Help me entertain my 9mo DS!

[jaffa19]

I know he's still small but I'd really like to feel that he can entertain himself for short periods of time. I don't know if it's separation anxiety or if he's just particularly demanding, but he needs me to play with him all day everyday. He sits with a few toys and just whines, but if I sit with him and play/sing with him he's fine.

Toys he does have are a bit babyish maybe, does anyone have any toy suggestions? He's not yet crawling and so is probably frustrated just sitting all the time. The only time I can get anything done is when he's in his Leapfrog activity station thing, but even that only occupies him for 10 minutes at a time.

I also have to admit I do occasionally resort to Cbeebies when I just need to lie on the sofa for 15 mins!

Btw we already have stacking cups, shape sorter and ring stacker, which he does enjoy but not for very long...

a ball. It will encourage him to crawl after it (is he commando crawling at all?) If not, corral him into an area with cushions where he will be able to reach it.

a box with random objects in, eg wooden spoon, saucepan lid, plastic bottle with dried peas in. Chnage the objects every few days for best effect.

Do you have acces to a toy library (usually at childrens' centres)? They are great as you can change the toys weekly and if you stay and play you can see what he likes.

I remember finding this age quite trying as my DD wasn't yet crawling and if I left the room she would grizzle. It is a key age for separation anxiety kicking in so that might be part of the problem.

Now summer is on the way, try and get out as much as possible - take him to the park, lay on a blanket in the shade and take a few toys, he'll love people watching and all the new sounds.

Yep, that was a grumpy age for us too! I can't say that any toys really made a difference, the best thing we did was go out to loads of baby groups etc. as watching and interacting with other people was the one thing that would keep dd happy and it gave me a bit of a break from being sole entertainer. For us it did get better once she started crawling.. though we still go out lots!

My mum's stock trick was (and still is for any visiting children) to give them a set of plastic measuring spoons like these. Bit like a rattle, but more fun because of all the different bits, but not as dangerous to little eyes as a bunch of keys, and they can chew/suck on them harmlessly.

Nothing revolutionary but might buy you twenty minutes or so.

It totally gets better once they can crawl! DS was like this but now he can crawl he's quite happy to entertain himself (as long as I'm in the room - he doesn't last very long if I go out of sight). He just crawls off somewhere to investigate something (or goes after the cat) and periodically comes back to me for some interaction or a cuddle.

We have a range of toys and 'found objects' for DS. It helps to not put them all out at once, but have a selection of them out, and switch stuff around every few days, so he can 'rediscover' forgotten toys. We just reappropriate lots of stuff around the house, as long as it's child safe. DS is currently especially enamoured with a water bottle with some water in it.

It's time for what, on mumsnet, is known as a wnaky basket. Google Treasure Baskets.

Wow lots of replies, thanks! I can't believe the poor boy doesn't have a ball. Must get one! He's kind of commando crawling backwards and can spin around but no forward movement yet!

We do go out a lot, and toddler groups etc keep him entertained, and he loves the swings at the park, but really need to entertain him while I'm busy at home.

Found objects good idea - he loves wooden spoon - but ultimately I guess I need to get him crawling! Any ideas anyone!? He's not a huge fan of being on his tummy!

Hiya,
If you get a ball, ones like this are good www.vtechuk.com/vtech-baby/VtechBaby/Crawl_and_Learn_Bright_Lights_Ball/ as they hold more interest than just a regular ball.
If you take him around the house with you as you need to do things and give him items from that room to play with i.e. bath toys in bathroom maybe with some water in a washing up bowl, saucepans and spoons in kitchen etc, he will be able to see you right there and may be more willing to play by himself for a while.

Also, I found that if I didn't always pass toys back when they got out of reach, but sometimes put them just out of reaching distance, it encouraged movement towards them and hopefully this will lead to crawling!
Good luck.

DD is nearly 10 months and her favourite activity is pulling out grass and digging little holes! Slightly dirty but loads of fun!

I also found that between 9 and 10 months her ability to entertain herself (for short periods of time) increased a lot, so life is a bit easier now!

My 9mo DD can't yet crawl and is entertained by

• pulling out grass and eating it
• watching people play games in the park
• maracas (somehow better than a rattle)
• a toy that's like a little cage with a bell in
• books with textured bits (e.g. "That's not my..." series)
• pushing up on cushions (e.g. sofa cushions which are firm and relatively high, like a mini soft-play)
• standing up holding onto sofa
• door bouncer (although she might be outgrowing this)

Am watching this thread for more ideas!

Ours (10mo) likes cables, sockets, mobile phones, knives, tiny bits of tinfoil and dog hair.

It's a ruddy nightmare.

Haha DD was like that Janoschi. I promise they grow out of it.

ELC do a lovely drum that lights up and plays music and it can be rolled along too.

haha Janoschi, DS also is obsessed with cables, the laptop, the fan heater and the radiator valve.

