Rolling from Home: Developing a Methodology for Classifying Infant Rolling Movements from At-Home Videos

Rolling from a supine to a prone position marks an important developmental milestone for babies. A previous study identified that babies use six distinct movement patterns to achieve this key motor skill. While previous studies have observed baby rolling patterns in lab settings, such conditions have limitations. First, labs are unnatural rolling environments that may not simulate how a baby rolls at home. Second, lab studies make it harder for researchers to track babies’ rolling patterns over time, limiting data collection to scheduled lab sessions. Using at-home video recorded by an infant’s caretaker could be a promising way to study baby rolling movements as an infant develops. Accurately classifying rolling patterns seen on video according to the six preestablished roll types is crucial to assessing how movement patterns change over time. In this study, we aim to present a methodology that will allow researchers to accurately and consistently categorize baby rolling patterns via at-home video analysis. The methodology developed consisted of three steps: 1) identifying the direction of the roll, 2) identifying stationary and moving limbs, and 3) determining the synchronicity of moving limbs. Detailed descriptions of each roll type as well as illustrations of how each roll type is executed were presented to aid the viewer in categorizing videos into the six roll types. Preliminary tests suggest this methodology has the potential to produce consistent results, although further work will address what improvements can be made to increase accuracy and consistency among those analyzing videos. Obtaining consistent results from at-home video analysis will enable researchers to expand their understanding of rolling patterns as they occur under natural conditions and to study how these movements progress over time