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Home › Articles › Guiding Baby's Development › Rolling

Rolling

A Key Stage in Motor Development

By Jacqueline Bodnar

Pages:  1  2  3  

As a parent, you've probably been told about developmental milestones on more than one occasion. Chances are, in fact, you've probably heard enough about milestones to make you want to scream, "Enough already!"

Pediatrician Dr. William Sears, for example, states that babies' motor milestones are as variable as their personalities. If you lined up 10 7-month-olds for a 'race', you would notice a wide array of locomotor skills. Some would crawl, some would scoot, some would roll, but eventually they would all get across the finish line – each at his or her own pace.

When it comes to a baby's motor skills, progression is more important than timing.

Making Progress
So what types of skills prove that your baby is "progressing"? At the top of the list is rolling. Rolling not only allows a baby increased freedom of movement, but it's also a key step toward sitting and walking. Interestingly enough, rolling also proves that a baby is developing muscle mass – a critical aspect of child development, according to many experts. Rolling over shows that your baby is getting stronger and is becoming more coordinated. These muscles are key in helping them learn to sit, crawl and do many other activities.

The act of rolling usually begins with gentle rocking movements. If you haven't spent much time around infants, picture a turtle lying on its back. A turtle can move its head, arms and legs (just like a baby) but it doesn't have the ability to roll itself over. As a baby begins to gain strength, however, he or she will begin to raise both the head and chest on a regular basis.

A baby will also begin to kick – a necessary step to gaining the leg strength needed in a roll. Perhaps one of the most important factors in a baby gaining the ability to roll is the stomach muscles. The quicker those stomach muscles develop, the faster a baby will be able to roll.


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