4 Month Old Milestones

Updated on July 13, 2009
H.G. asks from Saint Paul, MN
9 answers

My 4 month old daughter rolled over once about a month ago. She has done it once both ways, but has not done it since. She doesn't even try anymore. Any suggestions on how to encourage her to keep trying to roll over? She hates being on her stomach, and definitely cannot get her head up as high as she should for her age. She is very strong the other way though.

However, she recently started sitting up unsupported. Everyone is telling me this is really unusual, but her cousin of the same age can also sit up. I wonder if it is so unusual for her to be sitting up at 4 months. Why is it that she won't roll over, but will sit up? I think it is funny she is skipping this milestone, but wonder if there is anything I can do to encourage her to roll over.

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So What Happened?

Thanks everyone! I'm definitely going to try the beach ball technique, and for now just be happy that she is growing big and strong and is sitting up on her own. We do tummy times multiple times a day but it doesn't last long!

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K.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

Don't worry, my son rolled over around that age and then stopped doing it for about 6 months. He also hated tummy time and so we used a great technique I learned from the ECFE person at the hospital. Get a beach ball, blow it up so it is round but deflated somewhat. Then place the child on his tummy on it and roll it back and forth gently while hanging onto to him enough to keep him from falling off. He will use all sorts of his neck, back, and torso muscles. It is also great for getting rid of gas in tummies.

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C.O.

answers from Minneapolis on

H.,
My 10 month old did the same thing. She was sitting unsupported when she turned 5 months but hated her tummy time so couldn't do much else. She seemed happy sitting so I left it alone and she figured everything out on her own timeline. She is almost walking now and is the fastest darn crawler when she is trying to escape from mom. No worries.
C.

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E.I.

answers from Duluth on

worry less about making or not making milestones at a certain age, and making sure that your child is making progress, and not losing it. most growth is 2 steps forward and 1 step back, so dont be afraid if she does something one day and not the next, but as long as there is not a SERIOUS mental looking regression, there is nothing worng with her! :D

put her on her back, and put a toy near her but to her side. it might just motivate her! but, as long as she gets tummy time and does some crawling at some point, and gets those hands out on the ground, she should be fine!!

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C.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

Hi H.....while it is unusal (according to my ped)it is not unheard of!!! My third baby was sitting for atleast 1 month before she even tried to turn over either way. She could actually roll onto her side and sit HERSELF up before she figured out how to turn all the way onto her tummy/back. What a weirdo :) To help her strengthen her neck/tummy muscles get a big ball (for her age/weight even a blow up beach ball would work and would be the cheapest!) Lay baby on the beach ball so she is facing you and roll her forward towards you and back away from you. She should instinctually try to keep her head up! As she gets bigger, you can roll her side to side and she should try also to keep her head towards the center. If her muscles are strong enough to support her sitting, I would imagine there is nothing "wrong".....she will roll when she wants to :)

Good luck!

PS Our third also had slight torticolis (sp?) on one side of her neck and we saw a Pediatric PT person who gave us all kinds of exerciese to do. If you are interested, you can send me a message and I can explain some of the other ones also :) C.

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B.

answers from Minneapolis on

Don't worry about it. My daughter hated tummy time. She rolled over for the first time at 7 months and three weeks, and walked the next day! As you will hear everyone tell you ..... They are all different. She will roll when she is ready.

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K.K.

answers from Milwaukee on

In case it makes you feel better, my now 10 month old girl, did not start rolling over until after she started crawling at nine months. She just wasn't that interesed in it until it got her somewhere. As I am sure you are aware, all babies are different so as long as you don't see anything that indicates a lag in overall muscle development (e.g. sitting up, moving her head, holding /grabbing toys), let it be.

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B.H.

answers from Minneapolis on

My daughter mastered sitting up before she really started rolling over. Every baby develops differently. Some babies skip things and come back to them they don't all do everything in perfect order. My daughter has been able to roll over for a while but didn't actively do it on a regular basis til recently and she's 9mos.old and devloping right on track even for being a preemie.

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S.K.

answers from Minneapolis on

H.,

All four of my kids could roll over by 4 months and I know lots of other babies who have done it. It's not unusual at all. Your baby probably stopped rolling over because she doesn't like to. If you don't give her a lot of tummy time because she hates it, she won't have opportunity to practice and those neck muscles won't be as strong.

All my kids hated tummy time, so we would get down there with them and the whole family did tummy time. They still cried, so we kept it brief, but did it frequently (multiple times per day) and eventually they got it.

Good luck,
S.

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D.R.

answers from Minneapolis on

My son was similar. His core seemed strong the day he turned 3 months, so just for kicks I put him in a sitting position and he was able to hold himself up by "bulldogging" as I call it: leaning on his fists for support. By a week later, he was sitting all the way up unsupported. But I don't think he rolled over until he was about 5 months old. He also hated tummy time, as did my daughter, but enjoyed it more if I laid him on my tummy, instead of the floor or bed, so he could look down at me. He thought that was hilarious, so it encouraged him to build those neck muscles. All his other milestones were hit "on time", but remember that there is a pretty broad range of what can be normal, and even what seems like a delay may not necessarily be anything to be concerned about if she is able to move around and use her muscles in other ways. It can be scary for a little one to roll over, and sometimes they just need encouragement or some fun distraction. Enjoy her!

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