What play/activities with a 5 week old?

[sh77]

Hi

DS is 5 weeks old and I just wondered what sort of activities I could do with him. He is very curious and loves to look at his surroundings and seems to get bored easily. Would be grateful for any tips.

Gentle stimulation of all the senses through exposure to the world. Think of textures, sights, sounds, smells but don't overdo it. BAbies are easily overstimulated

Gosh, 5 weeks feels years ago (DS is only 9 weeks now!)

We played The Fridge Game - take things out of fridge; let baby see/smell them. He did not like mustard.

Singing to him - I just googled nursery rhymes, and went through about a hundred of them.

Playing music to him. I got a good ten minutes of happiness from DS in response to Rachmaninov. I got 20 minutes in response to Westlife. Go figure.

Get him a library card? Cloth books/big picture books - of course they can't make sense of it but it keeps you talking coherently.

Trips on the bus/out for a walk. DS is fine with loud noises/lots of people so just nods off if he gets tired, but would suggest trying your DS out on a short journey first.

At 8 weeks I started taking DS swimming. Can only go in for 15 minutes at such a young age, but worth it.

Percussion set - from Mothercare, has two rattles, bells, a kazoo, etc. Wave them in his face! DS now waves them in his own face (not the kazoo, that would be pointless).

That's all I can think of ...

Many thanks for your suggestions! Will give them a try.

Good to know they can go swimming that early as I thought the earliest was 3 months.

Check with your HV re the swimming as some don't recommend it until they have had the three month injections.

Think at 5 weeks I mainly fed him and changed his nap pies! Just talking to him, singing to him, cuddling him is enough for now, although ds did like those high contrast black and white images. Nothing seems to interest him as much as my face tbh! Congrats on your ds!

I'm with moulefrites on this one - at 5 weeks the big new world is fascinating enough for your little one, he's got plenty of time to get into activities!!

Just seen this and wanted to say congratulations on the birth of your DS, sh77 .
(You posted on my FMC CVS thread, offering me much needed info and support.)

I put on pop music and sang along to it which our DS loved pretty much from when he was born.

Anything that make you feel good.
Get out for a walk (a papoose is a great investment), do some post-natal yoga, go for a swim, go to a cafe or go shopping.
Having a calm, happy Mum is the best thing you can give you little one at that age.
Enjoy and Congrats!

at a 5 week old getting bored. He has yet to discover he has feet, and when he does this will fascinate him for the best part of a week.

Cuddle him, feed him, chat to him, sing to him, let him watch the world.

Congratulations. Enjoy him!

Put baby in sling so he can see out a bit and wander slowly round the house doing domestic things - cooking, cleaning, laundry, while talking about what you are doing and showing him. Babies love watching people and you can get jobs done too!

TV.

Sling and housework is great. Baby yoga is good too and keeps them limber.

is it a typo? 5 WEEKS?

I was the one in need of distraction at the time......

sling or pram and walk around the house or in the park...what else really?

Thanks for the suggestions!

He loves the sling, cuddles and just observing things around him (he finds this more interesting than my face!). I was just curious if I should be doing anything else.

tooimmature hope all is well. Thanks for remembering.