LO Needs To Be Entertained All.Day.Long! Help!

CaliforniaSunshine

Anyone else have a super needy baby? I can not seem to get anything done at all. DD wants to be entertained all.day.long and it is exhausting! Im not sure what to do. We have various toys, play mat, jumperoo, swing and I even put her in her high chair with some toys when I am in the kitchen. Nothing seems to work.At 6 months shouldn't DD be able to entertain herself for a little while? Thoughts? Suggestions?

mkanderson85

Does she go to daycare, or are you a  SAHM?  Annalise started playing by herself after about 2 weeks in daycare.  It is a godsend sometimes.

Dreamsicle23

I work from home 2 days a week so I really NEED to get stuff done -  I just don't give in.  If you run over every time she fusses she expects you to do it every time.  I do go pick up DS if he's full on crying, but that almost never happens and I still wait a minute or two.

mojito14

Do you go to her as soon as she starts to fuss? If so, stop. I would wait and continue to do the chore that you are doing, just to see if she will stop and get herself interested in something else.

I have a high needs baby too (I think his main problem is that he wants to be next to ME constantly). That is impossible though, so there are times that he just has to sit there and fuss (with toys around him, his brother trying to play with him ect.). If I didn't allow him to fuss/whine then I would never get anything done.

MNgirl326

THese are just some thoughts off the top of my head.

What kind of toys does she play with when you do play with her?  Does she play with toys that light-up at the push of a button?  If so, it is possible that she may not be developing much of an attention span.

Does she have any soft blocks or stacking cups or things like that?  Toys like that develop a babies attention span because they have to work at them and as they develop they get better at them.  These are toys that you may have to play with her at first, but once she gets the hang of them, they can entertain for much longer than push button toys.  

Does LO like to empty toys out of a bin?  You could also get a little bin and fill it with hand toys and put it in front of her.  Babies like to empty out things, so it may also help develop her attention span.  Once again she may need you to help her learn how to do it, but she should get the hang of it.

 

CaliforniaSunshine

mkanderson85:

Does she go to daycare, or are you a  SAHM?  Annalise started playing by herself after about 2 weeks in daycare.  It is a godsend sometimes.

I am a SAHM

CaliforniaSunshine

mojito14:

Do you go to her as soon as she starts to fuss? If so, stop. I would wait and continue to do the chore that you are doing, just to see if she will stop and get herself interested in something else.

I have a high needs baby too (I think his main problem is that he wants to be next to ME constantly). That is impossible though, so there are times that he just has to sit there and fuss (with toys around him, his brother trying to play with him ect.). If I didn't allow him to fuss/whine then I would never get anything done.

I have tried letting her fuss, but she goes into what we call "full meltdown mode" and then it takes forever to calm her.

mkanderson85

Riley*sMom:

mkanderson85:

Does she go to daycare, or are you a  SAHM?  Annalise started playing by herself after about 2 weeks in daycare.  It is a godsend sometimes.

I am a SAHM

Lucky butt!

My only suggestion would be to let her fuss for a little while. Go about your business and let her figure it out.  I would only let her fuss for a little while though.

CaliforniaSunshine

abartow:

THese are just some thoughts off the top of my head.

What kind of toys does she play with when you do play with her?  Does she play with toys that light-up at the push of a button?  If so, it is possible that she may not be developing much of an attention span.

Does she have any soft blocks or stacking cups or things like that?  Toys like that develop a babies attention span because they have to work at them and as they develop they get better at them.  These are toys that you may have to play with her at first, but once she gets the hang of them, they can entertain for much longer than push button toys.  

Does LO like to empty toys out of a bin?  You could also get a little bin and fill it with hand toys and put it in front of her.  Babies like to empty out things, so it may also help develop her attention span.  Once again she may need you to help her learn how to do it, but she should get the hang of it.

 

I never thought that maybe I should get her different types of toys. Her jumperoo has lights and sounds, she has a Violet that she has to push her paw to play music, a sphere thing that rolls and has buttons that can be moved along the outside, one that has turning gears that light up, play music and move when you push a button. Those are just some of her toys. I will have to get her some blocks and stacking cups.

meikle02

Riley*sMom:

mkanderson85:

Does she go to daycare, or are you a  SAHM?  Annalise started playing by herself after about 2 weeks in daycare.  It is a godsend sometimes.

I am a SAHM

I'm a SAHM too, and I think this is really a big factor in DD's "neediness".  I, just this week, have started letting her fuss a bit before running to her rescue and I think it is starting to work.  I noticed that she would start fussing and stop and immediately look at me, like "are you coming".  So, now I just say something like "what are you doing, playing with your toys",  just to let her know I'm still here and paying attention, but not running to pick her up the second she fusses. 

I do like the suggestion from the PP who said to try some toys that help their attention span develop.  Makes sense.... never really thought about it.  GL

Big J

My kid is 10 months old and we're still in the same boat.  I know it's partially my fault because she's a big napper and I want to hang out with her when she's awake.  Sorry I can't help!

MNgirl326

Riley*sMom:

abartow:

THese are just some thoughts off the top of my head.

What kind of toys does she play with when you do play with her?  Does she play with toys that light-up at the push of a button?  If so, it is possible that she may not be developing much of an attention span.

Does she have any soft blocks or stacking cups or things like that?  Toys like that develop a babies attention span because they have to work at them and as they develop they get better at them.  These are toys that you may have to play with her at first, but once she gets the hang of them, they can entertain for much longer than push button toys.  

