The Play Space
Rolling.
Since rolling starts with visual tracking and head rotation, toy placement is the most important aspect of the play space. As rolling emerges, you’ll want to enlarge the play space for exploration.
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In order to encourage your baby to roll onto their tummy and explore, consider removing the overhead component of your baby’s play gym.
The toys dangling from overhead encourage your baby to stay on their back.
Rolling is more difficult under the play gym because there is not much space. A smaller space means their toys are already within reach, and there’s no need to roll.
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Until now, your baby has likely been spending most of their playtime on a small blanket or play mat. Their toys have been on the floor within reach, or dangling overhead from their play gym.
Once rolling skills begin to emerge, it’s time to start exploring some larger areas. You may notice that your baby is becoming interested in objects that are further away, and outside the confines of their play gym.
This gets them ready to want to pivot in circles on their tummy, army crawl, and crawl – skills that are all coming down the developmental pipeline.
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Rolling is going to be more difficult on a softer surface like the bed. That’s because the soft surface absorbs all of your baby’s effort. But, you also want to protect your baby’s head.
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At this stage, toy placement continues to drive meaningful movement.
You can begin arranging toys ever so slightly outside your baby’s reach.
There is also more of a focus on elevating the toys to bring your baby’s gaze above the horizon. See the “Ways to Play” section for more details.
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Once your baby starts rolling, it’s the beginning of independent mobility. And leaving them on the floor to play while you are supervising from a distance might not be feasible.
Try to choose a pack ‘n’ place over other types of devices for containing your baby. The pack ‘n’ play allows for free movement in a safe space. Other devices such as swings and loungers restrain your baby from free movement.