When do things get interesting?

[mum2b56]

I have a 2 week old baby ftm and I underestimated just how much they sleep and how bored I would be. At what age do things start getting interesting? When can I expect some interaction back?

6weeks ish for smiles, 6months before you see some good personality starting. But the smiles and then giggles keep you going!

Mine is nearly 3 and I’m still waiting.

@bluspider you're all about the supportive comments arent you?!

OP I think my baby smiled at maybe 6 or 7 weeks, then after that it just got better and better. I think it got loads better at maybe 5 months though, my DS just seemed way more interactive.

Count yourself lucky your baby sleeps and you actually have the opportunity to be "bored"! Make the most of it and relax and watch Netflix or read !

My baby smiled 5/6 weeks.. it gets better after that, espscially if you have a happy baby who isn't high needs !

Depends what you like! Mine hit three and became great fun but I think they steadily get better everyday.
The first 6 weeks were the hardest, then around 4 months it was better again and just continued to get better.

DS was a quiet, easy baby too. I was bored stupid on maternity leave, until he learned to walk at 7 months. I used to put him in a sling and go hiking. Then he turned into a climber and escape artist, so four months of chasing after him and bringing him back.

Catch up on your sleep, redecorating, reading etc. The peace & quiet won't last.

Catch up on your sleep

😂😂😂😂 with a newborn?!

We had smiles at 3 weeks, more interaction from baby around 6 weeks! Shes 4 months now and I cant leave her on the floor for more than 5 minutes as shes across the room banging on the skirting boards or TV unit 😂😂

I mean this nicely but while baby is sleeping you can do whatever you want, no need to be bored. Watch TV, sleep, read books, projects around house, gardening, internet/phone, video games, podcasts, painting. Put them in a pram/sling and they can sleep while you walk, hike, shop, lockdown/covid permitting - art gallery, museum, cafe. Anything you want really.

@BluSpider

Mine is nearly 3 and I’m still waiting.

I do hope you haven't had any more, how incredibly sad for your child. Hopefully their other parent is more engaged.

I used to just stare and wonder at my dd at that age. Counting her perfect little eyelashes in a bubble of love I’ve never been bored! Whenever my dd was asleep I had me time.

🤣 good god woman don't wish the sleeping baby awake!
My second was a sleeping angel for 5 weeks, then I think he became possessed and screamed at me for the next 10 months. I wasn't allowed to leave his side.
Enjoy it while it lasts. Sleep while she sleeps, watch TV, do little bits around the house.

I really started to enjoy my son when he was about 2 or 3 years old, baby weren't for me. So much more interesting when they can interact and walk.

We’re you expecting the baby to entertain you?. You still need to entertain yourself (and wash feed yourself etc) and do that for the baby too.

That said I remember asking my Mum how long babies wore nappies for (no experience of babies myself) and being slightly flabbergasted when she said “I don’t know a couple of years or so.”

Newborns do interact! It's just not as obvious at this age.

They tend to only have short periods of being awake and alert and not feeding, but DH and I used to get so excited to catch those moments :o try doing different things to see how he reacts, make faces at him, play him music or sing to him, stroke or tickle different body parts, show him lights or high contrast images.

That and the sleep times are helpful for things like eating, showering, sleeping which you don't tend to get much opportunity to do in the newborn period.

I found having a baby incredibly boring, but it got loads more interesting at about six months, and since he turned about one I've found it so much fun. He's 2.5 now and I think he's the most fascinating little person in the world! Meanwhile, lots of the women I knew who loved the little baby stage are hating the toddler years - I beat myself up a lot about not liking the newborn stage but my time came and so will yours, OP!

* 😂😂😂😂 with a newborn?!*

Well given that the OP said she was bored because the baby sleeps all the time, yes.

Two different questions, OP. They start interacting a bit at quite early on. When they start being interesting depends on your interrsts. It can be pretty boring tbh, even when they do start to react. Peek-a-boo is adorable the first fifty times or so, but the interest wanes rapidly after that (for me as an adult anyway, the baby continued to find it hilarious for many months). I see what PP means about three year olds not being interesting- it's not to say you don't love them or even that you don't interact with them, just that you don't find toddler activities fun. There's nothing wrong with that. Some people don't actually find kids interesting until they're teenagers.

First 6-8 weeks I found incredibly hard, relentless and repetitive. Now at 6 months it’s MUCH better, and has been since about 4.5 months - more predictability in terms of sleep which suits my personality better and I’m a better parent for it. It goes so quickly you really will be there before you know it.

Whether or not sleep means lots of time to do nice things for yourself depends on whether they'll sleep for long periods in a cot/Moses basket, surely? At two weeks DS slept loads but during the day would only sleep on a person, so the sleep was a major contributor to my boredom - there's only so much you can do trapped under a baby! The sling helped (though he wanted constant motion) but for me that was a major reason it all got better at six months - that that's when he would nap in his cot and for long stretches rather than 20 minutes at a time. Until then nap time felt totally wasted to me because all I could do is sit on the sofa in an uncomfortable position (and I was so sick of spending the day on the sofa - I've never been that sort of person) or go for a walk, and the novelty of that had massively worn off!

I'd enjoy the peace and quiet if I were you - I look back on the early sleepy newborn days and wish I'd made the most of it! But yes, when they start smiling (6 weeks onwards) and laughing (can't remember - 4 months?) it starts feeling a bit less one-sided. I started really enjoying my daughter's company when she was about 8 or 9 months old. She's almost two now and my absolute favourite person to hang out with, she's adorable and silly.

One thing I was told in those early, seemingly thankless first weeks is to remember that it all comes back around. The love and patience you pour into your newborn will come back to you, you just have to be patient. Settle in with Netflix for now, these days don't last very long!

I think from 6 months when she could sit up on her own and then when she could walk (14 months). Like others have said, I really didn't enjoy the baby stage but really do enjoy having a toddler with a proper little personality.

Things were never 'boring' though, because I had a very unsettled newborn - it was just incredibly hard and draining. Basically, for me it just improves with time and at the moment I don't miss anything about the stages that have passed. I try to enjoy the moment, but that was very hard in the early months and I have no regrets about wishing it away.