I think I'm going to get hi on some grass tommorrow (he'll definitely eat it!)

The things that really get squeals of joy from our DD (aside from the fatal or toxic things!) are:

Swooping high in the toddler swing at the park (so much so that I bought a swing yesterday for home).

Riding in the front-mounted bike seat as I pedal very fast around the park.

Both result in happy squawks, waving arms and giggling.

She doesn't seem so bothered about much else, except the crawling around chewing phone chargers stuff. She has no favourite toys, per se.

Anyone else's DC like this?

Thought it was just my DS (8MO) who loved cables, plugs, wires etc. Thought he was going to be an electrician. Glad he's not the only one!!! I agree with the ball thing....my ds loves his and him and dh play for ages. He has one which makes a "BOING!!" sound when it's dropped etc....which makes him laugh a lot. He is crawling though so enjoys bashing it about. (I can normally hear dh saying "keep your eye on the ball son, ah that's it!!" like he knows what he's on about).....I pray for his own sake that DS is into football when he is older....otherwise DH will be mortified!!!! Also a hammer and block set and a water bottle with a bit of water in the bottom (lid tightly screwed on!) Good luck. It's hard to know what to do eh.

"Incentives for crawlingTM": remote control, iPhone, cat

Oh yes and laptop! Now he's crawling it's so much harder to Skype family (I'm not from the UK originally), keep having to move the laptop or put it out of reach!

Well I took him to the park today and he was amused for a whole hour just watching the big kids on the climbing frame.

As for the crawling, his favourite things (remote, phone etc) just make him cry if they're out of reach. Or grunt in frustration. It's like he hasn't even figured out yet that he could try and get to them! The only thing that seems to encourage crawling is being around crawling kids - he nearly tried it this morning at a baby group we go to!

He does love the swings at the park, and DH was talking about getting a bike seat so maybe we'll go for it Janoschi although we're in a busy part of London and I'll have to put my foot down when it comes to actually using it to get anywhere on the roads!

I'm lousy on roads because I'm too unfit to keep up with traffic but we have a nice river cycle path and a good-sized park. I also have an utterly dumb dog and can't have her on a lead next to the bike because she'd slice her nose off in the spokes, so it works both ways.

The bike seat so far is the best thing we own. DD thinks she's flying. Hoping the swing also does the trick when it arrives!

Indoors, she likes holding on to the coffee table and using one hand to throw the coasters on the floor. We keep them going in a constant cycle and it lasts ages. Not handy for solo entertainment though. And opening a drawer and emptying it all over the floor. We've given her a special drawer full of clothes pegs, those plastic alphabet letters you put on fridges, napkin rings, beermats, plastic flowers, old toothpaste tube etc etc (hundreds of small objects basically) and it takes her 30 mins to totally empty it.

For crawling, it seems to take forever to get from the grunting, push-up stuff to actually moving around. For DD she went backwards first and liked being on slippery surfaces so she could push herself backwards. Don't know if that's any good as a tip. iPhones etc just made her cross, not being able to reach them. She then did circles and finally went forward. Push-up grunty stage started at 6 months, she crawled forwards professionally at 9 months, but she got the sliding backwards thing at 7 months so the stages didn't really take that long to work through. Older babies might be quicker too as they might be stronger...?

My ds is 9 months and he enjoys sitting in the high hair watching me dance and sing to the radio whilst washing up, he bangs a wooden spoon around and a beaker with pasta in it. He chews on breadsticks and I can get stuff done for a little while.

He has a drum that plays music and lights up which he enjoys, a spinning thing with balls in it, and his own tv remote

He can't crawl yet either and keeps getting stuck on his front or can't reach something he wants and moans so I am constantly up and down to him. He prefers standing to sitting so inhale to hold his hands whilst he stamps his feet.

I love cbeebies

Oh yes, DD loves her spinning top. She can't do it herself but is almost hypnotised by it. And she also likes bopping to Country & Western crap.

What about a small mirror? And the bouncy cord from a phone? And bubbles? And a tangled up ball of that coloured ribbony stuff you decorate presents with? Or is my DD a bit weird?

And before she could crawl, she liked standing up holding on to this . She liked that it was stable and had loads if different height handholds. She'd pull up and sit down for ages at a time.

I never had the guts to fit a bike seat, but I'm sure it would be good.

Not really much use re getting some time when he's playing, but ds would sit peacefully while I sang my way through an entire nursery rhyme book at this age - I remember posting on here around that time that when I couldn't bear to talk to him any more, having already been up for 6 hours at 10.30am, I could still bear to sing. Make the most of it before they start putting their hands over your mouth and saying 'No sing'.

Thanks, some more good ideas! I do spend A LOT of time singing nursery rhymes with him or reading books. And blowing bubbles. I think he's just really really clingy at the moment and the holy grail would be something that I could leave him with so I could have some time out once in a while.

Janoschi what kind of bike seat do you have? I have only seen rear seats, is front seat safe?