Things to do with a 6 wk old baby

ValerianOddity

Any ideas?  I wear Gabriel a lot, and because being wrapped almost instantly puts him to sleep, I worry that it's affecting his ability to sleep at night. 

I'm not saying I think he should be sleeping through the night... FAR from that!  Not even that I think he should be waking up less---I am totally okay with him wanting to eat every 2-3 hours; I LOVE sleepy night time nursing sessions.  My concern is how difficult it is to get him settled again after he wakes up to eat.  He's not unhappy; he's super cheerful and engaged... and WIDE AWAKE.  It can take anywhere from an hour to 3 hours to get him back to sleep.

My SO thinks I should wear him less during the day, since that makes him sleepy.  While I kind of agree with him, I'm not sure what else to do.  It's difficult for me to just carry Gabriel around without wrapping---I have severe Carpal Tunnel in my left hand/wrist.  It's quite painful and sometimes it spasms; DS is pretty heavy for such a little guy, and I am afraid my hand will spasm while I am supporting his weight and I will drop him.  He's still too floppy for front-facing carries, and even if he wasn't, I've read that you should limit the amount of time your baby spends like that anyway, due to potentially putting stress on their hips. If you're not carrying your LO, what do you do with them?  He's not really big enough yet to "play".

I guess this post is really two issues... I'd love to hear your thoughts on both.

ncbelle

Lots of babies have days and nights confused whether they are worn or not.  I would keep wearing him but make things loud and bright during the day and dark and quiet at night.  Kiddo definitely had wide awake and happy times at 6 weeks.  He just sort of grew out of it.  He was pretty much worn or held all the time at that age.  He spent a little time in his bouncy or swing (although usually once he was already asleep) and some time on the floor just making faces and talking to him.

SeaSoul

The only other thing we did with DS at that age was give him a little time in his bouncy seat (which is a no-frills seat that bounces with his movement) or on the floor, with this great fold-out book that has B&W prints on one side, and bright-colored ones on the other.  He would stare at that thing, and "talk" to it for the longest time! 

FutureGosnell

At six weeks I think the only real play we did was reading to him, playing itsy bitsy spider, and this little piggy with his toes. He also was in his bouncy chair and swing a little. He was pretty wakeful then too.