Toys to get 2.5 yr old to play with new baby?

[cheeseycharlie]

DS is 6 weeks old. DD is 2.5. She is affectionate towards him but mostly ignores him, and I want to get her more involved.

I have had her in full time nursery while I got to grips with DS (as I have no family help) but as from next week I'll have the two of them to myself during the week. I'd like to line up activities and games that will make DD feel she is getting to engage with the baby (even if it is all completely over his head at this stage) and avoid me feeling like I am torn between them.

Recommendations for products / toys / games very gratefully received!

Thanks all

The only way I found to do it was to get the older one to have lots of little jobs to help care for the baby, because baby can't really play yet.

At 6 weeks I think I'd struggle to get them to have any real interaction other than the odd cuddle or stroke.

So could your DD be in charge of getting the wet wipes, or showing DS a book whilst he has his bum done. Could you and DS be the audience for DD when she does some singing and dancing?

They won't really engage yet. Your baby will probably be happy in the bouncer watching you play with your D.D. My 3.5 yo (DS2) still ignores my 4 month old except for the odd poke and DS1 ignored DS2 really until he could sit up by himself.
The one game I do remember is that DS2 could be a passenger in a pretend train (in his bouncer) whilst DS1 drove the train.
Hand printing worked too.
Don't worry about next week, it may seem quite daunting, but you'll quickly get used to it

DD1 used to shake rattles and set off a toy where you press the top down and it rings a bell, which used to distract DD2 while she was crying.

My mother brought puppets, which my niece used with her younger brother, but my DD never gave them a second glance

I get dd to sing, dance, "read" ( she's 3) etc to our baby, 4 months. They both love it.

Because of the experience I have had recently with my 2.5 and new baby (now 6 mths) both at home, whereby my DS had to be taught to leave the baby alone and I had to teach him boundries for safety I would say see how it goes for a little while (few days). If DD still not interacting very much with baby then introduce some toys or maybe more play like singing songs to the baby..... Im just thinking it could all backfire and baby ends up with toys constantly jabbed at its head this is whay my DS did....cars brum brumming over her head etc :)

Just a thought from my own experience :)

I wouldn't think of it the way you are- I would plan stuff to do with your older one that the baby can "watch". To be honest my 2 year old pretty much ignored the baby until she started joining in at more like 18 months (!). We did loads of stuff together though and many a time I was BF baby whilst doing play-doh, reading stories etc etc.

I think as long as the older one isn't harming the younger one you are doing pretty well!!!- They like to be quite physical with baby sometimes as you may have discovered already? (!) or maybe not- but my rule was that if baby was happy (not crying!) then it was fine.

Go to some toddler groups that are suitable for your older one and the baby will fit in- they don't know any different- it will keep your older one stimulated. Babies are actually easier than toddlers at this stage (although they need all the feeding and changing etc) so fit baby round toddler rather than the other way round- well worked for me!

Good luck!!!!! And don't worry if you get sibling rivalry- very normal, we still get the odd bit but they are basically really good playmates and have loads of fun now (nearly 3 and nearly 5 now!).

Enjoy!

Thanks for the comments so far these are really helpful. Yes I am a bit daunted by the prospect of managing them both, but these are some good ideas to help me fill DD's days and make me feel like we aren't totally ignoring the presence of DS!

I like the advice from tgger - as long as older one not actually harming the baby then that's doing well - a manageable goal for me (hopefully!)