Crap mummy not sure what she shd be doing with 4.5 month old

[BettyFriedan]

Am increasingly feeling pathetic mummy about what I do with DD, compared to all the NCT lot who seem to know lots of rhymes and are endlessly stimulating their DCs. I am really feeling ignorant. Are there any good books or anything I can learn rhymes and good stimulating stuff from. Or any recommendations? I am stuck with wind the bobbin up and not much else.
also how much shd i be doing with her each day..?

Actually...I always felt a bit guilty that some days I wasn't this super woman signing with baby, pureeing organic food, making creative toys out of recyclable kitchen boxes, attending baby development classes and teaching her phonics...but turned out that because I chatted to her, took her round the house with me doing jobs, let her touch things and explore, talked at her in the supermarket, loved her lots and didn't take myself too seriously, I did a wonderful job and she is now a wonderfully clever, bright, happy and confident young lady!

great answer from zipper. I think that any interaction is stimulating for babies. If you do want some books the library should have some.

at zippers answer. thank you that has cheered me up. i do try to talk to her a lot but just worried it's not enough. and my brain has gone as cant remember nursery rhymes or anything.
the thought of creative toys out of boxes aargh! Am so not that kind of mother. but worried i should be.

You are not a crap mother - good heavens. I think zipper's answer is a great one - lots of ideas there. Quite often those super-mummies who look like they are doing amazing super-stimulating stuff with their children are going quite overboard and it can sometimes be a bit superficial. I would get a few books, including some with nursery rhymes as a refresher. Once she is a bit older you could go to a music class which I found very inspiring for song and action ideas. But generally I would just suggest talking to her loads and hugging and tickling her. Playing classical music is also fairly stimulating. Massage can be fun (although mine wasn't that keen on it). Reading books might seem pointless but it really isn't as your baby will just love the sound of your voice. I think mindless chatter to your baby is also a great way to pass the time - now we are going to the shops, what shall we have for dinner - broccoli or cauliflower? what lovely flowers - don't they look pretty etcetc?? Most of all just have fun and don't worry about what anyone else is doing.

i felt the same for a bit, bit like zipper, i took her everywhere and chatted to her, she is just fine and at 10mo getting into everything. someone on another thread gave v good advice (about doing crafts with your kids) that you shouldn't force stuff, just be yourself and your kids will enjoy it.

my little one loves the supermarket, going on the bus, looking at flowers in front gardens, playing with remote controls...everything is a game for a baby, they don't differentiate between 'fun' and 'work'

just do what you like and include her naturally, you will know if she's not happy.

(my NCT group were a bit like that too - baby massage, singing, swimming, rhymes etc from v early on - but they just enjoyed all that stuff)

We did wind the bobbin up and row row row your boat.

Tried baby signing but she learnt to talk early so there wasn't much point!

I 'made' some butternut squash once, dd was not impressed and I could never be arsed with the faffing around. Of course I'd bought the annabel karmel recipe book and whole kit first... ooops. I never bothered again.

Haven't taught her phonics or anything like that, TV taught her to count before I had any clue she was ready!

But I bathed her, let her play with her food, roll around the floor all day, tickled her, jiggled her around and took her shopping!

You are doing fine, don't worry.

There's not a massive amount you can do with them at your dd's age, compared to 2 or 3 years old. So don't sweat the baby yoga classes that you're missing!

At 4.5 months, she needs to be loved - you're doing that so you'll not be going far wrong!