Stuck in the house with baby - going crazy!

[Blacksheeproaming]

I have an 8 month old baby and due to the snow we have been stuck inside since Sunday. I can’t move my car off the drive. Not forecast to get above freezing until Saturday or Sunday at least.

What can we do/what can I do to entertain her? She’s very mobile (crawling and standing) and I’m going a bit insane.

Go out and play in the snow? We enjoyed that!

Snowsuit on and go have fun. Go for a walk, let her play in the snow.

At home, let her crawl about after you while you get on with things. At the cruising stage I'd do laundry and give my son a laundry basket of things and he'd spend ages drawing everything out of it and rolling about in the laundry. Extra baths are a great way to pass the time. Kids just love a splash about. Put some interesting jugs and spoons etc in the bath to investigate.

Invite a friend with baby/toddler round. One kid is hard, multiple kids are surprisingly easier, and you can have some adult conversation.

She can’t walk so I’m not sure what I would do if we were playing in the snow? It’s deep I think she would disappear! The pavements are pretty much unusable so I’m worried about going out at all.

Ive been getting on with house jobs so I guess I’ll continue with this for a bit.

Funnily enough, I was telling teen DD how miserable I had been in the January/February after she had been born when there was lots of snow & ice and things kept being cancelled and it was really difficult to go out and do anything as pushing the pram was a nightmare and I was really nervous about having her in the sling. It was really tough. She was only a few weeks old so at least napped a lot but was up several times a night so I had relied on doing things during the day to keep me sane.
Do you have any neighbours with young children? They will be going equally stir crazy. Perhaps message them and suggest they come over or you go to their house? Actually, it doesn't have to be a neighbour with young children - elderly neighbours might be equally stuck and others might be having things cancelled.
The other thing I'd say is remember that baths can be a daytime activity. Perhaps even get in the bath with your baby and lots of bubbles and have an "active" bathtime rather than a calm one as part of a bedtime routine

Survive that's what you do 😂

Another idea is to take all of the cushions (not just decorative ones but the seat and back ones) off the sofa and make a mini soft play for her to climb and explore.

Iq had a baby in covid times so feel.your pain. Thiugh at least then we could go out for a walk.

If you look on youtube there are quite a few recorded baby classes still from covid days. Moo music definitely had some and hartbeeps may do too. Used to entertain us for 30 minutes and something different to do.

Agree with this, we usually do lots of classes and meet ups with friends but they’ve all been cancelled and friends are equally stuck! I live rurally so don’t have many neighbours but I’ve messaged the ones I do have. DH has a 4x4 so hoping he might lend it to me on Friday so I can get out for one day (he takes it to work).

I wondered how long it would take someone to say pop a snowsuit on and go and have fun in the snow….

with a crawling baby that’s really not something that is going to be easy to do 🤣

OP to save your sanity, you’d do well to pretend it was still covid times. Write a schedule for the day.

breakfast

Musical/sensory class on YouTube or the baby club on CBeebies.

can you then pop her in a sling and at least just walk outside? Or be in the garden? Point out the sky/snow/let her feel bits of branch etc

snack

(if she’s on 2 naps insert naps accordingly!)

lunch. Get someone to call round if poss or get to a neighbour/friend’s

do the ‘soft play’ activity upthread, or make a big song and dance about a bubbly bath with plenty of toys.

Rhyme time, or 15 min or so of dancing fruit or whatever while you get on with something or have a mental break

dinner, stair practice (that can really help to wear them out, crawling upstairs then starting again)

Give her a little bag filled with safe things to take out and meddle with. My son loved that. little bottles of body lotion with a secure lid tight on, an apple, a packet of tissues- just random stuff.

Put a sheet over the table and play hiding.

Hope something helps. But stick to some kind of structure to prevent madness. And once she’s in bed pour a nice glass of wine.

@FanofLeaves

I suggested it along with other indoor things to do because the OP said her baby is very mobile. Mine was the same at that age and we were out and about constantly because he never stopped bloody moving. No need to scoff. I would absolutely put a snowsuit on him and get him out in that snow for even half an hour. Nothing wrong with a well wrapped up baby crawling or cruising in a bit of snow for a while. It's a ready-made sensory play.

Better than staying indoors the entire day.

OP I also recommend Yak Trax. Put them on over your boots, baby in a sling, and get out of the house to save your sanity. That's what I did, and took a flask of tea or hot chocolate with me.

I apologise, it really wasn’t meant as a scoff. I just thought it was one of those ‘all you need is a puddle suit and wellies and you can entertain your small child through three weeks of rain’ type things. I see it wasn’t, so I’m sorry. You’re absolutely right that snow is great for sensory. But I would worry about tiny hands in snow- they’ll get unbearably cold very fast and most babies won’t have any truck with keeping mittens on whilst trying to crawl.

Oh no! That is tough!
I'm quite a homebody but when my kids were babies I couldn't stay home all day. I had to get out and about. I live in London so didn't have the same issue of actually not being able to get out though! The odd rainy day indoors was fine. I really don't have any tips - I'm sure you've done all the obvious ones. So just know I feel your frustration!