What do you do with your baby during the day when he/she is awake

[adahc]

Here we go....What do you do with your baby (esp. 4 months old) when he/she is awake during the day. Do you constantly play with him/her? (how?)
Do you leave her/him in the cot? What do you do with your baby all day long?
In my opinion, I can only take her/him out for so long, play baby games as in shake the rattle etc for so long....I run out of things to do!
It could be because I'm not a natural born mother? As much as I love my baby and find it hard to stay clear from him, I find it boring...a little. It depressed me..
What do you do all day everyday?

 

[cwbmum]

Hi
I actually found it easier to go out with my first when he was very young - shopping and having playdates with other mums - this way the children can lie on the playmats with different noises and surroundings. My little one started crawling at 6 months so not long to go until you are busy chasing your little one around.
I know a lot of people don't agree with babies watching TV, over stimulation etc, but I put on the baby Einstein for 20 mins everyday for my little one, he is now almost 4 years old and he still only watches TV for up to 30 mins a day and sometimes non at all.
Just putting your little one in a chair whilst you are doing different things will keep him happy. I used to sit mine near the kitchen door and talk to him whilst I cooked. I also used to walk the dog a lot with him either in the pushchair or the baby bjorn.
I know you find it hard now but this time soon passes and they get a lot more interesting.
Do you know many other mums to have playdates with?
Hope this helps.

 

[bekyboo44]

I agree with cwbmum....when my little one was four months old I took him everywhere.

My son could sit by four months so we use to go to the park and sit and roll around on the grass, we went also to the beach (when not so hot). I use to take him out a lot with our dogs, as well as to the supermarket, shops etc.

At four months my son watched some dvds....but I kept it to less than 30 mins a day, a rule I still stick to now he is 18 mnths old. He use to spend a lot of time on his play mat/gym which he loved. And we began to introduce a greater variety of toys...soft books, rattles, balls etc.

My son went swimming for the first time at four months, and I agree it's as good a time as any to start or attend a baby group.

I think four months can be a tough age activitiy wise...because they are past the stage when it's all about feeding and eating, buy tey still aren't partic. mobile so activity wise you are limited. But believe me the time goes so fast and before you know it they will be walking etc. and the things you can do are endless!

 

[adahc]

You know although I said I can not wait for him to grow up a bit, I must say I do enjoy him being totally depend on me these days.

 

[cwbmum]

You know if you have another you realise that you don't get that special one to one time - with the second everything seems to happen so much quicker - I can't believe my little on is now 11 months old - the time has gone too fast. I used to spend so much time with my first, lie together on the sofa, with the second one if I do that the older one is jumping on us! It's all fun though.
Enjoy your time with your little one - they are only that little once.

 

[cwbmum]

PS thats a great photo by the way.

 

[adahc]

Thanks, that's one of our activities during the day...taking endless photos.

 

[cwbmum]

Yeah - you should see how many photos I have of my first, soooo many! I have tried to take many of my little girl too but no way can I match the amount!

 

[Konradsmom]

At the other end of the spectrum are working mothers ( like me) who doesn't have much time to spend with bub each day except for the hour before his bedtime ( and that is IF I hurry home after work). I try and make up for it on the weekends....but there are times when I wish I can stay home and play/be with him a bit more.

I try and read books with him , tho most of the time if he is happy to play by himself I let him be. Finally succumb to TV as well, altho I try and be selective about what I show him. H's only 8 mnths and probably doesn't understand TV yet, but I make sure that he only watches educational stuff, like little einstein.

 

[barbwong_130]

I had a much more relaxed attitude to what to do with my babies. I didn?t worry so much about what they wanted to do but rather what I wanted to do. My theory was that so long as they were with me they?d be happy and generally this worked out. So I?d go out and meet my husband for lunch, visit friends, shopping or whatever. I didn?t worry if the baby needed a nap or not ? as the baby could sleep in the sling if he was tired.

I recommend that you think a little more of your enjoyment and then just take baby with you to whatever it is that is entertaining you. If you are having fun and enjoying yourself it will rub off on the baby and he will have fun too ? you don?t need to do anything special.