[newbymom05]

Experienced mamas, I need help! I'm a sahm who is often w/out a car but always w/ my velcro baby,

Here's what we may do on any given at-home day:
*go for a walk in the stroller--usually a morning and an afternoon. We live in the suburbs w/ no nearby parks and no shops to browse in.

:
*investigate yard w/ him in sling
*jumparoo
*swing
*dance to music
*torment the dog/cats
*bath
*play w/ toys/-bar/blocks on floor mat
*knock papers off desk and counters (do you see why I need ideas???)

If he were a little older--heck, if he could sit up!--I could think of ways to entertain him but I feel like when we're stuck at home he gets bored and frustrated and then it's fuss city.

ANy advice would be great

 

[jerawo]

You are doing great! Other things I do are:

*clean/vacuum/unload dishwasher, etc while DS is in mei tei
*baby yoga, especially with feet and legs
*read books
*pretend to "eat" DS, especially feet and face
*dangle blanket in front of him while he lies on the floor (he loves this)
*play with his mobile

 

[newbymom05]

Ooh, I like the baby yoga idea! Do you have a book or video recommendation? I have a Gurmukh (sp?) mom/baby video but have yet to get to the baby part. (How does she get all those babies to lie quietly on the floor???)

Also, how do you wear your dc in the mei tai? I have yet to figure that out. Today we tried a back carry but it didn't seem stable enough. I'm thinking of buying a $$ Ergo just because I could put it on while alone.

 

[jerawo]

I have gone to a Mommy and Me yoga class a few times, so I just do what I learned in class. I'm sure there are books/videos/webpages out there. Doing a google search will probably bring up resources as well.

I usually wear DS in the mei tei on the front. Getting him on my back by myself is too hard and he pulls my hair. If you need instructions with pictures, I would try google since I don't know of any off hand.

I also want an ergo. Luckily my birthday is in a couple of weeks, and I made DH bookmark the webpage

 

[carla72]

we did baby massage. the library has books. dd loved it !
How about some cool whip finger painting. That way if puts in his mouth it won't be the end of the world. We used to do this with the kids in the day care I worked at. we also used pudding...sitting in highchair of course.

 

[joy11]

my 4 mo old LOVES mommy and baby yoga! I got a book--haven't gone to a class, but I'm a yoga teacher.

I just lay him on the ground and do things where I'm looking him in the face and he thinks it's the greatest!

I hear you about running out of entertainment. If I didn't have a car, these days I think I'd go batty. I got some washable crayons and got him started drawing already a month ago.

mirrors are always good, and playmat...reading stories of course

 

[Nora'sMama]

My DD is almost 6 months. Our days are similar to yours! Every time she gets fussy and nursing/dancing/playing with toys doesn't help, we go out. Sometimes in the sling, sometimes in the stroller. It doesn't matter where - we just go out. It's the best cure for the fussies I know. Often we just walk around Sav-On or something, maybe try out the toys in the kids aisle

. Usually she's ready for a nap by the time we get home.

Sometimes we "go out" several times a day! Lately she really likes the bakery.

 

[Nora'sMama]

Oh whoops, I just realized you have no parks or shops to go to. Are there other houses around? Maybe just walk by the houses, looking at flowers. This is also a big one for us. We used to do the "neighborhood flower tour" every day. Pointing out every single flower we see takes up time and is so much fun! I let her feel the petals of the ones that don't have thorns or anything. Once we found this amazing bush that had a ladybug AND a praying mantis on it!

 

[newbymom05]

Thanks, ladies, for the excellent suggestions!

I'm definitely going to try those ideas.

 

[ctdoula]

Do you do the quilt on the floor w/toys? Both of mine have always enjoyed hanging out on the floor w/some toys to look at/manipulate.

 

[dynamohumm6]

One of our favorite past-times is to stand at the window (we live on the second floor) and watch cars go by

Going outside or on the porch to see them doesn't have the same effect, I think it's the height. He loves it, and we can do this for 15-20 minutes at a time.

