my little one didnt roll over until she was 8months old but i also had to teach her how to sit up and crawl i helped her roll over by placing her on the floor on her side  and gentally  pushed her over on to  her  stomach  i did this for  a few weeks twice daily.

as for the car seat my little one is 21months and is still under 15kg she was forward facing once her legs begain pushing on the seat infront of her.

Re : car seats, we have our baby/child seat fitted by the Red Cross (here in Aust.) and they told me that new laws state that infants need to be rear-facing until 12 months old.  Simply call them to check on this advice, their advice is free.

1)  I wouldn't get too worried about rolling over late.  All of our babies were different.   They tend to go when they are ready.  Sometimes that can be a few months later than the experts say.   Same goes for talking and babbling.   Anyway, the way I encourage the kids to roll over is to put a lot of interesting toys around them just out of reach.  Initially, as long as baby is making an effort, I'll help her "win" and get the toy.    That keeps her interest up.

2) My wife likes to keep the kids backward as long as possible because it feels safer to here.  (I don't know if it is.)  Eventually when they get closer to a year old, babies get bored looking backward all the time. 

First, to roll over takes muscle strength, so as stated below lots of tummy time and she may at this moment just preferr to roll from one side.  You can always roll her the other way to show her that it's possible, cause at 5m they are just learning about other body parts.  As for the car seat, the longer you wait the better.  Primary reason is again muscle strenght.  Babies under 9-12m have weak muscles and if you were to get into and accident and she was facing forward she could get severe whiplash.  I would not go by weight for that, and again wait as long as possible before you put her foward facing.

Give plenty of tummy time (at least a few minutes several times a day if she hates it). This develops the muscles needed to roll over, crawl, etc.  But other than that, babies roll at their own time.  My son was born on his due date, and he didn't start rolling over both ways until 6 months.  While my 10 month old twins rolled over at 4 months and they were born 6 1/2 weeks early!

As far as carseat goes, I realize you're in Australia - so I am just going to tell you how it is here in the U.S.  From the varying answers below, I take it there is no set law for this in Australia?

U.S. has strict laws on this. Infants must be rear facing until they reach 20 lbs (9.7kg) AND 1 year old. We usually have babies in infant carseats like this

But most of the time, babies outgrow these kinds of carseats way before they turn 1. So we get a convertible carseat like this

which we still use rear facing until the baby is 20 lbs AND 1 year old. But after the child reaches 1 year old, this carseat can be turned around to face forward.

Babies are safest facing the rear during a collision. If you have a carseat that can hold your baby (in terms of weight and length) it is actually safer to keep them rear facing even beyond 1 year old.

As I mentioned, based on the answers below, everyone turn their babies forward facing at different times. So I merely want to give you the law here in the U.S. because safety transcends laws and countries.

I am in America and I go to the web site aap.org  American Pediatric Association they should have the info you need, of course you will need to convert lb to kg Good luck :)

JoRyMom

As for the car seat rule..
It's 1 year to put into forward facing.. NO YOUNGER. You can buy a forward/rear and booster seat (all in one) and use it for rear facing until your baby HAS reached 1 years old.
It's a heafty fine if you don't obide to the rules, at least here it is!

my bub rolled front to back at 3 months and from back to front just before 5 months. most babies will be rolling both ways at around 6 months, but ever baby is different. you say your bub is 12 kg's but is she long aswell? if she's big and short she might be having trouble rolling because of her size. she sounds like she's doing ok though. don't get too worried about it.

with the baby seat i turned mine around when my bub was about 6 months, he's got long legs so they were touching the back seat, i didn't want to have them compacted or shocked or have any injury if i happened to be in an accident. if they can sit up and control their neck and are older than 6 months then i'd turn the seat around. if their are specific laws in your area then follow those.

Question 1) At this age, it is difficult for your baby to roll completely over by herself.  Give her tummy time and place toys to the side of her so she has to reach for them.  By accident, she will roll, and from there, will learn how to keep rolling.  Basically, babies learn new things by accident and trial and error.

Question 2) Read the manufacturers recommendations for the use of their car seat.  They are specific to the brand and model you are using.  if you can't find the info booklet, google search the brand and model and it should find the specs for you.  If you have any problems with that, Minti mail me and I'll have a go for you.

I don't know what state you are in Australia but NSW has just introduced new laws relating to children and child restraints.  Babies up to 6 mths MUST be in a rear facing seat and as far as I can tell there are no exceptions.  See this appearing in the Daily Telegraph, I couldn't locate it on the RTA website.

As far as rolling over, my 5 mth old was rolling on to her side at 2 mths and was rolling on to her belly at 2 1/2 mths.  Probably try putting some of her toys next to her but just out of her reach and that may entice her to do it.

1. she will roll all by herself when she is ready. encourage her with floor time. It wont be long before she's rolling, crawling etc. and you'll wish she stays still lol.

2.babies should not sit in the upright position until at least 6 months to insure they have enough strength to sit up for longer periods of time. If she's happy with the wat it is now, then i'd wait a little longer. If its too small for her, then change it over.Just keep travel times short until she is used to it.

Hope this helps.

Trick for Question one, place toys to her side just out of reach to encourage her to roll, wont happen over night, but trying to reach them will help streach and build the muscles she needs to get over.

Question Two 9 months minimum preferably a lot longer. Link to reasons why.

http://www.defiancecohealth.org/Car%20Seats.htm . Hope this helps. There are more detailed studies but this link gives it in plain words.

Luv,Winnie.xxxx

Rolling - just give her plenty of floor time, letting her lay on the floor with her toys around her. She'll learn to roll, give her time.

Carseats - being a big baby, I can't see why you can't put the car seat facing frontwards. You can still tilt it back a bit if you think it necessary.