Entertaining a 10 month old

[babyyorkie]

How much active playing do you do with your LO? I try to spend as much of the day as possible playing with my DS, talking to him and reading to him. There are parts of the day where I sit him on his play mat and surround him with toys to entertain himself for a bit, and then I start to feel guilty. There's also some YouTube nursery rhyme videos that he really enjoys and I'll stick those on once or twice a day for him and sing along with him or pop him in his bouncer.
I find it's so exhausting to be constantly entertaining. He has two naps a day, but they're only short and usually on me. It's tiring being a mummy, isn't it?

It's really good for their development to have time entertaining themselves I believe. You don't want a 5 year old that can't amuse themselves. I let my now 16month old play alone ie I sit in the same room but surround with toys and she brings stuff to me to play with etc but she's amusing herself. You'll never get a minute alone if you don't do it. I do sit and play with her at times but it's not constant. It gets boring!

It is good for them to have some time looking at things or handling things at this age but I’m not sure how much they play, and you still have to keep an eye on them so not much of a “downtime” really.

If naps are a problem, have you tried the No Cry Nap Solution? That might give you a bit of time away from baby.

Does he crawl? If so, you could set up a little obstacle course with cushions and tunnels made of things like chairs and blankets. If he’s not crawling, try making tummy time a bit more interesting with maybe a mirror.

There’s a couple of activity ideas here and sone of them don’t take much effort to set up and you might get enough time to make a ] —but not necessarily drink it—

My DD is nearly 10 months. I also have a toddler though so I think that does change things a lot. I feel like I hardly ever play with the baby as I just set her down and she crawls around, usually finding the most dangerous thing to do. She is obsessed with her big brother though and follows him around everywhere and just wants to be right in the middle of everything so I guess that counts as playing too.

I wouldn’t drive yourself crazy. If he’s safe and happy to explore by himself then grab a cuppa and leave him to it. I think it’s easier when they can move themselves though as they are less frustrated. I often sit the baby in her highchair with snacks and some toys while I clean the kitchen.

Sounds like you are doing plenty! My DS is 10mo and he is happier being left to his own devices to crawl about and cruise round the furniture (obviously supervised). I have toys out everywhere that we play with and read but he’s quite happy to just explore. I put him in his high chair with snacks or toys and take him around the flat with me if I need to do anything which he also quite enjoys