4 month old baby - Ideas please!

[pinkdollyworld]

So I’m becoming pretty predictable & finding doing the same things with my daughter each day! She has a play mat, lots of sensory toys, high chair, tummy time play stuff. I sing, dance, read to her. We go out every day, sometimes just for 30 minutes to get some fresh air. Any ideas what else I can do? I know I don’t have to fill every hour but I’d just like some new ideas

I had a different class or baby group every day Mon - Friday morning. Breastfeeding support group Monday morning, mum coffee group Tuesday, baby sensory Wednesday, mum & baby pilates on Thursday, i think it was a music class on Fridays. Sounds mad but I loved it! Made so many friends as a lot of us went to some of the same groups so I invariably saw the same people at least twice a week.

I was back home by 11.30 for a good nap and Netflix and was happy at home for the rest of the day.

Note however we didn't live in a very interesting place, and it was in a particularly hot country, so it didn't lend itself to going for walks or cafes or museums etc.

I went to 3 baby classes a week but this was mainly for opportunities for me to be sociable!
I wish I had gone out and done more for myself at this age... gone shopping, gone up to London to museums etc. You sound like you are doing brilliantly with lots for your baby to be experiencing every day!

Go do stuff you enjoy. Go to a museum. Go walk around shops. Put her in the sling and walk on the beach. Run errands, post office, food shopping, get petrol. I also used to read mine novels I wanted to read. Like we read a lot of Victorian novels because they were books I wanted to re-read so I’d hold them and read them Thomas Hardy or whatever. 😂 Honestly, they are super easy at this age, so go do all the stuff you want to do that will be impossible in a year.

I did quite a lot of the following, but with the benefit of hindsight wish I’d done more, and granted it might have been because I had a very easy baby…anyway, just get on with your life doing whatever you would do without a baby, but with a baby strapped to you. Once you have two children, you will very quickly realise babies are easy. So, go to the beach, travel, go for long walks, go swimming (I pushed dd along with me just kicking for example), visit museums, go out for dinner/lunch with friends. My point is that babies don’t really need to do anything, so they’re not missing out at all if you just get on with your life as if you’re on holiday.

I didn’t read the messages before mine before I posted so I’m happy to see were saying the same thing!

Baby groups, free stay and plays to Socialise. Go for a coffee in your local town. Libraries often have a rhyme time session for free that lasts about 30 mins.
I did many activities and groups with my first but hardly anything with my second 🙈

My baby is 8 months old now but by the time she was 4 months I needed out the house for at least a few hours a day to be honest, to keep both of us sane! Like previous posters we have a different baby class every day. At first I was only going to classes aimed at baby but recently I started mum & baby fitness classes, and also did a pottery class for a few weeks aimed at new mums where babies were welcome too. Not sure where you live but I found so much on in the local area once I started looking and talking to other mums. We have a free book/song session at the local library each week but we also venture further afield to other libraries if the times fit in well. Through some of the classes I’ve made groups of mum friends which is great. We have WhatsApp groups and a couple of times a week people will suggest meeting for a walk or a coffee.

Apart from classes, over winter I’ve found trips to the local shopping centre a good way to spend time. The baby changing facilities are fantastic and a browse in a couple of shops and a coffee is lovely. We also have a great museum nearby which is free and really spacious and has a cafe, so perfect for strolling around for an hour or two with the pram. We also go to the library even outside of the baby class, as there is a lovely big space in the children’s area I can sit in and look at books with baby. Baby just loves looking at things and people no matter where we go!

Once your baby reaches 6 months and you start introducing solids your days will become a lot more busy too. That’s a lot of fun!

I think four months is such a lovely age to do all the stuff you want to do, before you have to factor in logging around food or making sure there is a safe place for them to scamper around. I’ve got three under five and some of my favourite mat leave activities have been days out to exhibitions, or just trips to coffee shops when the weather is nice. Loads of walks. Baby cinema if you have one nearby. Make plans to see friends and family and go on adventures by train - I always love catching up with old friends when I have more time during maternity leave.

My 3 at 4mo were all generally happier out as much as possible, things like:

• Parks
• Running errands in the pram/walk/ school runs for the youngest
• Visiting friends/relatives for short periods of time
• Baby cinema, my absolute highlight of all 3 mat leaves!
• Church playgroups
• Children's Centre groups e.g. baby group, stay and play, breastfeeding support
• Libraries
• Museums and art galleries
• Swimming, Water Babies was good but ££££
• Messy play
• Baby/toddler music groups

A lot depends on what's local to you obviously though. I'm lucky that there's always been a lot nearby to me.

Baby massage class and buggy fit or mum and baby yoga