Need some ideas to keep DS1 occupied while I bf DD2

[Dragonhart]

He is watching way too much tv so any suggestions welcome. He tends to do naughty things to get my attention.

My dd is 20weeks and ds is 22 months btw

Can you have some special toys/books that you keep in a box that you can decorate with shiny stickers and only get them out when you're bfing?

Alternatively make sure he watches Countdown and Deal Or No Deal and he'll learn all the numbers and the alphabet (albeit only capitals and he'll say "and" before each letter for a while)

Oh!!! I have no suggestions as it was a disaster for me. I can tell you what happened if it would make you feel better ( might be good for a laugh) oherwise all I can offer is empathy, good luck and a wish that someone with good advice will come along in a moment..

we did the special box thing hunker suggested - it worked brilliantly but you have to keep the box special by only getting it out when you are feeding and it has to have some fab stuff in it

You could always watch 'educational dvd's'
when you're sitting down to feed.

Baby Einstien have a huge range of great dvds, my dd who's now nearly 3 know her Bach from her Motzart purely by watching B.E with dh, I make her listen to Lily Allen and Jamie T

If your not keen on classical music there
are lots of others to choose from.

You can watch them together and name the 'object, animal, item' that comes up on the tv so she'll be learning as she watches.

Also a collection called Brilliant Babies aimed at 1+ which has great number, shapes and alphabet dvd's.

Good Luck

I would back the special box idea - you could always put a padlock on it and make it a treasure chest!

What about putting dd in a sling while she is feeding and leaving yourself two hands free for playing with ds?

I dont mind DS watching some tv, but DD is a fussy eater and as she is struggling to put on weight, feeds take a long time.

Also means that I have to be careful not to distract her too much.

He is watching about 4 hours a day at the mo which I think is too much for him. The more he watches the more he wants.

Love the idea of a special box or treasure chest. Might see if I can put something together this weekend.

What did you put on the box?

Just stickers/paints anything like that would be fine. Then you just need some sepcial toys, books, snacks etc to go inside!

If I filled it with food, that would keep him occupied but by the time I wean DD, he would be a real chubster as he loves his food!

He does love Dinosaurs and Bob the builder so guess that is a good thing to go with.

Well, you could always leave out the mars bars and cans of coke!

Dinosaurs sounds ilke a good idea

You can get some lovely stickers - get some with dinosaurs and some with Bob and write his name on the box in big colourful letters.

Honestly though - Countdown

Sorry - Hunker, cant stand count down! Makes me feel dim!

Special box sounds great. Think I would also try to get as many of the feeds as poss to coincide with DSs mealtimes, and try and restrict TV to feeding times only so TV watching is at a level you are comfortable with.

I have flashcards with simple drawings - fish, trees, a house, birds, etc. I scatter them over the floor and ask DS1 (19 months) to bring me 'the dog, the cat' etc. He loves it. I also have color flashcards, he's not quite there yet, but I'm hoping to teach him his colors that way.

I sometimes 'speak on the phone' with him, He has his own 'mobile', and I pretend to speak to him. He loves it. I have a DVD of Thomas which I use in desperate times, and another one of baby einstein.

What else? I give him something new and fiddly to play with. He likes empty tubs, like lipstick containers, that he can pull apart and together again. Today he played for about an hour trying to put washing up gloves on! That was good fun!

LOL Drunken Sailor and Blueberry! It is so funny the things that ammuse them. Today ds demanded to have DH's swimming goggles on and wouldnt take them off for an hour! Took them away cos I was worried about his eyes (they are blue)!

Good idea about the flash cards Blueberry. Will look for those. Suppose I could keep the box near me and let him pic things out one at a time. That would take up more time. He loves bubbles and balloons too so could put those in too.

Allbuggiedout, that is just watching for feeding times, but as I said dd is abit alkward when it comes to feeding and is quite fussy. So it often takes and hour+ for a feed. Dont want to limit it as, as I said she is having trouble with her weight.

Would people really recomend those baby einstein dvds? I thought they were a bit of a gimmic?

DH, Baby Einstein used to make DS1 wail heartbreakingly.

Baby Bright was more successful.

Blueberry- Where did you get your flash cards from? Or did you make them?

Gosh, are they that scary Hunker!?

DS is scared of 'in the night garden' and I once put Snow white on (for me really ) and he ran over to me, grabbd onto my leg and started crying at the bit where the hunter tries to kill Snow white! [bad mummy emocicon]