Help your baby lern to roll from tummy to back!

Rolling is one of baby’s first significant motor milestones. Hello, mobility!
Not only is rolling the first step in developing postural control (important for later development of fine motor skills such as handwriting), it is also important because it engages a part of the brain responsible for making the left and right sides of the body “talk” to and coordinate with each other (important for reading, writing, and developing higher motor skills).

Here are 3 tips for helping babies learn how to roll:1. Set down and pick up baby while shifting his weight to the side in a rolling motion. You can start this one as soon as baby is born and — guess what? — it’s super easy to incorporate into your daily routine. You can do this with every diaper change and sleep session which means, for a newborn, it can add up to 20 or more times a day. That’s a lot of practice!Sit baby on his bottom and roll him over to the side while setting him down. He will automatically try to keep his head from falling out of line with his body (a reflex with which babies are born), strengthening the muscles on the sides of his neck. This move also allows him to practice pushing against the floor with the arm on the way down. Simply reverse this motion when it’s time to pick baby up. Be sure to practice rolling baby to both sides throughout the day…we don’t want a baby who only moves to one side! 

2. Minimize time spent in baby equipment. This includes baby swings, bouncer chairs, play saucers/jumpers and, yes, even car seats. The only way babies develop new motor skills is through experience, practice, and trial & error, so for every minute they are in baby equipment, that’s a minute of lost experience. 3. Allow baby plenty of tummy time during the day. All of a baby’s major motor skills develop from the tummy time position, which is why it’s so important for babies to practice being on their tummy. Time spent on the tummy helps babies strengthen their neck and back muscles necessary for arching against gravity and, eventually, rolling. In general, babies fully lift their head off the floor during tummy time by 2 months, hold their chest off the floor during tummy time between 2-4 months, and bear weight on their hands while on their tummy between 4-6 months. 

Once your baby is comfortable on his tummy and can push his chest off the floor, you may notice that he will start to rock his body side to side. This means he’s on his way to initiating his new skill of rolling! It may be hours or weeks until he finally topples over for the first time, but the fact that he is practicing shifting his weight side to side is HUGE! For some babies who have trouble learning how to roll, this weight shifting thing is key.

Sometimes babies seem to get “stuck” in that pushed up position and just can’t seem to figure out (or are uncomfortable with) shifting their weight side to side.You can help with this by guiding him in some slow, gentle side-to-side motions while he’s pushed up as you sing a song like Row, Row, Row Your Boat or 

The Wheels on the Bus and then help him shift his weight to the side just enough that he is able to finish the roll himself at the end of the song or verse. 
Make photo of your baby trying to turn from tummy to back and upload to the App. Write briefly how your little one learned to roll.