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Strongerkiddos Ahmed Bedawy, DPT & DMI Therapist
🚼Guiding little ones to big milestones
tips & exercises
(1)

07/19/2026

How to encourage your baby to roll in 4 steps 👇
Most babies start rolling somewhere between 4 and 7 months, and honestly, most of them get there on their own without much help. But even when it happens naturally, there's a pattern underneath it. Their body moves through the same handful of stages every time. Knowing what those stages look like helps you see what your baby is already working on, and gives you a few small ways to encourage it if you want to.
Here's the breakdown:
✓ Tracking, when the eyes follow a toy, the neck follows the eyes, and the body follows the neck. Rolling actually starts at the eyes. Work both sides so neither gets missed.
✓ Leg lift, teaches coordination. Lifting the legs and letting the hips rock shows the body how to move as one unit instead of in pieces.
✓ Guided practice, walk them through the roll both ways, then slowly let them take over. The body learns by feeling the motion first.
✓ Motivation, gives the whole thing a purpose. A toy worth reaching for turns effort into intention, and that's when real movement starts.
Small pieces on their own. Connect them, and rolling clicks into place.
For education only, not medical advice. If something feels off, reach out to a professional you trust 💚
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07/15/2026

How I introduce weight bearing and the crawl pattern 👇
Before a baby can crawl, their brain has to learn that hands are for catching and legs are for pushing. Most people assume this is something they figure out on their own, but a lot of babies benefit from being shown the sensation first. Once the body feels the position, the pattern starts to make sense.
My hands stay firm on her trunk. I lower her slowly toward the floor and then wait. Protective extension, the reflex where the arms shoot out to catch, kicks in on its own. I never touched her arms. She did that herself.
Now she's in the position. Not holding it, just feeling it. Her weight is in my hands, not her hands. From there, I lean her forward gently and she steps her hands to keep up. That step is huge. It's the exact moment her nervous system connects arms with forward motion.
You're not making her crawl. You're giving her body the chance to feel what crawling is, so her brain can build the pattern from the inside.
For education only, not medical advice. If something feels off, reach out to a professional you trust 💚
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07/13/2026

Skip the jumpers and bouncers. Let your baby cruise when their body says so 👇
Jumpers and bouncers look developmental, but they actually bypass the exact skills a baby needs to walk. When a baby is suspended in one, the seat holds them up, the springs do the pushing, and their toes tap the floor without ever really loading weight. It looks like practice for standing, but the muscles that matter aren't doing much of anything.
Cruising is the opposite. When your baby pulls to stand at the couch and takes those first sideways steps, every muscle from their feet to their trunk is engaged. Their hips learn to shift weight. Their legs learn to bear it. Their core learns to stabilize. Their brain learns balance. That's the foundation walking is built on, and there's no shortcut for it.
For education only, not medical advice. If something feels off, reach out to a professional you trust 💚
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Baby arching their back? 4 activities 👇First, a bit of reassurance. In most cases, arching is nothing to worry about. Ba...
07/09/2026

Baby arching their back? 4 activities 👇
First, a bit of reassurance. In most cases, arching is nothing to worry about. Babies naturally spend a lot of time in extension early on. It's just how their nervous system is wired at first. Over time, as they get more experience curling forward, reaching for their feet, and moving in different positions, that pattern softens on its own. A small number of cases do need a closer look, but for most babies this evens out naturally.
These four activities aren't about building strength. They're about giving your baby's body a chance to experience the flexor pattern, meaning the natural curling forward of the trunk, hips, and shoulders. The more they feel it, the more their body learns to use it.
✓ Bend both legs and gently swing side to side, brings the hips into a curled forward position
✓ Toy in the socks, gives them a reason to reach for their feet and round their body
✓ Chest hold with legs bent, keeps them upright while their hips stay tucked
✓ Side lying play, takes gravity off the back and lets the body settle into a softer shape
A few minutes throughout the day is enough. You're not correcting anything. You're just introducing your baby to a different way of moving so their body has the full range to draw from.
For education only, not medical advice. If something feels off, reach out to a professional you trust 💚
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07/08/2026

6 things that make tummy time harder than it needs to be 👇
If tummy time feels like a battle every day, your baby probably doesn't hate it. Something in the setup is making it harder than it needs to be, and small tweaks can turn the whole experience around.
Here's what I check first:
✓ Starting flat, when they don't have the strength yet. An incline like your chest or a pillow gives them a fighting chance.
✓ Arms stuck behind them. Slide their elbows under their shoulders before you let go. Otherwise they can't push up.
✓ Nothing to look at. A mirror, a toy, or your face gives them a reason to lift their head in the first place.
✓ Bad timing. Right after a feed or right before a nap sets them up to fail. Alert and content is the window.
✓ Expecting too much. Two minutes is plenty for a newborn. You don't need ten.
✓ Too much container time. Bouncers and back play are fine, but they don't build the muscles tummy time does. More floor, less seat.
Tummy time isn't supposed to be a struggle. When the setup is right, most babies tolerate it far better than parents expect. Small changes, big difference.
For education only, not medical advice. If something feels off, reach out to a professional you trust 💚
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07/05/2026

