Entertaining your baby?

withoutshoes

Hey ladies,

I'm at a loss of what to do w/ the little one.  He's becoming more alert and sleeping a lot less.  Therefore, I'm trying to think of things to keep him entertained.  Things that I'm doing now are reading to him, we're doing tummy time, and placing him in his bouncy/vibrating chair (which he loves!)  Do you have any other activities you did with your 6 week old? Or are there any other items you had (like a swing, etc) that your DC liked?  I don't want him to get bored w/ his bouncy chair, so I'm looking for extra "toys" to add to our routine.

Thanks for your help ladies!!

MrsHughesNC

Holly LOVES this Baby Einstein play gym...she's been enamored with the octopus for several weeks now. hehe...She lays underneath it and talks to him, and the yellow fish. She'll stay there for quite awhile, just cooing and babbling away. :-)

crescentmoon99

I had the hardest time too at that age, because they're really too small to play with toys.  Liam spent tons of time in the bouncy chair at that age - I'd put him in it on the coffee table facing me, and interact with him that way - singing, clapping, etc.  I'd also put on some music and dance around the house with him - he loved that.  Soon you can go for some nice walks outside.  Liam never got bored with the bouncy chair - he loved that thing!   Do you have the FP Rainforest one?  Liam enjoyed the activity bar part of his by 6 weeks old - more to look at than play with.  You'd be amazed how often he was able to hit it and turn it on just with his random flailing about hehe.  I also read to him a lot.

What about a playmat - do you have one of  those?  He should be able to enjoy looking at that by this point.  Oh, and a mirror like this - Liam still enjoys this now.

GL!

BackthePack

I think what you're doing is great! Maybe try singing along with a CD - J loves music! Often for tummy time I would lay down & put him on my chest. He really liked that (better than on the floor) because he got to look up & see me. DS also loved his bouncy - that thing was a lifesaver! We had a swing that DS did NOT like. We had a playmat that he liked ALOT! I also put J in a carrier and carried him around while I did house work - he seemed to like the closeness & I talked to him about all the things I was doing.

I would recomend letting your DS have some alone time just to hang out & look around (if he's content doing that). I would let J lay on his playmat & look up/play with the toys or in his crib under his mobile or beside the crib mirror without me being right there. My goal is to have a child who can entertain himself (b/c I don't want to have that responsibility 24/7), so I started early. ?

Hope mommy-life is treating you well!

ETA: We have the same playmat Hughes mentioned & the same mirror Crescent mentioned - J still likes them!

The"Q"

I remember thinking this exact thing. I was always asking myself if I was doing enough with him. Baby Center has a some weekly activities for your babies first year to give you some ideas. We have this activity mat that Ben still loves. Also, the fisher price crib aquarium is another one he loves to watch. I remember he was pretty young when I pulled it out of the box to let him watch.