[blindkid] Won't Roll Over

[Rene Harrell]

We had this issue with my sighted son, who wasn't a preemie but had some
other motor issues. He *hated*, *hated* *hated* anything to do with being on
his stomach with a passion.

One of easiest ways I got him to tolerate tummy time was to lay on the floor
and then lay him tummy-to-tummy on top of me. I positioned myself so that he
would have the most stability. I'd talk and sing and help position his body.
I'd also do a hammock-hold...essentially I'd use my hands as a hammock
across his stomach and support most of his weight. I'd start by gently
rocking him a bit--- kind of like "airplane" but much closer to the ground
because he liked that. Gradually I'd support less and less of his weight,
rock less and less, and move him so that he was on the floor but my hands
would still be on his tummy.

Lots of singing and animation to my voice, and in the beginning I kept it
very, very brief. 30 seconds at a time, a couple of times an hour. Then we
bumped up to a minute, maybe two. If he was screaming his head off we did it
for 15 seconds and then stopped.

Toys, playmats....none of that ever mattered one lick to him. My only
success came from direct contact with me.

His P.T. also showed me a technique for helping him to learn to roll over.
You'd take the left leg and bring it across the right side of his body, help
support his back a little as you brought the leg all the way over and that
would flip him on his stomach. You'd the same with the right leg and bring
it across the left side of his body. Getting from tummy to back, I'd tuck
his right arm to his side and then support his back as I rolled him to the
right. I always kept these brief--- he'd be on his tummy for only a few
seconds before I'd help him roll back. We'd do this a couple of times an
hour as well, in a rotation of 10 back-and-forths at a time. The whole thing
took a matter of minutes. And I always went with maximum animation
"WOW!!!!!!! LOOK AT YOU ON YOUR TUMMY!!!!!!" as if he had just discovered a
new law of gravity or something, lol.

The biggest keys were persistence, patience, and knowing the line to push.
We always pushed *just* a little past his comfort zone, but not so much that
it would backfire and he'd totally hate the whole process. I did find that
when he was totally hating it, keeping it short but still persisting was the
most successful strategy for us.

:-)
Rene

On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 7:43 PM, Carrie Gilmer <carrie.gilmer at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi I am writing for a new mom who does not have internet,
>
> My daughter is eight months old, LP we think, preemie, she does not have a
> lot of curiousity yet. She does not like to be to her stomach or roll over
> yet. How can I coax her to go on her stomach. When she was newborn she
> couldn't hold her head up and seemed to bang her face, and I think she
> started not liking to be on her stomach then. Has anyone had to coax their
> baby to go on their stomach like this?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Carrie Gilmer, President
>
> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
>
> A Division of the National Federation of the Blind
>
> NFB National Center: 410-659-9314
>
> Home Phone: 763-784-8590
>
> carrie.gilmer at gmail.com
>
> www.nfb.org/nopbc
>
>
>
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