Am I worried over nothing?

Question

My daughter was born with a hematoma on her brain and was taken by ambulance to Children's Hospital within 4 hours of her birth. She spent 5 days there- 2 days in the NICU and 2 1/2 days in the ICC. She was released with a heart monitor to alert us if she quit breathing. She wore the heart monitor for 6 weeks during which time it only went off once. Since then she has been very healthy.

Because of the hematoma on her brain my daughter is visited by special education specialists once a month at day care. I also fill out one 4 page questionnaire each month regarding her development. So far, things have been on track.

I am starting to worry a bit though. She has been rolling from back to tummy (only to the left side) since she was 4 months old. However, she has never rolled to the right and cannot roll from tummy to back on either side.

She can sit up on her own and hold her own bottle. She has great hand eye coordination and is a very happy, bubbly, talkative baby. But if she doesn't start rolling better, she will be enrolled in special education classes and they will up her developmental screenings.

Should I be worried? Does this commonly happen with babies? If so, when did yours start rolling both ways?

I appreciate all answers!

Answer 1

I don't think you should be worried at all. My little one is 4 1/2 months old and she can also roll from back to front buy not from front to back. She's doing great sitting up.  

Answer 2

Well, I'd just like to say that my son didn't start rolling both ways until he was almost 7 months old.  At 4 months, rolling from back to tummy is awesome!  I think she's doing just fine.  :)

ETA - Even at 6 months, I think she's doing great.  I really don't think you have anything to worry about.

Answer 3

My baby didnt start rolling until she was 7 months.  Shes 1 yr now and still struggles yet she is crawling and walking round furniture.

I understand you worrying about your little one with her having a bad start in life but I wouldnt worry too much about her rolling around just yet.

Answer 4

My neice started rolling at about 7 months she 1s 9 months now and just learning to crawl well she kind of just scoots right now! I think everything sounds right on track!

Answer 5

oh gosh, i think that is nothing to worry about. she may be able to roll on both sides and just doesn't. ruby has done things like that. but, regardless, at only 6 months, don't worry yet.

ruby NEVER held her own bottle. she did not feed herself once -- well, she did it once at 4 months and NEVER again -- until she switched to a sippy cup at 11 months. i am not positive about this, but i feel relatively sure that if she was having a developmental problem as a result of the brain injury, then something more than the direction in which she rolls would be affected. and it sounds as if nothing else is.

Answer 6

I work in learning disabilities and I know how frustrating these forms can be. basically they only ever allow for yes/no type answers and if your baby falls into what they consider to be the wrong answer then they will take certain actions like putting her into special education, or even refusing it when a parent thinks its needed.

Your baby sounds very normal to me, jacob didn't master rolling till nearly 6 months and he's still not that interested or co-ordinated with it. It just sounds like a stupid category on a form that could cause you unnecessary upset.

please try to discuss your worries with the specialist and emphasize how well she is doing in other areas. perhaps her achievements in these areas will influence the specialists enough to hold off any decisions re classes for now.

Answer 7

Sometimes they can favor one side over the other. I say don't worry too much at the moment. Keep a watch and if she won't I am sure they will do another evaluation and work on getting her to roll onto the that side too.