xp: what to do all day

meldoo2002

Both boys have been home since Wednesday and I feel like I don't know what to do with them all day.  Most days we've had at least 1 doctors appointment, or visitors, or visiting nurse, etc. so we've had to get up and out of the house at least once.  Today is our first really down day and it's just me.. DH is back at work.  I feel like all I do is feed, change, and get them to sleep, then pump.  I'm doing some breastfeeding, some bottle, and lots of pumping.  Anyway in the NICU all they did was eat and sleep.  They do mostly that at home too, but are having some more awake periods and I'm not sure what to do with them.  I have them sleep in different places like the pack n play, I wear them in my Moby wrap while I do laundry, and they hang out in their bouncers and boppys.  But other than moving them around to different places to sleep I feel like I don't do much with them.  Should I be doing more at this point or is it normal for them to be just hanging out most of the time (usually sleeping).  They are 37 weeks gestational age now.

tierelieber

Sleeping all the time at that age is definitely normal. I would take advantage of it while you can because it's a rareity that I get house work done now. I wouldn't worry about letting them sleep in different places, etc. They should be just fine sleeping all the time in one place. Eventually they will start staying awake for longer periods of time.

ijack

sounds about normal you can start having them do tummy time, but at that age kids don't do much

RRHsMom

Ahhh!  Sometimes I miss those days when all he did was sleep .  They will slowly begin to be awake more.  We did tummy time first thing in the morning and then it was like you said where I just let him sleep where ever was best for me to get work done during the day.  My fil (a pedi) also recommends that babies sleep on their backs but spend most of their awake time on their bellies so as he got older we tried to do that as much as possible.  

mek10976

That is exactly how DS was when we brought him home from the NICU.  He was 36 weeks when he was discharged and spent his days eating and sleeping.  I would also read him books even if he was asleep or had his eyes elsewhere.  I wore him around the house alot and sometimes put music on for him and me.  I would chat with him too, even though I didn't get any sort of feedback.  Now that he is almost 4 months (2 mo. adjusted), he is cooing, kicking, moving, and much more expressive.  Keep doing whatever you can to stimulate them during the awake times.  But they do need to sleep - babies do their growing during their sleep.