What can your 5 month old baby 'do'?

[flourybaps]

My 5 month old dd is still very much my 'baby'. She sleeps through about 4 times a week, naps are ok ish in the day and shes not weaned yet.

I'm worried I dont interact with her enough. I had pnd and had trouble bonding with her at first but we seem to be over that now. Its just that I'm not very good at playing with her and I'm not sure if I should be doing more.

She sits in her bouncer and watches me cook, clean shower etc. She plays on her gym, can go in the door bouncer for aboout 10 mins and she watches a baby einstein dvd at some point every day.

She smiles and everyone says she is content, I dont know if she is just quiet though as I think maybe I dont talk to her enough.My dp works long hours so a lot of the time its just me and dd and I suppose it can get a bit quiet in the house. She dosent really laugh much She cant roll over yet and is no where near sitting.

Sorry for the v long post I'd just like to know how much interaction you have with your babies. Any tips would be appreciated.

My 6-month-old can do the sudoku in 10 minutes, but only the mild one.

No, my 6-month-old can poo and dribble and grin and that's about it.

shes sounds completly fine!babies dont do much-theyre quite boring!
i had pnd with my first 2 dc and i too panicked especially with 2nd that he was missing out on 'normal'mummy things as i wasnt up to it.hes now big 7 year old.

Yes I'm neurotic!!!

I dont know, I guess I'm finding the whole thing monotonus, boring etc all the things your not allowed to say in rl.

I dont really 'play' with her much I suppose I'm just no good at baby voices etc.

At the weekend my pil came over, mil kept saying, 'come on mumm, how do we ake her laugh, I want to her her laugh' bloody nightmare, I h=just thought, well I dont really know what to do........ And then I felt a bit crap really.

I know I need to loosen up a bit, starting to think Ill be better off at work, too much time to worry at home methinks

Apologies for many spelling mistakes I cannot be arsed to sub myself!

She sounds contented. Try not to worry too much. I have a 5month old DS with severe brain damage and I spend A LOT of time with him because I have to force encourage him to interact.
I spend lots of time on the floor with him doing his stretches, rolling him over, tummy time etc. We make it into a game. I love it.
If you want to spend more time interracting with her, have you tried baby massage? Or, just do what I do - get on the floor with her for 10 mins, roll her over, push her knees up to her chest and roll her from side to side, clap her feet together, play with rattles and squeaky toys (DS can't do that himself yet, though he loves batting his playgym toys .
That said, he is a content little boy too and I don't honestly believe I would spend as much time with him if he was a typical child. It's just me and DS most of the time too, so I know how you feel.
During and after his feed, when he's cuddled up with me, I sing (badly, but he doesn't know that) to him. Old Macdonald has never had so many animals on his farm. I feel like an idiot talking to a five month old too, but I give him a running commentry on everything I and we are doing. When I change his nappy and bath him I tell him 'this is DSs leg, all clean, this is DSs arm all clean etc. etc. Perhaps you could do that too? We've made Bolognaise sauce today and DS was told how Mum was chopping an onion, carrot etc. You get the picture, I'm sure.
It's hard at this age I think. It sounds like you've got a nice little partnership going on, try and involve her a bit more. Who knows, she could be running around with a duster before you know it
Hope this helps

P.S. I don't do baby voices either!

Thnaks for your tips feelingbitbetter you sound like your doing a great job with your ds.

I know I'm lucky to have such a content dd,just cant quite shake of this feeling of not doing enough, not doing it right. Need to give myself a talking too.

Anyway I will use your suggestions and try to interact with her a bit more and thanks for taking the time ti reply to my (when I read it back) my whingy winey post!

• off! Agghh hate that1 I really should read before I post

oooh i second baby massage.

She sounds happy, I don't think my dd laughed at that age bit young. I'm very much like bitbetter if people could see they would think i was a nutter

at 5mths my dd had reflux so i still carried her in a sling quite a lot because it helped.

but i generally got on the floor at her level and played with her feet, hands, ears, peekaboo and her toys.

also around this time i started going to the local surestart baby club so lots of different toys and she loved the sensory room. by 6 months we also started signing classes and swimming classes.

all mainly so that i didn't go insane and she saw other babies because it's quiet in our house too. The side effect was that i figured out how to communicate with her because talking to a baby did not come naturally.

It all sounds good to me. I have six m.o. - my second DC - and I remember feeling exactly the same at around 5 m.o. too. You will find that it becomes easier to interact with them the older they grow. For example a few weeks ago I'd sing to him and he'd not be very attentive, now his little face lights up and he coo-es at me. Soon, you won't be able to leave her along for a minute as she'll be zooming off crawling and making you laugh with all sorts of things.

My DS is rolling over, smiles a lot, never sleeps through the night, feeds sometimes erratically, and throws up. He is not showing much of an interest in sitting up, but wants to be held up on his feet.

I don't do baby voices. I've never seen the point in saying 'look at the ickle quack quacks'. My four year old DD talked really early and with amazing clarity from a young age and I think it helps with that.

My children are much older but I am trying to think back.

At your babies' age my DS used to love sitting in one of those inflatable playnest things ..I gave him baby books (types that rattle or have different textures to touch) and he would drop toys over the edge and look at the pictures on the nest... he also loved looking at himself in one of those soft cot mirrors!

Maybe you could sing to your baby if you are not already doing so - Twinkle, twinkle, pat-a-cake etc. From about 6 months you could start taking your baby to a music class or other activity...

Maybe you could sometimes put a nursery rhyme CD on.

