should i stimulate

[bruhaha]

my ds is 11 weeks old but only 3 weeks old developmentally as he was 8 weeks premature. He feeds every 2 hours and sleeps the rest of the time. Should i be playing with him and trying to stimulate him with his toys. Today I put him in his basket after feeding and he looked bored/sad so I took him out again. I tried him with his toys and he didn't even look at the flashing lights/music etc just stared at me.

If it was me I would just cuddle him.
Poor love has been through a lot and I don't think babies so young get bored. You are his best toy.

Lots of time just holding him and singing to him softly is probably enough stimulation.

Lots of cuddling, singing, kissing and smiling is what is needed.

I'm with NAB3 -- I don't think they get bored either.

And it's good he's staring at you -- have you tried making faces at him/smiling a lot etc? My lo loves staring at the paintwork (interesting lines and contrasts I guess). You could try a bath to keep him awake a little longer, as long as he thinks it's fun.

stareing at you is good. being with you is good,as is hearing you talk and playing games with you. don;t stress about toys, very young babies tend to be more interested in people. They seem to really like peoples faces .
You were noticeing that he seemed a bit bored in his bed so you played with him, he liked lookig at your face. Thats great . He can't see very far yet but he likes looking at you coz your his parent and way more interesting than a plastic noisey toy.
Keep up the good work.
If you want a good book to read about baby interactions with adults. try " the Social baby" quite a bit in there about prem babies so don;t be scared it won't be relevant to your situation.

thanks for this. i'm probably just worrying too much, it's hard to remember he's 3 weeks developmentally. He does get lots of cuddles and we stick our tongues out and smile at him lots. Don't know about me singing - it's more likely to scare him i think! I'm just nervous that i'm not doing enough for him.

You are doing enough for him. All he wants right now is milk, sleep, and to be close to his mum.

I felt exactly like this with my DD (5 weeks prem). But everyone's right, all they need at this stage is food, sleep, warmth and love ie time with you, cuddling, smiling, laughing, singing (yes, he'll love it, whatever you think of your voice)

By the way, she's now 23 weeks and lovely to play with and you are very lucky to have that in front of you.