How to entertain a baby

sandhyas · Jan 16, 2008

Iam a new mom , want to study,but I feel guilty if I don't play with the baby all the time.

Please tell me how long we can leave the baby alone & what sort of enertainment

we can provide for infants under 1 year.

thanks

Neeti · Jan 16, 2008

Sandhyas
If you can go to public library have a look on the book "Baby Play " By Wendy S Masi, Roni Cohen Leiderman .Or" Your child at play ,Birth to one" by Segal, Marilyn M. You will get all the answer and methods how to play with infant.
Teach her/ him how to play with toys . Sing and dance with her show her baby books .My daughter is 13 month old I have started doing online activity with her when she was 9 monh old .Fisher price have good programs for infant .Let her watch some baby videos if she is over 9 month . Final thing is talk or narrate everything that you are doing.

Aadhusmom · Jan 16, 2008

Hi Sandhya,
How old is your baby? Young babies generally cannot play by themselves for any length of time. My son is almost 6 mnths and has only now started to keep himself occupied for abt 20 mins or so without me needing to be there. One thing I found useful was an activity gym/mat (basically a bar with toys hanging from it which baby can hit at initially and later grab). That would keep him busy for atleast 15 -20 mins from 3 mnths onwards. Personally i dont like the idea of videos/TV/computer time for a child younger than 2 yrs, so I wont do those. Toys and time duration ultimately depend on what milestones your baby has reached - and how much you are willing to spend to keep him entertained! The best entertainment will always be mummy .

Vanathi.