How do you entertain your awake baby?

[Amanda_Reyasmom]

Lila's 5wks old tomorrow, She's over the bouncy seat. The swing will keep her occupied for short periods of time, but generally it just puts her to sleep. I hold her a lot, and sing, but I feel like her quality of life will go up when she's grabbing things and sitting up. I feel like she's bored.

[RedOakMomma]

I'm glad you posted this! Dd will be 6 weeks on Thursday, and I feel the same way. This is such a strange time to fill up, before they can reach and grab stuff.

I've noticed that this week dd likes being on her back on a blanket, with us looking over her and making faces. She loves the eye contact and expressions, and will often make funny faces back at us (or alarmed faces, when we do something goofy).

I've been meaning to try to find a soft ring for her to play with and grab...she's able to swipe at things and grab things, but not in a coordinated way that would make toy bars fun. I think small objects, like rings, might be fun for her--a challenge to get into her mouth, basically, and help with coordination.

She also loves to be held or sit in her seat and stare out of picture windows. At first I thought she was still just looking at contrast, but now I think she's looking around at trees and the sky.

So yeah...faces, toy ring, trees...pretty limited.

[bri276]

ugh this child is not a happy camper when she's awake- all she wants to do is nurse, but even that doesn't keep her 100% happy. I try everything and anything. I noticed that while in the vibrating bouncy seat (which does little to amuse her on its own) she seemed to like watching the fish tank, so I'm going to try that again. She also likes her face tickled with hair, and tries to eat it

[etsdtm99]

the sky, leaves/trees, bright lights. faces .. that seems to be it as far as things DD2 will look at (6 wks friday) she is entertained for incredibly short periods of time .. when DD1 was this age she looooveed our ceiling fan.. (dark wood on white ceiling..in this hosue we only have white fans ) .. what confuses me is how little DD2 is awake.. but i'm not going to question it too much because if she was awake more what would she do? she may as well sleep through this phase..

[Kelly1101]

Ozzy likes to change position a lot. Laying down, propped up sitting, "standing" so he can bear weight on his legs, back to sitting, tummy time, laying down on back agan, etc. I hold a lot of stuff up for him to look at, practice tracking with his eyes/head from left to right. We sing and talk about stuff. Emma makes all of her stuffed animals kiss him (putting them against his mouth and making the kiss sound, rotfl). I put him in the sling and just go about life with Em and he's just along for the ride a lot of the time, hahaha...

[Lit Chick]

My kid is so bored too! And I am wiped out. He likes changes of scene. He loves short car trips - he will usually be bright eyed and awake, checking things out, and loves a quick trip to the store. So many things to look at! Walks outside are great too.

[happyblessedmama]

Aidan is my 6th baby so I may be a bit more laid back about this.

He goes *everywhere* with me. Folding laundry? He gets a blanket laid out and laid next to me. His older sister and brother who are home w/me during the day are right there in his face. I'm usually reading a book to kiddo #4 (the 3 year old) so he gets read to.

They like to "show him" toys. I got out the toy-hanging-down gym (forget what they're called) yesterday but he didn't seem interested in it much. Got a google eyed look for about 30 seconds and then he was turning to stare at the wall

I give him varied positions, varied locations and he gets lots of people time... other than that, sometimes I just grab him, sit him on my lap and play with him! I will stretch his arms and legs out, move them around, talk to him...

[Baby~Braatens~Mama]

Oh, OP! I bet your baby is happy! You are spending time with her and communicating, that's almost enough to make any baby content, I think!

~Our LO is 6 weeks old. We talk and sing to him, make funny faces and weird noises. He loves sitting in our laps or in the corner of the couch. When he is sick of being held we set him in his baby gym and watch him push around the toys that hang, while we talk to him, kiss him up and try to talk him into longer tummy times. He dislikes his tummy time sooo much that he learned how to kick a roll onto his back when he was just 3.5 weeks old! Now, we place him on his belly and presto rollo he is back on his back. So we set him back on his belly...
If he gets bored with mommy, daddy, dog, gym AND swing (all sitting/reclining)... There's always dancing. And he is already a fan of the peter pan, he will stretch his neck out, turn his head up and push his feet out straight as we "fly" down the hall or around the table. He also likes being held in an upright position as he bounces up and down using his legs.
His alert times vary daily, and sometimes he is awake almost ALL day and then is impossible to put to sleep at night so we have added periods of "forced cuddling" while rocking in the recliner or glider until he is sleeping. Even a short light nap helps with the "night time colic".
As happyblessedmama said, he usually goes everywhere with at least one of us. Folding laundry? He is laying on the bed where I toss the clean clothes to be folded. Doing the dishes? He is in his swing in the kitchen watching as I put the items in their places and tell him what they are and what they do or he is hanging out with his father. Taking a shower? Well, the bassinet fits in the bathroom and my LO LOVES the sound of running water. While I am working on my schoolwork he is usually laying on the couch beside me (I do my work on the coffeetable) either watching me type or taking a snooze.

[Kelly1101]

nak

bbm-- i love your sig line

laundry-- i used to put away laundry to amuse emma when she was around this age. i'd lay her on the bed, and with each item i took out of the basket, i would sing a song about it, then brush her cheek with the fabric. she LOVED it. although it takes a long time to put away laundry like that, rotfl

[gradstudentmommy]

I'm so happy to see this thread!

My little guy will hang out in the swing for a few minutes, the bouncy seat for a few minutes, the activity mat (both back and tummy) looking in the mirror at himself, brief car rides looking out the window...He also likes being lifted up and down like an elevator and jiggled/bounced on my leg while I sing the Lone Ranger theme song. But that really tires my arms. He likes watching me in the bathroom. I keep thinking he's bored.

His sister entertains him by showing him toys and shaking rattles at him. He hears stories when I read to her.

But honestly, a lot of the time when he's awake he's either eating, being burped or crying! He'll be 6 weeks tomorrow.

[jenifera2]

Caitlin is 8 weeks tomorrow and loves to be talked with and played with either lying on her changing pad or in her bouncy seat. She discovered the ceiling fan today, but most of the time when she's alert she wants to interact with us.

[WithoutWax]

This is my second- so I find I'm more relaxed about wondering what to do.
She is 4 weeks now, and keeping her occupied is all about variety, and depends what I am doing- I have a baby gym for when I need my hands free for doing dishes, minor chores ect... so I put her in there which often attracts my 3/yo to come play with her, other times I put her in her bouncer facing me in whatever I'm doing or lay her on the bed if I fold laundry ect.. and my 3/yo sings to her, shakes rattles in her face or makes up wierd little games. So she does half the work! Nice!
Other times when it's mummy time, it is also tummy time- I roll her on her tummy and talk to her or make sounds at her and she will look for me and enjoy it for about 5 minutes, then its back to being on her back or side and I play with her hands and feet, and stimulate her in any way I can until she starts to look cranky and is over it and ready for another feed or cry until patted and rocked to sleep. But she really does'nt cry much and likes a lot of visual stimulation and plenty of touch. Sometimes a bath can be for fun too.