 

[slightly crunchy]

Do you live near any elderly people who are at home during the day or SAHM neighbors?

When my oldest was a baby we had older ladies living on either side of us and they loved to have us drop by for a few minutes here and there. Now my second is 5 months old and most of what we do involves his older brother, but here a few more ideas...

My house was very clean back then because I did vacuuming, mopping, dishes, dusting, windows with him in the sling or other carriers. I know some people clean when the baby naps, but for me baby's nap time was MY nap time, or ME time to read or whatever. My baby seemed to love the cleaning...as long as I was moving and doing something, he was happy. I did a lot of cooking, tried out lots of new recipes, learned to bake bread...

How about reading to him? We had a lot of those board books...or I would read my book out loud to him while he played with a board book.

sitting outside on a big blanket and blowing bubbles or rolling a ball around.

Playing not only with toys, but safe things from around the house that he could explore...telephone (unplugged), measuring cups and spoons, boxes, etc. Rythm instruments, playsilks, handrhymes...

Rolling him back and forth and bouncing on one of those exercise balls, spinning around in the swivel chair. Ummm... I don't know. It seems like at this age, they don't need to be constantly entertained, kwim? I dont know if you are familiar with The Continuum Concept, and FWIW, there are many things I don't like about this book. But for little babies, I think she is right on--they want to learn about the world by watching us do things. It must be so hard without a car. Is there any way you could take a bus to the public library or a nearby church that has a mom's group or something like that?

 

[newbymom05]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slightly crunchy My house was very clean back then because I did vacuuming, mopping, dishes, dusting, windows with him in the sling or other carriers. I know some people clean when the baby naps, but for me baby's nap time was MY nap time, or ME time to read or whatever. My baby seemed to love the cleaning...as long as I was moving and doing something, he was happy. I did a lot of cooking, tried out lots of new recipes, learned to bake bread...

Slightly Crunchy, I'm glad you posted that! Now HOW do you get work done in the sling? We have a pouch and a MT (which I'm still trying to figure out) and I can vacuum w/ ds in the pouch, but he seems to get restless *very* quickly. He's a long baby and 17 lbs.--maybe a sling would be better? I also almost never go hands free w/ the pouch--I'm always afraid he'll pitch out or something. Is that the pouch or me? (Probably me!)

Yes, being carless truly does suck. We're looking for another car but I hate the idea of two cars (

don't get me started...). Unfortunately, the suburbs really do seem to demand 2 autos. At least we won't be buying a Hummer.

Anyway, ds really hates the car seat so even w/ the car it's the lesser of two evils: either entertain him at home or listen to him cry for the whole ride.

 

[slightly crunchy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by newbymom05 Now HOW do you get work done in the sling? We have a pouch and a MT (which I'm still trying to figure out) and I can vacuum w/ ds in the pouch, but he seems to get restless *very* quickly. He's a long baby and 17 lbs.--maybe a sling would be better? I also almost never go hands free w/ the pouch--I'm always afraid he'll pitch out or something. Is that the pouch or me? (Probably me!)

Well, it's true that there are some things that are hard to do in a sling...like putting stuff in the washer/dryer, or scrubbing bathrooms, if baby is in front of you. Especially now that you are probably at the grabby stage and he is getting bigger, too.

Have you tried your MT on your back yet? This is the age where it gets really nice to be able to do a back carry.

But when my oldest was this age, which is when I did all of this cleaning! (not so much now that I have two and am chasing after the oldest all of the time

) I only had a sling and a pouch. Are you sure the pouch is the right size? If it feels like he is going to fall out, it could be that he is too low. Are you wearing him on your hip? If not, he should be about the right age to start doing that, or to wear just in front of your hip.

Before you know it he will be crawling around and then walking and there will be lots more to do!

 

[alamama]

I got an Ergo at about that time, and it made a huge difference. It took a few tries for both of us to get used to the back carry, but there are some things I can do with him on my back that just don't work with a front carry. And he loves it.

Once ds could sit up it seemed like he was much more able to play by himself for a few minutes at a time.