playing with/stimulating 6 week old?

[coco2303]

I have a 6 week old daughter and have a choice of playmats,a playring and material books for her. And it may sound stupid but I don't know how to play with her. When I have read to her she either crying for food etc or sleeping. How do you know if they like being on the playmat etc and how often should you play with them?

Mine didn't really engage with the play mat until about 3 months old when she could reach and grab stuff. Same with toys. Up until then she just liked to be held, talked to, sang to and fed.

Actually I have to say the first 4 months were hard work keeping DD entertained. Once she got to 5 months and could sit up, hold objects and start eating it got a lot more fun for both of us. She'll also be read to now and really pays attention.

Sounds like you're doing a good job so far just keep trying different things and see what she likes.

Making eye contact and talking to her, maybe singing a song, sharing a toy or a book, will be stimulation enough at the moment. Probably a few minutes play at a time will enough between feeds and naps.
This is a good article.

Thankyou ladies and MRSCAKES that article was helpful thankyou :) xx

Have fun .

Oh, and if you are chatting to her, you can leave gaps in the conversation for her to reply. Sounds a bit mad but babies quickly learn about taking turns in conversations - even if you aren't 100% sure what they are telling you all about with their babbling.

Agree with the others, you might only get a few minutes of alert time inbetween feeds and sleeps with a 6wo, but at about that age my DS started to stop and stare if I sung him incy wincy spider with the finger actions. He continued to love that song best of all until about 3 months old.

From about 6-8 weeks we also started play "Where's DS's nose?"...a game which basically consists of you asking "where's DS's nose? THERE's DS's nose! ...where's DS's tummy? THERE's Ds's tummy! "....etc etc with as many body parts as you can, with an expressive face and lots of smiles and kisses. Think this is what first got him smiling actually.

Enjoy!

The fun really starts when they're about 6mo and suddenly need entertaining for hours at a time! Enjoy these few weeks when you can sit in a cafe with them in a buggy and read a magazine!!

Go out to parks, cafes, pubs etc so they can socialise and watch and listen to people, do things you and your family enjoy and the baby will tag along, it's easy when they're little.

I wish I'd bought this book when DS was a baby rather than a toddler. Really practical advice on interacting with a baby/toddler/preschooler.

Also young babies like things which are black and white.

Thankyou for the advice and NAMEEQUALITY you have got me un trouble!! Ordered the book and lots of black and white things like books and a cot mobile. My partner just rolls his eyes but I just trying to do my best.

All of your advice has been really helpful thankyou very much :)

My advice would be to watch your baby carefully and repeat activities that she show an interest in.

This should include talking to her, exchanging smiles, etc but also show her things she turns her head towards or looks at for a longer time. Lie her under trees and windows and other scenes with movement and high contrast, give her sensory experiences like massage and tickles, put noisy toys near her hands and feet so she learns that her movements trigger the noises.

Make the activities really individual to her. The most important thing to focus on is whatever is interesting to her. Look really carefully for positive responses and build on them.