If your baby isn't crawling yet, one of these four things might be why 👇
Crawling doesn't just happen because a baby is old enough. It happens when the environment gives them the right ingredients. When it's not showing up, it's usually not a strength issue. It's a setup issue.
The four I see most often:
✓ Too much container time. Bouncers, swings, and car seats are useful, but every hour spent in one is an hour not spent on the floor. Crawling is a floor skill. It needs floor time to develop.
✓ Handing them the toy. If it's always within reach, there's no reason to move. A toy placed just a little too far away is what turns curiosity into motion.
✓ Skipping tummy time. Everything crawling needs, arm strength, core control, weight shifting, gets built during tummy time. Without that base, the body isn't ready for what comes next.
✓ Rushing to standing. Standing is exciting, and babies love it. But if it becomes the main event before crawling is established, the coordination and bilateral movement that crawling builds gets skipped entirely.
Missing crawling isn't the end of the world. Plenty of babies skip it and turn out just fine. But the things it teaches, the whole body coordination, the strength, the confidence to explore, are hard to replicate any other way. If your baby has the space and time, it's worth letting them get there.
For education only, not medical advice. If something feels off, reach out to a professional you trust 💚
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07/03/2026

One of my favorite positions for rolling, head control, and core activation 👇
Side lying doesn't get talked about much, but it's one of the gentlest ways to help a baby build strength without them even realizing it. It just puts them in a slightly new position, and their body naturally starts using muscles the other positions don't ask for.
I lay the baby on their side and place a rolled towel behind their back for support. Sometimes I use my own head as extra propping so they feel secure. Then I put a soft toy in front of them at eye level to keep them curious.
From there, a few nice things start to happen on their own. The trunk gently engages to stay upright. The head learns to lift sideways, which is new for them. And the top arm gets free to explore and reach, which is one of the earliest building blocks for rolling.
No pushing, no forcing. Just a comfortable position that quietly does a lot of good.
For education only, not medical advice. If something feels off, reach out to a professional you trust 💚
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06/30/2026

Baby won't pull to stand? Here's where I start 👇
Pulling to stand sounds simple, but it's actually a complex chain of movements that a lot of babies need help unlocking. The body has to know how to load weight onto one leg, push through the foot, and lift the rest of itself up against gravity. If any piece of that is missing, the baby just stays sitting and stares at the couch.
The half kneel position is one of the best ways I know to teach the pattern. Put your baby in a tall kneeling position against the couch, then bring one foot up flat so they're in a half kneel. Place a favorite toy up on the cushion, something that pulls their attention forward and up. Then gently shift their weight over that front foot and let them push up into standing.
You're not doing it for them. You're setting up the position so their body can finally feel what pushing up to stand is supposed to feel like. Once they get that win, they start chasing it on their own.
For education only, not medical advice. If something feels off, reach out to a professional you trust 💚
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06/28/2026

The first exercise I use once a baby masters tummy time 👇
Once a baby is comfortable on their belly, the next skill they need isn't crawling. It's weight shifting. Before a baby can pull themselves forward, they have to learn how to load weight onto one side of their body and free up the other side to move. That's the missing piece that turns tummy time into army crawling.
This exercise teaches that exact skill. Put a toy to one side, just out of reach. Gently hold the opposite arm flat on the floor to give them an anchor. Now let them shift their weight and reach for the toy with their free arm. The anchored side teaches them what stability feels like. The reaching side teaches them what movement feels like. Together, the body figures out how to do both at the same time.
Give them time. Don't move the toy closer. The whole point is that small struggle, that little bit of effort that wires the pattern in. Then switch sides and repeat.
One small move, but it sets up everything that comes after.
For education only, not medical advice. If something feels off, reach out to a professional you trust 💚
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The crawling progression I usually see 👇This is the pattern I watch unfold most often when I work with babies. It’s neve...
06/24/2026

The crawling progression I usually see 👇
This is the pattern I watch unfold most often when I work with babies. It’s never really about age. It’s about skills building on each other, one piece at a time.
Here’s what each stage actually means:
✓ Introducing tummy time, getting comfortable on the belly, head lifting briefly
✓ Mastering tummy time, holding up on forearms for around 10 minutes
✓ Pivoting in circles, spinning on their belly to reach toys around them
✓ Army crawling, pulling forward with the arms, legs still dragging
✓ Crawling on fours, belly off the floor, moving on hands and knees
The 1 to 2 month gaps between each stage are a rough average. Some babies move faster, some take longer, and some skip a stage entirely. All of that is normal.
What matters isn’t the calendar. It’s whether each skill is built before the next one is expected. A baby who hasn’t mastered tummy time isn’t ready for crawling, no matter how old they are. A baby who has is closer than you think.
Trust the progression, not the timeline.
For education only, not medical advice. If something feels off, reach out to a professional you trust 💚
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