How much time should I spend playing with my baby?

[Weejy]

Hello Mums. I am new to Mumsnet so bear with me! My DS is 8 months old and I have not returned to work. I am worried I am not giving him enough attention/playtime. He is very happy just to play on his own and I seem to be watching tv rather than playing with him. Lately I have noticed him watching the tv so I have switched it off as I have heard rumours about autism and tv being linked. Do other Mums spend all day sitting on the floor playing games and singing without the tv on or am I worrying unnecessarily?

Hi Weejy. One thing that's very important when you just become a mum is to never forget about yourself. So if you want to watch some telly you are by all means entitled to it. My DS loves the telly and knows quite a few songs, etc. (his favourite being Justin Timberlake) (Mummy's favourite too). BUT, you should also have quite a bit of play time for the two of you and try your best to take him for a walk at least twice a week. I'm a working mum, so can't be of too much help, but hopefully somebody else will come along soon

I also worry about this. Don't have tv on much, but dd is happy to sit and play.

Buuut, whenever I play/talk to her, she lights up like a christmas tree, then I feel guilty. However am aware that in 2 or 3 months, I won't be able to do much sitting around because she will be on the move.

I still feel guilty though...doesn't stop me posting on here though

I think that at that age is a bit difficult to have "proper" play with a baby for a long time. Perhaps providing oportunity for him to discover other things like taking him for a walk/park/baby groups, read a story/sing to him, allow him to "explore" objects around the home while being supervised by you counts very much as spending time "playing" with him.

Too much television is bad for the two of you, but as for Autism and television linked???? (in terms of TV causing autism)pleaaaaaseeee. That's, absolutely, rubish!

I can't stand sitting playing games for more than about 20 minutes, I'd go nuts. Love my dcs dearly, but it can be so boring!

My top tip is, don't rush around doing housework while he is asleep. Do it while he is awake. I took them from room to room with me, explained everything I was doing, gave them things to hold (not the bleach!). As they get mobile they like to help (cleaning with a babywipe). And cooking - they sit in a highchair in the kitchen so can see whats going on. Because that all counts as "educational interaction".

And then I joined millions of toddler groups to save my sanity.

Its so much easier with the second one. The baby sits and watches the toddler play, and you can go on MN.

Yes, talk all the time, the more you talk to them the sooner they will answer back! and they get to tlearn about how things work, what are they for and make it easier to interact with other people when the time arrives

Wow, so many replies already!! This is amazing, I wish I had found Mumsnet months ago.

We do go for a walk every day, except in foul weather like today, I read to him every day and meet up with other Mums twice weekly also. I think I may be getting paranoid as he is not saying Mama and Dada yet when babies younger than him are. I should just chill out a bit shouldn't I??!! He has been crawling since 7 months so maybe he is concentrating on that rather than talking.

Thank you all v much.