Everything I know about Tummy Time & Rolling I wrote in this book --> amzn.to/3Q8dg5U (affiliate link) MORE QUESTIONS? Book an online parent consult here: drlaurenbaker.clientsecure.me/request/service
Thankyou for such a thorough and informative video. This has answered all my questions and concerns. I feel so much relief in knowing now how to help my babies. I will follow through with making an appointment with the pediatrician and getting the specialized help they need. The exercises you recommend will be highly benifical for them. Thankyou so much. I will continue watching your videos and thankyou for helping and giving advice which benifits so many babies and their caregivers.Many Blessings to you Dr Lauren Baker all the way from South Africa.
Thank you for all of this helpful information! I didn’t know so much information about encouraging motor development when I first became a mom. I used a lot of containers as it made my fussy baby happy… Now she has skipped rolling and started to butt scoot at 10 months, has no core strength. She is only interested in sitting up, scooting, and pulling to stand. She can’t even tolerate hands and knees position so I’ve been trying to introduce high kneeling. She hates laying on her back (probably because she can’t move anywhere)…. Do you have any recommendations on helping her break the butt scooting habit? We have her starting PT in 2 weeks. I’m worried it might be too late. 😢
It's not too late! I'm 46 and learned today that I had this problem. It's taken me this long to figure out all my body function issues. I promise you that you are saving your baby from years of struggle. Thank you for paying attention. 💚
Hi Chrissy! thanks so much for the comment and I know that you likely have already started PT for your child WHICH IS AWESOME! Here are a few things that I would add (that your PT might already have told you). 10 months is not too late: booty scooting is a tough habit to break but it's MUCH better to break it now vs. risk having walking delays and skipping crawling all together. I will be honest, PT might be a little tough at first, but often once strength is gained it will get easier, especially if the PT is able to create an environment that is to your child's tolerance (which is always my goal when I see littles in person). For booty scooting specifically: your child may have trunk tightness which made rolling difficult as well as the pre-crawling on hands/knees skills which combined to make booty scooting an easier movement pattern for them. Babies ARE SMART, but booty scooting is not optimal and hands/knees crawling is definitely important for pre-academic skills, spine development, and a million other things (but it is also the hardest milestone). I want you to also take a deep breath and release any mama guilt or frustration for the past, you are not alone, and you were literally marketed to this way so it is ALSO not your fault. PT and proactive play can definitely resolve these issues and while it might be a bit tough, it will be worth it and your little will likely feel a ton better in her little body when she can move more fluidly. Here are a bunch of resources for you: - Crawling Checklist - drlaurenbaker.com/blog/learning-to-crawl-checklist I would start here even with PT to make sure that they are also looking at trunk rotation, because that can be a big block and not every PT is trained in it. - Free Online Course for Crawling: drlaurenbaker.com/courses [even with PT I would look through this, I do talk about booty scooting specifically and you're going to want to look at upper trunk / lower trunk rotation, arm strength, core strength, and hip strength sections + whatever else on the crawling checklist that wasn't checked and recommended] -Hip Helpers: www.hiphelpers.com/ these will help your little tolerate tall kneeling by decreasing the demand on her system. Would use these will tall kneeling first, then when arms are stronger move to tall kneeling on vertical surface, then all fours -Wedges and play cushions can be really helpful at this age (or even just a couch cushion) an incline is going to be a million times easier than the floor. Here are my favorites: kit.co/drlaurenbaker/pediatric-physical-therapy/6410722-factory-direct-partn or this one: kit.co/drlaurenbaker/pediatric-physical-therapy/foamnasium-wedge-in If you have additional questions, you can schedule an online parent consultation, all consultations are 60 minutes 1:1 via video on a secure platform and can be scheduled here at anytime: drlaurenbaker.clientsecure.me/request/service I hope this helps! Lauren
Hi Val! Thanks so much for the comment and for the encouragement for Chrissy and her baby. I agree 100% and I hope that you have found a way to help your body feel good. If not, I love this account on instagram for mobility: instagram.com/beardthebestyoucanbe/
My 4.5 month old had really bad reflux early on making tummy time hard. Even at this time unless he has the patience for it waking up from a nap it's hard to get it in as even an hour after nursing he'll be upset and spit up a lot on his tummy. His problem seems to be that he does not want his arms in front of him he keeps them out to the side. He can roll onto his side well from his back but does not go onto his tummy. Lastly he doesn't like his arms fully extended over his head (I run into this even trying to dry his armpits after a bath) .... My pediatrician didn't seem very concerned... Should I get another opinion
