Keeping Baby entertained.

lolli

Hey everyone.

As some of you may know my daughter is in cast and can't move so she obviously cant concentrate on her crawling, rolling, walking.

She has loads of toys which we have around her, she watches TV. I'm worried though that she isnt getting enough intellectual stimulation. Shes so restricted, shes either in her buggy, a bean bag or on our laps. I'm just worried that i'm not doing the right things to keep her amused.

She has books, toys, baby laptops... hundreds of toys. I have a packet of flashcards which she just tries to eat.

I'm just looking for ideas of what people would do if their child was in a cast. Saoirse is 9 months old.

Thank you!

Das Kitty

I'd say she has everything she needs lolli tbh.

A lot of early learning is about how different things feel, weigh, sound, taste, etc. I mean just today James spent about 2 hours figuring out a spoon. If she has a wide variety of toys etc she is being intellectually stimulated. There's a lot to learn about the world, and sometimes we forget how much as we learned them when we were babies ourselves.

Chuchu

Hi Lolli hope you're doing ok, we might well be in your position in the Spring as we have been given one more x ray but after that they might operate (she's nearly walking and prob will be by then so dreading it)
Anyway you sound like you are doing a fab job and she has plenty of love and attention. Have you got any of those classical music for kids CDs? Some babies love them others not so much but worth a try. Also there are these Baby Einstein DVDs Disney ones, now while there has been recent debate over how 'clever' or not they make your child (LOL!) this is not the issue here and I'm sure Saoirse would love them at her age, they're also very calming. Here's a link:
http://www.babyeinstein.com/en/products/product_explorer/?state=age
Also our little one loved this DVD we got free with the paper yonks ago by this lot:
http://brainybaby.com/shop/cart.php
It was a right brain left brain thing, she never gets sick of it, whereas she's already sick of Iggle Piggle!!

Grawns

It sounds like you are doing everything right. Bridget loved Barney from about 9 months she adored the singing and it got so I really enjoyed it too.

janmc

By no means a baby expert here - learning as I go! But have you tried lots of walks too? I'd say being out and about for her is great stimulation -seeing different faces and places. Like the others said, sounds like you're doing fine though!

di11on

How about the best toy of all... mummy :-)

Mummy is the best source of stimulation ever... talk, play, interact when you have the time.

Time is the issue I guess.

My other thoughts are not to provide her with too much stuff. Provide her with a few interesting things and then swap them around every so often, maybe even changer her surroundings every so often. Different room, different part of the room etc... lots of variety I guess.

Poor little thingy... best of luck op!

lynski

take her to a parent and toddler group, she will love it and you get to meet other parents.
You would be amazed how much a young baby gets from them, my son started going at 6 mths and loved it and my daughter has been going since in the womb.

lolli

Das Kitty wrote: »

I'd say she has everything she needs lolli tbh.

A lot of early learning is about how different things feel, weigh, sound, taste, etc. I mean just today James spent about 2 hours figuring out a spoon. If she has a wide variety of toys etc she is being intellectually stimulated. There's a lot to learn about the world, and sometimes we forget how much as we learned them when we were babies ourselves.

Thanks Das Kitty, I guess i'm just worried she'll be behind other children who can do more than her.

Chuchu wrote: »

Hi Lolli hope you're doing ok, we might well be in your position in the Spring as we have been given one more x ray but after that they might operate (she's nearly walking and prob will be by then so dreading it)
Anyway you sound like you are doing a fab job and she has plenty of love and attention. Have you got any of those classical music for kids CDs? Some babies love them others not so much but worth a try. Also there are these Baby Einstein DVDs Disney ones, now while there has been recent debate over how 'clever' or not they make your child (LOL!) this is not the issue here and I'm sure Saoirse would love them at her age, they're also very calming. Here's a link:
http://www.babyeinstein.com/en/products/product_explorer/?state=age
Also our little one loved this DVD we got free with the paper yonks ago by this lot:
http://brainybaby.com/shop/cart.php
It was a right brain left brain thing, she never gets sick of it, whereas she's already sick of Iggle Piggle!!

Chuchu, I hope you wont be in the same poisition but make sure and keep me updated, if anything I can offer you some support perhaps! I ordered her a baby Einstein CD and some books yesterday Thanks for the suggestion.

Grawns wrote: »

It sounds like you are doing everything right. Bridget loved Barney from about 9 months she adored the singing and it got so I really enjoyed it too.

Thanks Grawns, Saoirse has started singing too. I was singing lalala going up in a scale and she started copying me She adores music especially Eminem for some reason ha

janmc wrote: »

By no means a baby expert here - learning as I go! But have you tried lots of walks too? I'd say being out and about for her is great stimulation -seeing different faces and places. Like the others said, sounds like you're doing fine though!

Thanks janmc I brought her to a woods the other day for a really long walk. Theres thousands and trees and a river running through it. She was so excited, especially because the leaves were falling and she thought it was great!

di11on wrote: »

How about the best toy of all... mummy :-)

Mummy is the best source of stimulation ever... talk, play, interact when you have the time.

Time is the issue I guess.

My other thoughts are not to provide her with too much stuff. Provide her with a few interesting things and then swap them around every so often, maybe even changer her surroundings every so often. Different room, different part of the room etc... lots of variety I guess.

Poor little thingy... best of luck op!

Thanks di11on. I make sure and play with her every day. Every evening when everyone is home from work she gets loads of attention. I try swap her toys around as she has so many i try get use out of them all!

lynski wrote: »

take her to a parent and toddler group, she will love it and you get to meet other parents.
You would be amazed how much a young baby gets from them, my son started going at 6 mths and loved it and my daughter has been going since in the womb.

Thanks lynski. I actually was thinking about a mother and toddler group the other day. I must see whats around it would be great to go to one.

Cat Melodeon

My lad has only just started taking an interest in tv (he's 14 months) but has loved music videos since he was tiny. I've made up a playlist on Youtube that I put on for him when he's/I'm having a meltdown and it would probably keep him infinitely entertained if I was a bad mammy and put it on infinite repeat (soooo tempting sometimes). Great thing about it is it's free and you can change it/add to it as you wish. Our playlist has some of the following on it:

Bare necessities - Jungle Book
The laughing policeman (video by Philip Supershow or something similar)
Children in Need/Peter Kay - Feel it
The theme tune from House (I don't know, he's goes nuts for it)
Some Barney & In the Night Garden clips
Various ads & show theme tunes

lolli

Cat thats a great idea!!!

crazy cat lady

We have a series called 'Baby Einstein' for Megan. She's not really interested in the TV most of the time, more the remote control, but its sometimes nice to have on something that is stimulating and educational!

Has to be better than Jeremy Kyle!

lolli

Crazy Cat Lady - She loves Little Einsteins on TV so i'll have a look into baby einstein -- not sure if its the same type of thing.

We went to Fota wildlife park today!