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5 Tips on How to Get Your Baby to Roll Over
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jeffrey_Dunbar]Jeffrey Dunbar

Parents often worry about the development of their child. If they are "behind" by a week, they get paranoid.

Depending the baby, most infants begin to roll over at 5 months. Some babies will learn to roll over on their own. Others require a little bit of help. If you think your baby needs a little bit of help in rolling over, try these few tips to encourage him.

1. Give him lots of tummy time. Start off with just a minute or two. And gradually increase the time he is on his tummy. This will strengthen his muscles so they learn to push up, roll over, and pull themselves up. You can lie him on a blanket on the floor, put his tummy on your belly, or use a boppy.

2. Once he is comfortable with being on his tummy for a few minutes, try to get him to lift up his head. Leave his favorite toy in front of him so he can try to get it. Or you can lie on your own tummy in front of him and talk or sing to him. He'll look at you.

3. Once he's able to lift his head, try to get him to turn his head. Alternate between his right left so he's turning his head. This will strengthen his neck and shoulder muscles.

4. Once your baby has mastered lifting his head and is able to move it back and forth, you might want to consider standing farther back or place his toy farther away. This will force him to look up higher or reach further.

5. Eventually, he will turn his head far enough or he will reach far enough that he will just "topple" over.

The first few times may scare him a bit, but after a few times, he will learn this new trick. Sometimes, it might require a little push to get him to turn over, but in time, he'll learn to like the new view of the world and will want to roll over on his own.

J. Dunbar is a columnist for http://gagazine.com - a parenting tips website and is an expert in speech development in infants. More of J. Dunbar's articles can be found at http://www.gagazine.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeffrey_Dunbar http://EzineArticles.com/?5-Tips-on-How-to-Get-Your-Baby-to-Roll-Over&id=1436880

One of the most important things a new parent can do to welcome their new child into their home is to do a thorough baby proofing to avoid any dangerous encounters with every day household items.  Baby proofing is fairly inexpensive, but the benefits definitely outweigh any cost that may be incurred.

Essentials of baby proofing can be purchased at a very small cost.  Realistically, if you are attentive or if your child is not interested in items that can harm them, then you can get by with minimal safety items.  Outlet covers are very cheap and just about every household should have them.  In a split second a baby can insert something into an outlet, such as the instance with my husband, and it is certainly something that has the potential to be deadly. 

In addition to the outlet covers, there should ideally be cupboard and/or drawer latches to protect children from getting into things like household cleaning items and silverware, especially knives.  While it is a pain for parents to have to open the latches each time they desire to get into a cupboard, the benefits of keeping your children safe definitely outweigh that inconvenience.

Essentially, the outlet covers and cupboard latches are all that is really needed for a safe and baby proofed household.  If you would like to go above and beyond the essentials, you can purchase items like door handle covers that don’t allow little hands to turn knobs to open doors.  Also available are latches for toilets, which might be essential if you have a child like my friends’ that is fascinated with the toilet water. 

These can prevent accidental drowning, but most houses do not need them.  There are a myriad of safety items available, but if you know which items your child need protected from you can save a lot of money by not purchasing things you will not really need.  However, if you get peace of mind from having all the safety items then they are worth the cost ten fold.