Does LO like to empty toys out of a bin?  You could also get a little bin and fill it with hand toys and put it in front of her.  Babies like to empty out things, so it may also help develop her attention span.  Once again she may need you to help her learn how to do it, but she should get the hang of it.

 

I never thought that maybe I should get her different types of toys. Her jumperoo has lights and sounds, she has a Violet that she has to push her paw to play music, a sphere thing that rolls and has buttons that can be moved along the outside, one that has turning gears that light up, play music and move when you push a button. Those are just some of her toys. I will have to get her some blocks and stacking cups.

yeah, unfortunately those toys are there to "entertain" kids but they don't really do much teaching them how to actually play.   Then the child gets bored and usually looks for a new toy, or adult,  to entertain them.

The manufacturers of these toys pretty much know this and depend on it.  They depend on the fact that your child will get bored with the toy and then you will go out and buy the next toy in their development line to entertain them again.

 

winomom22

I sit DD2 with a basket or 2 of toys. She likes to empty them and will play with them as she empties them. I have the exersaucer in the kitchen so she goes in that while I am in there. DD1 can be a godsend sometimes in entertaining her too. I switch it up so she is at different "stations"- swing, exersaucer, floor with toys, jumperoo etc.

sacey21

sometimes i just wear dd so i can get things done if she's in a needy mood.

ditto the blocks and basket of hand toys. keeps dd busier than all her overwhelming sound/light toys that she can only take so much of.

i also try to rotate her toys so she is playing with something different every few days.

1ht 

WildcatPrincess

I pretty much spend the day playing with DD....but I guess as a SAHM that's how I expected it to be?  I mean she plays by herself in the morning when I have breakfast and again at night when I'm making dinner (she's usually napping at lunch time) but I love reading books and playing on the floor with her.  FWIW we don't have any electronic toys, she has blocks and stacking cups, lots of different rattles and teethers and animals, etc and she'll play a good amount of time with them.  She gets frustrated after awhile, though, because she's not mobile yet and the stacking cups especially get away from her.  We've done everything we can to get her to crawl, but so far nothing!

Brittany373

UGHH!! I am in the EXACT same boat ...I have allll of the toys... and nothing keeps her entertained!!! My DD cant sit by herself... toys... exersaucer...jumperoo...crib...pack n play..nothing not even 5 min and SCREAMING... tears and snot out of her nose! lol Sooo I totally feel for you.... I hope somebody posts the "answer" lol

CaliforniaSunshine

Brittany373:

UGHH!! I am in the EXACT same boat ...I have allll of the toys... and nothing keeps her entertained!!! My DD cant sit by herself... toys... exersaucer...jumperoo...crib...pack n play..nothing not even 5 min and SCREAMING... tears and snot out of her nose! lol Sooo I totally feel for you.... I hope somebody posts the "answer" lol

It is horrible! I feel so bad for her!

spring_time

abartow:

Riley*sMom:

abartow:

THese are just some thoughts off the top of my head.

What kind of toys does she play with when you do play with her?  Does she play with toys that light-up at the push of a button?  If so, it is possible that she may not be developing much of an attention span.

Does she have any soft blocks or stacking cups or things like that?  Toys like that develop a babies attention span because they have to work at them and as they develop they get better at them.  These are toys that you may have to play with her at first, but once she gets the hang of them, they can entertain for much longer than push button toys.  

Does LO like to empty toys out of a bin?  You could also get a little bin and fill it with hand toys and put it in front of her.  Babies like to empty out things, so it may also help develop her attention span.  Once again she may need you to help her learn how to do it, but she should get the hang of it.

 

I never thought that maybe I should get her different types of toys. Her jumperoo has lights and sounds, she has a Violet that she has to push her paw to play music, a sphere thing that rolls and has buttons that can be moved along the outside, one that has turning gears that light up, play music and move when you push a button. Those are just some of her toys. I will have to get her some blocks and stacking cups.

yeah, unfortunately those toys are there to "entertain" kids but they don't really do much teaching them how to actually play.   Then the child gets bored and usually looks for a new toy, or adult,  to entertain them.

The manufacturers of these toys pretty much know this and depend on it.  They depend on the fact that your child will get bored with the toy and then you will go out and buy the next toy in their development line to entertain them again.

 

I absolutely agree with this about the types of toys.  I have found that the types of "toys" that LO wants are things that I use.  He loves to play with an old cell phone because it is like my cell phone (the baby one with the lights and sounds hold no interest for him).  He will scoot around for 45 minutes with a spatula in his hand.  A box opened so he can climb into it will entertain him for a very long time.  The longest he ever went was with an empty roll of paper towel (just watch that your LO does not eat it).   We put stoppers on the doors so DS cannot pinch his fingers, but he loves to open and shut doors. The stacking cups were a godsend. I also have stacking buckets that DS can put toys in and take out.  I broke down and bought some electronic gifts for DS for Xmas because I thought it was kind of pathetic when DS was dragging around a shoe, but those toys only keep him entertained for a short period of time...he keeps getting distracted by shoes.

spring_time

Another suggestion is buying a play yard, we have the Super Yard.  I really resisted it because I thought it was like putting DS in a cage.  However, we will put him in the play yard with stacking cups, tennis balls, and other simple toys.  It keeps everything contained so I am not fetching balls from under couches.  It also kind of limits his world.  If you think about it, even a small house must look huge in their eyes.  It can become overwhelming.  By limiting his world, he focuses his energy a bit more and doesn't need me to help navigate.