What to play with 6mos old

hi mum & dad,


can u remember what you do and play with your 6mos old baby? My baby be turning 6mos old next week, cos i m a stay at home mum, so sometimes i will wonder what i should do to keep my baby entertain. And I will feel so guilty if I keep her in the walker for too long.


Tks

this was a thread from a while back. Pretty comprehensive and goes through a lot of things.


http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/forums/momsdads/threads/79101.asp

mine is 7.5 months so what i do is:

go out as much as possible!!

meet up with other mummies...hang out at each other's pad so that baby can play with different toys and mummies can stay sane by chatting with other mums.

join a baby gym.

at home, we just try to play on the floor, encourage crawling, any activities that will tire him out!

This is the age when your baby will enjoy having his various senses stimulated. Give him lots of different textures to touch and listen to the sound they make. He will also want to put everything to the mouth to explore which is good though obviously make sure it's safe and not a choking hazzard.

Babies of this age love music and sounds. Singing and action songs are always fun. Play in the bath with water is also entertaining.

Much of what you do in every day life is interesting to a 6 month old baby. Take him shopping and let him look at other people, hear new sounds and smell new things. Babies of 6 months love to watch other children play.

If he is rolling over then try placing toys a little out of reach so he can try to grasp them. Tummy time is important to develop his instincts to crawl.

You don't need to provide expensive toys, just give him safe objects to explore. Start reading to him around now, if only for a few minutes each day.

I agree it's not a great idea to leave him in the baby walker as these are very dangerous and can cause problems with their legs if left in for too long.

But the most important thing you can do is talk to your baby, give lots of eye contact and touch.


Mother and Toddler Group - 2849 0375

Matilda International Hospital

Hong Kong

http://www.matilda.org

hi all,


tks for all the wonderful notes!will try with my baby


cheers

Great advise above!


Reading books, cloth and board books are great because they can grab and chew them.

PeekABoo - just starting to try

Rolling around - roll baby around or encourage to crawl (depends on development)

Door Bouncer - ours LOVED it at that age, we would do it 15-20 minutes before nap times to tire him out! only stopped recently as he is almost walking now

Play mat - if already crawling then maybe enclose it in a 'baby den'

Music - singing and dancing with baby

Let him play alone on his playmat for short periods - so he gets used to being alone


If you don't work:

baby swim lessons, or regular trips to the pool (without the swim lessons)

baby play groups - informal with other parents and babies

Mother Baby group at Matilda or similar

Daytrips - anything is exciting for baby, even your trips to the supermarket!


Baby Walkers - a lot of research has been done to show they are a bit dangerous. They are even illegal to sell in Canada! So you might want to read up on these so you use it safely.

http://www.matilda.org/eng/health_news/2005-10-babywalker.php

Ok, here goes from my side - please bear in mind that I'm not Earth Mother...


My son hated being immobile, and so, against the US and Canadian doctors books' advice, we put him in a walker...and you know what? He loved it. We were always with him when he was in one, made sure it had loads of wheels so wouldn't tip over easy, and we didn't leave him too long in it. He absolutely adored it. And as for saying that it stops them walking early, my son is not yet one, and he is walking fine.

He also loved the door bouncer but he hated the Exersaucer.

A really lazy thing you can do is to put a DVD on...my son loves the Brainy Baby PeekABoo DVD (lots of talking) but hates Baby Einstein (no talking). We do limit it to before bed time only but we find it's the only thing that calms him down as he never ever stops!

All the other stuff suggested in the thread is also good - but you do need to have a variety - more for your own peace of mind as well!

There are books that keep them amused, and electronic games that flash and make sounds.


To be honest, I found that immobile stage so hard - now that the LO is walking and amusing himself, life is much easier but tiring!

Sguiggles - sounds like you did read the warnings about walkers and used yours perfectly!

It is just like baby bath seats being dangerous - but it is not the seat, it is how it is used...

Good to be aware of the risks so we can all use 'things' safely...

I was well disappointed when we read that the door bounder should only be a maximum of 20 minutes! Baby would have loved it for an hour, but apparently something about their leg blood circulation? So 20 minutes it was!!


Funny, I find myself having moments of missing the immobile stage now that he is everywhere - ha ha

it is both a pain and a relief when they start crawling. pain because you have to stop them from the dangerous stuff (toys, no fun...tasty wires...yessssss) but a relief because they no longer just lie on their backs and cry for attention.


fel, do you have other mummy friends? one great way to kill time is to organise playdates (especially when they start to crawl). i had one today at my place, 5 babies in all crawling all over, mummies trying their best to eat muffins and drink their tea/coffees while watching out for their bubs but whole lotta fun! :) great way to tire baby out before bedtime too!

Before my first baby was mobile I used to put her on a quilt and give her a shoebox full of small things to explore and play with (nothing choke-able of course). For instance, I remember packing the shoebox with: baby bottle with hand grips that had ice cold water, plastic sunglasses, small plastic toys and objects to manipulate, a plastic (chewable) baby book, rattles with different sounds, teething rings, silk scarf, small stuffed animal, other things to chew on or explore with mouth. I would put the lid on the box and then let her open it to "discover" all the contents one at a time. This was good for about half an hour at a time for her to unpack while I could run around and do some housework etc. She also had a low bookshelf she could creep over to and pull blocks, stuffed animals, and things like more durable books off the shelf to look at. This was a hard age for me with my first one b/c baby was not mobile and just wanted me to pick her up all the time. I didn't learn until much later that a bit of frustration and having to wait

"his turn" for attention won't hurt baby as long as it's not neglect. Not being the center of mommy's attention every moment can provide some motivation to get mobile and baby can also learn important life skills in entertaining one's self. Unlike the first child, the second one won't ever have the luxury of being the center of the universe, and it rarely warps personalities. ;-) A family member who is a pediatrician insists that a child should not watch TV before age 3 because it literally changes the way the brain is wired. This may be true, but I confess I also saw no particular harm in letting my child watch entertaining and educational, good quality video. After all, I figured, the brains of the whole world are wired differently now and it's a digital age. But it wouldn't hurt to try and develop a longer attention span (TV is detrimental to this) and keep focus away from the demanding, instant gratification mindset (mommy jumping up at every whimper contributes to this). Not to suggest that you neglect your child; I must say I never let mine cry for example, but just be reasonable because at 6 mos a child can learn to understand, "mommy is busy, I'll be there in a minute." As long as she can trust that you will, in fact, do what you say and come in just a minute.

yes, we do organise some gatherings with other mummies as well...just that my baby is the youngest.....most oredi crawling