Tell me how you entertain you baby....

[beckieperk]

My ds 2 is 6 weeks old and i am very lucky as generally he sleeps relatively well. He feeds every 2 to 4 hours in the daytime, longer at night usually. He generally has 2 long ish naps a day and rarely stays awake much longer than 1-1.5 hours in the day....during these awake times though he sometimes gets restless, grunty, wriggly and often cries. This may well be normal, however I'm just wondering what to do with him when awake. We sing, do tummy time and walk around looking at lights/mirrors. Is there anything else anyone can recommend? Looking for ideas/inspiration. They dont really do much at this age and my funny(?!) faces only entertain him for so long.
TIA.

*your baby

I used to show DC his black and white book he got from the health visitor and sometimes get more of them out of the library for him.

At 6weeks, that's pretty much all the entertainment they need 😊 At that age, mine enjoyed coffee shops, museums with my lengthy explainations of exhibits, several films at the cinema (ears covered at swear words), shopping trips, the supermarket...I remember having lengthy conversations about what we'd have for dinner etc.

Thanks Gummy - i forgot about that book. You took/take you LO to the cinema Scot?? I have never considered doing that! Might give it a try.

A photo - you'll find one that hits the mark. My dd starred at a school photo of her cousin that she rarely met.
Stories - make stuff up.
Read books with her reading out in an animated voice
Sing - whatever you like.
Baby will love to hear your voice.

Have you tried playing music and singing along?

Looking out of big windows also seems facoured - something about the light and expanse seems to calm them.

beckieperk Yes! Cinema was great. I lived overseas at the time, and there was a Mums & Baby film every week - not so loud, not so dark, lots of mums feeding and rocking babies. Don't know if it's a thing in the UK, but it was great!

I have a 4 week old and he loves looking at the mirrors and he also loves a car ride! I sing to him (when we are alone!) which he seems to like

I remember killing myself trying to entertain DS at that age. It was exhausting and he just used to wriggle/grunt/cry as I think I probably overstimulated him. DD was born just under 2 years later and was either in the sling awake or asleep or on the boob for pretty much 6 months. She just got lugged about wherever the 2yr old was going and she was honestly the easiest, most settled baby ever.

If I had my time again I would get myself a good sling, pop newborn DS in it and do loads of stuff I liked doing. Walks, shopping, meeting friends, reading. All with just a sling, some boobs and a couple of nappies!

Get a stretchy wrap and go and do normal things - he'll be entertained by that.

Go to baby groups - it's a great age to start and entertains you.

One of those floor mats with dangle toys or a bouncy chair might be nice too.

I pretty much did what you’ve said as well as read to her and I used to dance to my taste in music with her. I also just spoke to her a lot. It’s a tricky age as they don’t really play but it passes quickly then they’re into everything.

DC was pretty much just carted about in a sling while I wondered around the shops in a daze for the first few months whenever I wasn't feeding him, it almost always seemed to exhaust him.

I would lie my kids on the gym mat and let them listen to Mozart/Classic FM. There's seriously something about kids and Mozart, no lie. Sometimes it's very healthy to not stimulate, not entertain, and just let them look at 'the shadows on the walls' sort of thing. But then, we're all musicians, so I don't want to push my agenda too hard. But a bit of not talking and not actively stimulating is a beautiful thing.

Do you have a garden where your little one can hear the birds or local dogs barking, the sounds of nature (we live underneath the Heathrow flight path which always sort of ruined the moment )?

Yes we have a garden, maybe I'll try outside in the pram or with me....thanks. However, if the little rat like dog at the end of our garden yaps continuously (as it often does) then he may get a tick!!
Will try mozart too....
Sometimes he does just lie and look around quite content but these times are few and far between, i love it when it happens though. He looks so happy/mesmerized by goodness knows what?
Thanks all.

Have a baby dance party - always fun. Baby in arms at this age, in a few months they will love it if you dance them 'standing' up on your lap/the sofa/cot.

My DD likes Motown and 90s R&B. It's a good laugh for me and DH as well

do tummy time

Didn’t think that was recommended any more

The cinema thing does happen in the U.K., I take DS every week and love it. Look up cinebabies or Newbies. He also loves mirrors, music and twinkly lights. His favourite game is sticking his tongue out and having you stick yours out back at him. Hours of fun we do a class but he sleeps right through it every week!

Oh, I also have a book that a friend gave me that has 'baby gym' ideas - basically rhymes with simple actions like tickling feet or stroking arms. And baths. We love baths.

When my 6MO was tiny, he'd be so entertained just going for a walk and staring at the world. He loved a good supermarket. Still does!

Let them lie on a towel with their nappy off while you sit and watch with a cuppa

I used to go for lots of bus trips/walks into town with the pram then buy myself something nice in the supermarket and eat it when I got home.

He used to like sitting in the bouncy chair while I watched the food network, now as a toddler he loves to 'cook'

Just do exactly what you want to do! You have many many months and years ahead playing endless roleplay games/baking fairy cakes/chucking balls around a soft play. At that age I sat in cafes and read, went to exhibitions, watched sex and the city, went to Oxford Circus topshop, and wandered round the city with dd in sling and a takeaway coffee. Soooo nice!

Tummy time is still recommended (so important now babies sleep on their backs) but the nhs guidance says from three months
www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/keeping-kids-active/

Odeon do the baby cinema which I really enjoyed. We also did a baby massage class and swimming lessons (I know you can just go but at that age they need a slightly hotter pool and the lessons are often in hydrotherapy pools or similar).

We also took a lot of walks in the pram and I watched numerous box sets when I could. Because there will come a time when you can't. It sounds like you're doing fine!

I used to lay my DD on a towel on my bed, and waft fabric over her! Hear me out, I know it sounds weird but she loved it! I had some brightly coloured sari fabric, very light and floaty. I would lift it up in the air and float it down on top of her then glide it over her and start again. She used to gasp when it went up in the air and loved the feeling of it over her skin (she would be in nappy only or nude). Very odd I know, seems insane when I look back now and think I did this for hours!! She had a great time and my upper arms got a good workout!

NHS guidance is notoriously out of date and often questionable.

www.janetlansbury.com/2011/08/the-case-against-tummy-time-guest-post-by-irene-gutteridge/