Newborn playtime

[Dozeyland]

What playtime/activities do you do on a daily basis??

any tips?

Cuddle them, sing to them, stroke their face.

Newborn's don't need 'play' time, ordinary interaction is plenty of stimulation for them.

Save your energy.

If you have a newborn you need rest, probably more than you realise.

Just cuddle the baby and talk to him/her a lot.

Breastfeed

Change nappies

Wash or bathe

If they are bored they will let you know very quickly. Remember they didn't get any entertainment in utero

The time for entertainment will come all too quickly, don't worry!

DD was fascinated by a black and white cloth book we got her. She would stare at it for ages happily.

She also liked to look at the trees blowing in the breeze and washing on the line. Was never sure how much she was actually seeing, i suspect it was just fuzzy blurry things moving in the middle distance but she did seem to enjoy it.

Talking, cuddling, playing music, dancing, singing. I also have some bits of fabric that I drape over her so she can feel the different textures and some little bells to shake along with the music. I only do these activities for a short time each day as I don't want her to get over-stimulated.

sorry, think i worded that wrong.

I didnt literally mean playtime at newborn age as such :)

I should have wrote 0-3m daily routines/things you do with your baby along with feeding/nappy etc

Not much at that age - they don't need it. Life is stimulating enough.

Playgyms with toys hanging off them are quite useful but I think mine were a bit older before they were really interested.

Feed, change, cuddle. That's it. Mostly feeding and cuddling. You don't have to do anything with them - they get all the stimulation they need just from being out in the world.

In addition to feed, change, cuddle I also used to pop baby into any room I happened to be in and let her watch me, lots of singing, lots of outtings outside in the pram so she could look around (though invariably she would fall asleep so I got myself a good workout pushing the buggy whilst power walking!), I also bought her a few soft books with strong contrasting colours and shapes that she used to stare at for ages on her changing mat, gym/play mat with lots of dangly things on it, I used to move her limbs around eg her legs like a bicycle which she really liked, bouncy chair etc.

All these activities increased as her wake times between naps increased.

In the newborn days when she really only slept then woke to feed and have her nappy changed then slept again I found singing to her whilst nappy changing really good and also put those soft books propped up by her changing mat so she could look at them whilst changing her.

Closer to 3 months we were doing regular tummy time sessions on changing mat / rug on floor propped up on rolled up towel / gym mat: I would sing to her with loads of actions to encourage her to look up.

DS 4 weeks watches anything that moves - light and shade, mirrors are good,bright colours and soft textures, baby gym or mobile with swinging things. Likes the sound of my or dh voice, repetitive singing and actions with his hands. Mostly though he just watches whats going on around him.