Dr. Komarovsky on how to teach a child to roll from back to belly

The concern of caring mothers, who are constantly worried about whether the baby fits into the developmental norms, is often referred to by pediatricians as the “restless mommy” syndrome. Such parents do not get out of specialized forums for young mothers and overwhelm the pediatrician with a mass of questions, one of which is: “Can I teach a child to roll from back to belly”. Renowned pediatrician Yevgeny Komarovsky tells how to do it and how to properly deal with the child.

The developmental norms that so often make moms feel flawed is a very vague concept, says Yevgeny Komarovsky. Each child develops according to their own individual program, and it is silly and even criminal to compare it with other children. Moms can never just compare, and seek to do something that the child "caught up and overtook" the neighbor's baby.

The inferiority complex is reinforced by friends who, according to them, have children tossed about from side to side as early as 2 months, and at 4, the baby started to sit at all. The feeling of a catastrophe is generously presented by district pediatricians, who at the next admission state that if the child does not turn over on its own in 4 months, then this is “bad.”

The problem does not exist in a child, says Yevgeny Komarovsky, but in parents, who attach too much importance to the words "experts" - neighbors, grandmothers, girlfriends and virtual acquaintances from the Internet. In this situation, it is necessary to treat the mother, not the baby: water the valerian, train her nervous system and endurance.

The norms referenced by the “experts” and the local pediatrician exist only in theory. According to them, the average baby begins to roll over at about 4-5 months of life. However, in practice, everything is different. Some children make attempts to roll over before this period, others do not turn over even 6 months. Such a “lag” is not necessarily caused by illnesses and some kind of inferiority that restless mothers instantly come up with in their thoughts. Reasons enough:

• Individual temperament (the child is lazy, slow, calm),
• Body Features (the baby is fat, weighs a little over the norm)
• The combination of the above two factors (very often a well-fed chick is lazy, slow and drowsy).
• The baby was born prematurely.
• A flexible and thin child will begin to roll over before his plump peer. However, this is not a reason to sound the alarm and urgently take some active measures.

First of all, Evgeny Komarovsky advises to calm down and stop comparing the baby with the norms, other children and girlfriends experience. If the mother is worried only about the fact that in 5-6 months the crumb does not turn over from the back to the tummy, and at the same time there are no other complaints (nothing hurts, does not disturb anything), then you should leave the child alone and wait The muscular system will be so strong that his coups will be easy and natural. Every baby this happens at one time.

If there are additional complaints, you should definitely visit a pediatrician, orthopedist and neurologist.If the crumbs do not have serious disturbances in the activity of the nervous system, everything is in order with the musculoskeletal system, then, again, the baby should be left alone and allowed to develop, as nature has personally provided for him.

There are not so many diseases that can cause a lack of physical activity, and they are all extremely serious. Parents will find out about their presence already in the hospital or on the first routine examination of the baby in the clinic. If the doctors didn’t say anything to you up to 5 months and there are no diagnoses like “cerebral palsy” on the baby’s card, then there’s no need to “write off” the reluctance to roll over to the disease.

If the parents are completely unbearable to watch the little mummy lying on the tummy or back and feel no need to spin, then you can start doing it massageaimed at strengthening the muscles of the abdomen, back, lateral muscles. You can harden the baby, arrange longer walks in the fresh air.

In their attempts to help the child in physical development, parents should not go too far, says Yevgeny Komarovsky. So, it’s not necessary to hang a five-month-old child in jumpers, and to put an older child in a walker (read more about this in the article “For how many months can a baby be put on a walker and is it worth it"). These devices are very amusing and touching the parents, but the benefits of them are much less than the actual harm. Early verticalization threatens the child with serious problems with the spine in the future, sometimes so serious that it can end in disability.

All classes, if you decide to actively help your child, should be sensible, gentle and literate. It is not necessary to train the child to sit, toss and turn, stand or walk if his muscular apparatus and spine are not ready for this. When they are ready for the baby to adopt a new position of the body in space, he will definitely do it himself - this is how nature works.

Mothers who bring a baby to the doctor’s office complaining that the little lazy girl doesn’t want to roll over on her stomach at “its 5 months! ", With a high degree of probability, they will receive an appointment for a massage, because the neurologist will definitely give such a kid a diagnosis of hypertonus. Increased muscle tone peculiar to all newborns, and few babies completely get rid of him by half a year.

This fact allows to make ends meet both by the neurologists and masseurs, which they strongly recommend. Komarovsky argues that a healthy child with a diagnosis of "hypertonus" (and this is a healthy child!) Will be massaged; no one will do a better mother. And this is true not only in terms of saving money, but also for reasons of children's perception of the world. The baby needs tactile contact with the mother, her touch, and not half an hour of heart-rending ort in the hands of an unfamiliar woman with a masseuse diploma.

Massage to strengthen the muscles of the back, abdomen is very simple:

• Circular and transverse techniques on the tummy. Put the baby on your back, thumb describe the circles around the navel, gradually increasing their radius. With two thumbs make arc-like movements from navel to ribs and from navel to groin.
• Classical back techniques. Put the baby on the tummy on a hard surface. Use three methods of classic massage - first stroking, then rubbing and pressure with vibration. Do not rub too hard, and push too hard. The child should not be hurt. Ideally, mom should close her eyes and press her finger on the eyelid. As soon as it becomes painful, there is a limit to the degree of pressure that a small child is able to withstand.

Massage should be done with warm hands, using baby cream or massage oil. The total duration of the session - no more than 10-15 minutes. If the baby starts to worry and cry, you should stop manipulation.

Gymnastics for the baby can include exercises such as leading the legs to the stomach while lying on the stomach. If you bring the left leg, you can gently turn the child on the right side. If you bring the right foot, then turn to the left. It is important to alternate so that the lateral muscles of the right and left develop equally well. If the child has already mastered the coups, but only in one direction, then you can do with him exercises to train the muscles of the opposite side.

To roll, the baby must want to do it. Excellent motivation is a bright toy that you need to put in front of him a little to the right or left so that he can not reach, just lying on his stomach. He will have to stretch to the side, which will be an excellent training of lateral muscles.

As soon as you notice that the child makes independent attempts to roll over, he should no longer be left unattended where he can fall from the roll. He should not be alone in the room on the couch, on the parent's bed. The changing table is especially dangerous - it falls higher than in a bed. It is safe to leave the crumb on the floor, spreading a blanket or sheet on it, in the crib, in the playpen.

If the child has learned to roll over in a dream and wakes up from this, try to limit his movements at night - put a blanket or a children's blanket on both sides, and the coups in sleep and waking will become impossible, the sleep will get better.

Correctional gymnastics for babies will help the baby learn to turn from back to belly.