Do you have friends with babies the same age..maybe you could invite a couple of mothers and babies round for coffee...its much easier to do before they get mobile!

You are not whingey at all. I only mentioned DSs condition so as to not appear to be a vastly superior Mummy to you and make you feel worse.
You are doing fine.
Squeaky toys prompted DSs first chuckle, get PIL to buy her one!
Spacemen DS loves it on his feet too, it's bloody killing my arms, he weighs a ton! And as for baby talk, who in their right minds would say quack-quacks and bow-wow, when duck and dog are sooo much easier to say? It's bizarre isn't it?

My dd is 20 weeks old now and can do the following -

Sleeps through most nights from 6.30 til 7.30
Rolls over sometimes - Mainly front to back
Laughs and talks but only when she is in a good mood
Smiles a lot and frowns a lot

In the day she will play on her play mat, sit in her chair while I cook/carve pumpkins etc and we will go for a walk a few times a week.

I talk to her all the time - I tell her what Im doing, what everyone else is doing and just general rubbish! Dp thinks its nice that I have someone to talk to as I talk alot

A friend of mine has a ds of the same age and he is very different. He isnt as strong as dd on her feet and doesnt talk or laugh.

Every baby is different and yours sounds just lovely xx

ps I dont do baby voices either!!

Good suggestions all thanks. I tried baby massage when dd was a bit younger but the classes were at 10.30 so i just used to end up feeding her all the way through it or she would want a nap and get overtired. She really needs her naps and she dosent really sleep well on the move anymore so I suppose I'm a bit stuck in the house at the moment. Probobly too much time for navel gazing!

The baby proof mirror is a good idea she does love to look in the mirror (must get that from dp!) I have got some vouchers for mothercare so I might treat her to a couple of new squeeky toys and a nursery rhyme cd.

Just writing it all down makes me feel better, I even managed to say (write) out loud that its all a bit boring and didnt get flamed!!!

There is a surestart centre held nearby maybe I should get brave and check it out?

Oh yes. Walks too. We go for a walk, every day, rain or shine. Mostly to the local shops (rain) or the park (shine). DS loves being outside and the fresh air seems to tire him out do him the world of good . The cars, other people, noise all provide extra stimulation on days when we I can't be arsed

do you get out to any groups or met up with fellow mums?

flourybaps, she sounds very content and lovely.

Enjoy that!

If you're bored and feel up for it you could venture to a group or 2 but do it for your sake and not your babies! Alternatively enjoy pushing the pram round the shops and sitting in cafes while you can because you may not be able to do this again for a very long time!! (says the girl who has a 21 week old 3rd child and now can't shop without a noisy toddler who won't sit in a buggy for long).

Seriously though, my dd likes kicking, baby gym, bumbo for short spells and watching her older siblings. That's about it. She's utterly adorable though!

cheesesarnie I did meet up with other mums when dd was younger, was a real lady that lunched! Over last month or so though I have'nt really. DD needs to sleep at home for her naps so im trapped! Also two of my friends have just finished mat leave.

I can feel the clouds descending so too speak. So I know I need to buck my ideas up a bit. I'm finding it hard at the moment to even get out for a walk which I know is not good. I lied to dp yesterday told him I'd been out for long walk and he was really proud of me

[slaps self around the face emoticon)

i really can understand how your feeling.i felt the same.

What did you do cheesesarnie did you just wait it out? Sure things will feel bit more natural soon, hope so anyway. In the meantime I'm going to cook some food, talking to dd all the time of course!!

well with dd and ds1 ended up on anti d's.with ds2 i made sure i religiously did everything people suggest-getting out house etc even though i really didnt want to.i warned everyone that when i felt like poo i wouldnt tell them and that id lie badly to avoid them knowing how i felt..

Give the Surestart centre a go, floury. Having somewhere to go can make it easier to get out of the house. Especially now that winter is setting in (I nearly froze on my walk today, may stay in tomorrow). Have you got family near by? Somewhere you could go to talk to another adult and perhaps they could entertain DD too? Nice as it is talking to DS, it is a bit one sided. And he hasn't got any kind of opinion on what's happening in Hollyoaks! Can you get a day to yourself? A break from DS on the weekend when DP is home from work is a lifesaver for me. Even if I just have a walk to the shop on my own, or a haircut or something. It is really hard (and boring )sometimes constantly just him & me.

Flourybaps - don't ever feel you are not doing enough - there is a huge pressure to "stimulate" your baby but babies are programmed to learn, and all babies with average abilities will walk/talk/crawl etc at the appropriate times - which vary hugely from child to child.

Just being around you is plenty of stimulation - babies are not that interesting for a while! DD3 is 9 months and is more interesting as she "does" things like putting a sock in and out of a pot (no expense spared on the toys! ) and crawling around. At 5 months she was just about rolling over (my others didn't that early), and smiling but not laughing. I try to take her out once a week to a toddler group, you may need to try a few diff ones as some are cliquey. If I feel the walls closing in (the others are school age) I go to Sainsbury's, even if only to buy a magazine or a pack of biscuits - stroll up and down the aisles, someone is bound to say "aahh" at your baby and make you feel good!

Thanks housemum have made an effort and got a couple of visits planned for next week so get me out of the house.

I know what you mean I'm going to try and chill out a bit. I keep thinking her development is my responsibility and if she dosent achieve certain milestones 'on time' its beacause I havent done enough with her.

Anyway enough of my ramblings but thanks for all the reasurrance.