What to do with newborn during awake time

[JKDcot]

Hi

FTM here so apologies for silly question. My boy is 2.5 weeks old and generally doing very well eating/sleeping. He’s started to be more awake and alert after a feed, maybe 20-40 mins before he falls sleep or needs a nappy change.
During this time he is awake and content. But what should I do to keep him stimulated or entertained? Is he ok just to lie on his playmat or in sleepyhead and just chill out? Should I be holding him and talking to him? He’s obviously too young to see anything or hold anything. Just feel bad leaving him awake just staring around

My husband thinks I’m mad and it’s great the baby can just relax and chill and I shouldn’t constantly be in his face.

Thanks

You should be holding him and talking, reading, singing. He needs that interaction with you.

Singing and of course talking but also agree that it's good for them to be awake and able to take in their surroundings peacefully. At that point even the light/shadows moving and the sounds are stimulating. Lots of skin to skin. I have to say my second child is a lot more chilled out and was as a baby too, I wonder whether that's because he did get more time on his own. I think it's ok to follow their lead. If he's peaceful when alert I'd think that was a fairly happy baby. I know you will already have heard this a trillion times but these few weeks you have now will be over in a blink, just be with him as he unfolds.

Hi op firstly congrats ! My son is nearly 5 weeks old now and I was wondering the same thing at the start what do I even do with him 😅 I sing to him get him to look in the mirror, dance around the kitchen , talk to him , blow big raspberries on his belly 😅 his dad reads books with him and gives him tummy time he was 3 weeks premature and gave us a half smile yesterday so we think all this interaction must be doing something ! I hope that helps following to see if anyone else has any more ideas

Congratulations! I liked taking my newborns to look at the light shine through the leaves in the garden. Really holding, chatting, singing, smiling are all lovely for a newborn. Don't worry too much. They don't get bored of love

Hold him, have a chat, read, sing, etc. There's also nothing wrong with some time peacefully looking at surroundings either, my toddler completely missed that memo at that age.

There are some good black and white, patterned, sensory books, that you can show him/read to him, too. Very good for their development.

Cuddle him and coo at him.

That is all he wants or needs at that age :)

Oh and let him sleep.

Both my dc were November babies, so there wasn't pressure to Get Out and Do Stuff. I spent much of the first couple of months ensconced in a 'nest' on the living floor, the two of us snuggling and chatting and having a little singsong and lots of naps. Sometimes I used to read my book quietly out loud (depending on the book of course - little ears) or even watch the news.
One of mine loved to watch the snooker with me, must have been all the coloured balls moving on the screen!

Hold him, have some skin to skin time if you can, chat, sing, whatever! I couldn't hold my DD as much as I wanted for about the first 8 weeks because I was attempting BF followed by feeding her with a cup and then I had to put her down to express. It made me very sad. Before you know it he'll be on the move and too busy for snuggles - make the most of it now!

When I was home we did lots of skin to skin, went for walks, had showers and baths together, sang sons, he was always in my arms pretty much. And we watched so much TV, all 20 something seasons of Law and Order SVU in under a month much. He still gets excited when he hears the theme tune at a year and a half.

Do all those things except at night when you be as boring as fuck so he gets used to sleeping!

Showing him books at 2.5 weeks old?

Can’t wait to see OP’s DH’s reaction to that one!

there are books with an activity per day. My kids have it and they do it with the baby. Skin to skin, soft music. touching different textures. having a walk and watch nature. cuddle and dance. Its low cosy and downtime, he will get moving pretty quickly, enjoy the calm before the storm. It's coming.

All I did was cuddle, sing and smell them! Love the newborn stage, it's my fav bit.

Just sitting there cuddling them, think I held them both for their naps as well for the first 6-8 weeks!

Mine were barely awake for months. Even now at 5 and 15 months they both love to sleep

Enjoy it.

Lots of cuddles and lots of talking. Just narrate everything you are doing.

My boy is 17 days old and loves to lay on his playmat. I lay beside him at times and talk to him, sing to him, show him the toys on the playmat etc. Also take him for walks. He also likes to watch baby sensory on youtube, he loves the rainbow cloud video. I also used to play circle of life to him in the womb so I put that on too

Thank you so much for all your suggestions!! Really appreciate it

At that age, mine mostly sat with me while I watched tv, watched me eating, returning emails or taking a poo. Sometimes we'd go on a walk.

Really I just mostly went about my day and they came around with me. Watching me tidying up the kitchen is probably just as interesting as jingling toys in front of them. Mostly, I just ate biscuits and watched tv though.

They love high contrast images at that age. My DS loved staring at the radiator (it looked like a black and white pattern) for ages, and we had a black and white book that propped up.

Both things are important :) You don't need to "entertain" them all the time, you'll go mad for no child free time and the baby will learn that they can't entertain themselves and become reliant on you for company/entertainment, which is not what you want! But it is also nice to talk to them, sing, tickle them, show them things etc.

Broadly, I think your husband is right. Don't be in her face all the time. Let her have some quiet chill out time to just observe things.

Talking, singing, we had some really good sensory toys, tummy time, we had a play mat with dangly toys that he loved, we lay next to him and play with him.

@JKDcot I did bugger all with mine and left him to it with a very active toddler baby has taken a back seat. Now he's 3.5 months he gets a mixture. Sometimes hell be happy on his play mat swiping for things and sometimes he sits in swing chair watching what we are doing. I b feed so feel like he gets quite a bit of interaction that way. But wi don't go overboard. He ends up having to go everywhere me and toddler are.

@mindutopia a woman after my own heart. 😂

DH used to do the Times crossword out loud with our DC.