There are some R words that are not acceptable in the PT world, but “roll” is one we love! Speaking of rolling and Rs, there are four Rs that are necessary to have a successful roller!
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This is my go to guide for teaching babies to roll. I use this in my PT practice and hopefully it is helpful for you too! Here they are-
1. Rotate: rotate the head to the direction you want your baby to roll (ie, if your little is rolling LEFT, you want them to look LEFT).
2. Raise: raise those legs in the air! Once baby is able to grab their feet, they have the core strength necessary to roll.
3. Reach: reach across midline with the opposite arm (if rolling to the LEFT, you want your little to reach with their RIGHT arm across their body to their LEFT side).
4. Righting: we need head righting and oblique activation to coordinate that last part of the roll (if rolling to the LEFT you need head righting and oblique activation on the RIGHT).
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Here is a summary of the four Rs to rolling. Try them out and if your baby can rock these, they will be rolling to their tummy soon!
