Exhausted... tricks for entertaining 5 month olds?

[Linguaphile]

Unless I am right there talking to my twins or pushing them in the pram, they get bored and start crying. They have toys, tethers, a play gym, books, etc. but none of it keeps them occupied for long. They're not yet sitting totally by themselves, which I think may be frustrating for them from a play perspective, but then again if I put them in the buggy or their high chairs to sit up, they get squirmy and agitated after just a few minutes. I feel like I'm their prisoner when we're in the house! I like being with them, but sometimes it would be nice if they could entertain themselves for more than 30 seconds.

Any tricks of the trade I'm missing? Are there any magic toys out there that will keep them occupied and happy? Not keen on sticking them in front of the tv and we don't have loads of space in the house.

Sorry, meant teethers, not tethers! We don't tether our kids... at least not yet

Hello, sorry to hear that you are finding this tough. Are these your first children? I used to really worry that my DC1 was bored, not getting enough of my attention etc etc. He seemed to need a lot, but not sure if that's because I gave a lot. He is now 5 and can't remember what he did yesterday let alone when he was a baby so I should have just relaxed at the time and ate cake and watched TV!
Because I am so busy at the moment with 4 kids, I can't give my twins (6 months) much attention, not sure if this means they expect less?! If they do start to whinge, I find moving them around helps whilst I carry on what I am doing. If I am putting washing out, I will put them on the floor next to the clothes horse so they can watch me, if I am in the kitchen I put them in their bouncy seats with me, if kids are home, they are in living room watching them. I do have an activity centre which they can stand up in, which again breaks a bad mood if I bung them in that. Otherwise, a baby and toddler group, a teletubbies DVD (I would have never put my pfb in front of TV, how I have changed 4 kids in!), a play mat with loads of random toys thrown on it, tummy time, a daytime bubbly bath...

Good luck, this stage doesn't last forever (which one does) so soon they will be able to move, talk, play with each other leaving you to that sofa and cake :)

Mine are the same. Jumperoos have saved my life. And bouncy chairs with toys attached. Fortunately they will play a little bit in their highchairs with highchair toys attached, but not for long.

Mine couldn't do much at 5 months, were still quite sleepy and still having 3 naps a day. Mine were slow at first developmentally and only sat at 8 months so it was hard entertaining them. For us, Jumperoos were a life saver and we had two so I could put them in and they would jump away and watch me cook, hang washing etc. Bouncy chairs were a no no, they didn't like being stuck in them when they roll and get around that way. We did a lot of tummy time which they liked. Lamaze toys were a favourite at this age and anything that made a noise.

For me personally ages 9-12 months were harder, babies were frustrated as they wanted to move but couldn't. Things got easier when they could crawl and walk.

I think unfortunately at this age they don't entertain themselves for very long. I seem to remember them screaming when I left the room. I did find did bouncers quite handy and put them in opposite doors so they could smile at each other. They other trick was moving the bouncy chairs round the house.
If its possible try and get out to a baby group for some adult company and children tend to be less needy.
I do remember how boring it was trying to entertain tiny babies!! It won't be long before you can build duplo towers, bridges etc.

hi lingua, i feel your pain! my dts are 16 months now but i remember how bloody hard it was at 5 months! dtb was reasonably ok for entertaining himself but dtg was a total nightmare, got bored of anything after about 2 mins (sign of intelligence obvs.....oh no that means dtb is thick then....)

once they start sitting properly and moving around a bit, rolling and crawling, it gets easier so hang in there, youre nearly there!

i found activities like baby yoga pretty good for amusing them at this age, gets you out the house too!

This may sound obvious, but my twins had the benefit of a toddler older brother, so they enjoyed watching him do stuff. Would it be worth finding a toddler playgroup to attend with the babies, just to entertain them? Any people, made a difference, just company - something interesting going on, people talking around them, something to watch other than the four walls - so just visiting a friend's house might do the trick.
Singing was another way you can entertain them without having to play with them or sit right by them.
Without other distractions, mine was exactly as you describe, and didn't entertain themselves for a second.
The result was they became very good at talking quite early on, as I had to pay so much attention to them!

Thanks for the replies, all. It is helpful to get out of the house as they're content for much longer when novel stuff is going on around them. Went to a bumps and babies group the other day and they were like meek little lambs laying on their tummies, heads upright and keenly watching all thee other babies and adults! They're also really content when I strap them in the baby carriers and walk around town. Just means I have to get out of the house more than once a day to keep them happy.

I've started playing classical music in the background, which they also seem to really like. How much did you actually talk to yours, Swanhilda? Mine love having stories, but I get so bored reading the same ones over and over! Guess it's time to buy some more books and get out a bit more until it passes...

Another jumparoo fan here - ours loved it from around 5-12months. As said above just getting them out kept them amused too. Once they could eat I used to take them to supermarket cafe for lunch (and v importantly coffee for me!) - great for people watching, cheap, plus they're well used to kids and don't mind when all food goes on floor! Once they can sit a 'treasure basket' kept ours amused for ages.

Yes to the jumperoo. I had 1 who loved the jumperoo and 1 who loved the door swinger thing.

Mine are 5 years old now, trust 1 day you will struggle to remember what it was like at 5 months!!

Jumparoos. Lifesaver. I could have a cup of tea.
Bouncy chairs in front of the washing machine going round.
I had a prop up mirror toy from the elc. Dd would lie up to half an hour laughing and smiling at the baby in the mirror.

I used to rotate every 15 mins or so. We had a walker, bouncy chair, jumparoo, door hanging bouncer and swing chair! Forgot we had so many things to be honest but I remember the days being quite long before they could sit up by themselves.
I think it gets easier when they can crawl and walk.
Mine are 3 now and come with a whole different lot of issues.

Mine also never could sit anywhere for a moment (not in highchairs, bouncers, door swinger, jumperoo, not in front of the tv...) without crying after almost straight away. I just had to accept I would not get much done around the house, and it could get quite boring too!! So we go out to groups a lot and in the pram, where the outdoors or lots of other little ppl will hold their attention. Now one is walking and one still just crawling (16 months) they are still exactly the same, they don't like to have to entertain themselves at all, even though I am right next to them all the time. The only place they are different in our house is when we are upstairs. I have often wondered why as the only difference is there is carpet, so maybe they just feel more comfortable there, who knows.
Now I have got used to fitting most of my chores into their naptimes and evening times I don't mind as much, as at least now they will watch mr tumble (witth me watching too of course!) And I can at least sit down and have a cuppa during that time. Show me show me is quite good I've discovered too, thanks to neversleep who pointed this out on an earlier thread to me I think. I think mine got into tv programmes when they were about 11 months or so, and they have their benefits at times)). Good luck! X