/2 months and still hasn't rolled from her back to front. She was only able to roll from her tummy to back about 1 month ago. She has been a real late developer and we were really concerned at first but she is slowly acheiving each milestone gradually at her only very slow pace. She is a very placid baby and has always been quite content to do things when she wants even though we have given her plenty of opportunities. She is still yet to crawl as well but it will all happen eventually when she wants. Don't let anyone put any fear into your head as babies develop at their own pace and as long as they are happy and healthy you have nothing to worry about. We all want our babies to be reaching milestones before everyone elses which is only natural!!!!
P.S Hope you are enjoying your little boy anyway.

Hi Westiegirl,
My son is just going 6mths now and is almost rolling. The top leg wiggles a lot and sort of rolls onto his belly but one of his arms always gets in the way. We put his toys just out of reach and sometimes he perseveres until he gets it, but not always. We do try and get him that excited about his toys that he tries to reach out for it and then we put it down just out of reach to try and encourage him to keep going for it. Sometimes it works. We figure he will get there eventually as long as we persevere with it and keep encouraging him. But like someone else said. He is developing other skills much faster and this one will eventually get there. He is always trying to sit up and can pretty much sit there with minimal support from us and stands holding onto your hands or shirt, etc for minutes at a time. So maybe they just won't crawl for long as they are already getting their balance and strength elsewhere. Anyway, it'll happen.
Ange.

Thankyou kj,Holly'smum and Ange
It was a relief to hear he's not abnormal which my clinic sister had made me believe....maybe its time for a new clinic sister. After reading your replies it made sense and yes he is developing in other ways. He likes to sit with minimal support and and to stand while holding on to me. I have just found out from my mother-in-law that my husband never crawled but preferred to get around by sliding on his bum and did this for the best part of 2 years then one day got up and walked.
Thankyou once again.

Hi Westiegirl
I've also got a clinic sister who feels babies should all reach the same milestones at the same times! My son is 8mths old and also doesn't roll much - he can go from front to back but only cos he doesn't like being on his tummy - which makes it difficult at tummy time cos he keeps rolling onto his back and stays there! He's happy sitting and playing and hates being in any other position. Reece is also not fussed with food - which is frustrating for me. He'll eat about 60% of the time food is offered - when he doesn't want it he'll just shut his mouth and hum to himself. If only they came with manuals!

I have two children with low muscle tone of unknown cause. Both children rolled over at 3 months. My oldest didn't crawl until about 15 months and walked at 19 months. She is now 3 1/2 and has just started talking but is hard to understand. My youngest is approaching 2 years old and is yet to crawl. A few months earlier she started to sit up by herself but still falls over. I consistently took them to the clinic and was reassured by the nurse that my youngest was fine and would develop at her own pace despite this being my second child to have development delay. I was also reassured by our family doctor when I asked for a paediatrician referral at around 7 months old. At my youngests 12 month clinic check up we saw a different nurse who immediately referred both my girls to a physiotherapist, occupational therapist and speech therapist. I went home and booked the paeditrician appointment which I hadn't done previously because of all the reassurances I had from professionals. It wasn't until I saw the paediatrician a few months later that the girls were pushed through the queue for therapy. They both still go now. The speech and physical delays in both girls causes them great frustration and they are often upset. They are otherwise both healthy and happy and appear normal. I now realise I had nothing to lose if I had acted sooner but maybe would have relieved some of my daughters' frustration.

Jan has a great point - if you're worried then talk to your doctor when you are next going to see him/her (vaccinations maybe?) There really isn't any harm in asking.

Having said that though - I think the clinic sister might have been a bit overdramatic. I was at a group the other day where a woman asked exactly the same question as you and the baby had has loads of tummy time and the clinic nurse just said - HE NEEDS MORE TUMMY TIME!

I felt like jumping across the room and strangling her - luckily I have excellent self-control. That kind of advice does nothing to allay fears and quite frankly its just not helpful.

Is your baby healthy and happy? If the answer's yes then there probably isn't anything wrong at the moment!

On a side note - I was reading a rather controversial little piece which says that because we now sleep our babies on our backs their gross motor development is slowed down. (That is, slow to roll, slow to crawl, lack of hand-eye coordination etc). It is interesting that something that we do for our baby's health might actually be harming them in other ways... (Although, I'd prefer a baby with slower development than a dead one) *sigh* so much conflicting advice - how are we to know what to do!

Hi Everyone,

I have been following this topic with some interest because my daughter was not going to roll for anyone! Then suddenly at eight months, she started barrell rolling all over the place, two weeks later she could sit herself up from lying down and now (9 months) she is crawling.

Obviously she just couldn't be bothered before and then she was making up for lost time.

Hang in there, they will do it when they are good and ready and not before! smile

Hi westiegirl,

My son is 7 1/2 months old, he will occasionally roll from front to back & back to front. But not everyday. I also give him lots of tummy time and put all his toys out of reach to try to encourage him. I have spoke to a few other mum's/friends and they told me that not all of there babies had rolled/

Dear westiegirl, it is always concerning when one's child does not reach a developmental milestone as "predicted". As all the others have mentioned there is a wide variation in babies reaching their dev. milestones. I think the general principle in deciding whether you have to worry or seek help is when there is more than one area of delay, as in Jan's babies. So if gross motor such as rolling, sitting etc... is the only area of concern you can probably wait and see, most probably a variation of normal. However if let say another area such as socialisation or language is ALSO delay, ie. not smilling or interacting or not vocalising at all, then a visit to your doctor for assessment may be appropriate.

Jacob is 6 months and does not roll either!!! So you are not alone sweety... smile