Hi Samantha, thank you so much for the comment! I know it's been a little longer than usual for my response, so I hope you've found some more information on the channel in the meantime! Here are a few thoughts: your experience is perfectly suited for my newest book: tummy time and learning to roll -- amzn.to/3u2NKqk (affiliate link) as it goes through how belly to back and back to belly rolling are different as well as specific exercises and play positions that can be helpful. Often, pediatricians are unaware of the influence we can have on our babies movements, they are more focused on bigger red flags like feeding, gaining weight, signs of disease or neurological conditions, so while it's in a way GREAT that your pediatrician isn't concerned, that doesn't mean that there aren't lots of easy to implement things you can do to help your baby move better and thus have a better/stronger foundation to build everything else on (communication, fine motor, academics, etc). It does sound like your child has some signs of body tightness, which may be impacting his ability to move fully. The arms above the head is likely also impacting his ability to fully tolerate tummy time and could also indicate tightness in the front of the neck (which can influence feeding success as well). The body is so interconnected. My recommendation would be to grab the book and go through the free video course and checklists, as well as reading through belly to back rolling. In the book/video course make sure to go through the mobility sections since that is an area you've already mentioned may be a concern. You can also always reach out to a local pediatric physical therapist now to have a more individualized movement perspective, or definitely if not rolling independently by 6 months. If you have additional questions you can always schedule an online parent consultation via the link here as well - drlaurenbaker.clientsecure.me/request/service
Hi Sue! Every baby is different but depending on whether there are any underlying diagnosis or if its just an orthopedic concern and which activity you are working toward (if sitting is good and rolling is doable but maybe not yet mastered) and rolling is the goal often my babies see small results quickly and meet goals within 1-3 months. If crawling is the goal the time range for babies is 9-11 months. If there is underlying tightness or weakness that can vary timelines, too. Its super baby specific. That being said, your PT should be showing and explaining to you all the progress that is happening (even if it doesnt always feel like it is happening to you, often it is you just need to know what to look for!). Never be afraid to make your goals known and ask questions to your PT. They should have made goals at the beginning and you can always ask how close you are. Usually treatment timelines are anywhere between 1-6 months on average though, but this is dependent on a lot!
What if baby has great head / neck control and when on stomach can push themselves all the way up with hands? Or if baby has rolled belly to back MULTIPLE times and back to belly's 1-2 times but has completely stopped? And can sit up if I set him in that position?
Hi Haylee! Thanks so much for the comment, it sounds like your babe is doing a lot of things really well which is SUPER AMAZING and something to totally celebrate :) Here are a few things to consider with rolling back to belly or babes who roll occasionally but then stop or don't do it as much anymore: - sometimes babes learn to roll inefficiently so it happens a few times but then as they grow it takes so much effort because how they are doing it isn't the most optimal way, they may be using momentum instead of flexibility/strength or they find that it just takes too much effort to move past the underlying resistance if there is tightness in their trunk - the other thing that can happen is as babies age they become bigger by gaining mass, this can make it more difficult to generate the same amount of strength/power that they had even a few weeks/or a month before. The good news is that there are a few back to belly specific exercises that can likely help your babe master back to belly. All of them are pictured in my book 📚 Tummy Time & Learning to Roll - amzn.to/3u2NKqk (affiliate) and also in the free online video course that comes with it. That would be the best resource for you to help your babe the quickest. If they are over 6 months and are struggling still even with proactive play strategies a pediatric PT or physio would be your next best bet. The one thing that I would recommend is to continue to work on back to belly rolling even though they are already doing great with sitting. They are technically different forms of movement and rolling is more linked with the motions necessary for crawling, sometimes we find babes who struggle with rolling are at risk for struggling with crawling, so I always recommend to spend time working on it now becuase it's MUCH easier than trying to encourage crawling (crawling is even harder than rolling!). I hope that helps and if you do not live in an area that has amazon for the book please let me know via email info@drlaurenbaker.com so that I can send you a different resource, but the book is my entire brain on paper so it's still the best option if you have access! Lauren
Hi Allissa! Thanks for the comment. If your baby is rolling in all four directions (back to belly over R / back to belly over L / belly to back over R / belly to back over L) at 7 months they are perfectly on track :) The sitting milestone can be mastered from 6-9 months (ideally we want them to be very close by 8 months and if they are still struggling at 8 months proactive pediatric PT/physio is often recommended to make sure this doesn't impact crawling/standing/walking milestones since a lot happens in 9-11 month range). If your little is struggling with sitting, my free online learning to sit course may be helpful: drlaurenbaker.com/courses If rolling is good but not quite in all four directions yet, I would continue to focus on that because rolling equally in all four direction can build core strength that can help sitting and also babes who struggle with rolling or only roll in 2/4 directions can be at risk for struggling with crawling. My book 📚 Tummy Time & Learning to Roll - amzn.to/3u2NKqk (affiliate) is the best resource for rolling because it is literally my entire brain on paper :) Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any more questions or if I didn't quite answer the question how you meant it! Lauren
