Things for 8 week old baby to play with.

Hi,

My baby boy is 8 weeks old and I am wondering what toys etc other people found good for babies of this age. He likes banging and grasping at things that are hanging from his activity gym.

Any ideas ?

Olivia

Hi Olivia :)
I am in the same dilemma...my little man is 11 weeks and I have started getting out soft rattles.. i shake them in front of him and when he tries to reach out I try to wrap his fingers around it... he does that himself but when he moves his arms he lets go of the ratttle....
so I am just trying to teach him the thumb under thing (grasp) :) I am not sure if it is working but he is intrigued by it none the less :)

I am finding it a bit hard at this point.. I have not been able to find any mothers groups close by yet and feel that he needs more stimulation other than his mum going goo goo gaa gaa whos the most beautiful boy in the world!! he he

I am less inclined to give him hard rattles as they do the fist to the face thing at full bore pace!! .... that would hurt I would imagine

I will be keeping an eye on this post too for some ideas also..... glad you asked the question :)

Good luck
xxxooo

I started getting out a mirror while bubs was having tummy time..its seemed to fascinate them a bit. There are some great free standing ones around with soft padding around them.

Jo

Hey Kitty,

I haven't started a mothers group either, and my family live in NZ, and ( start the violins ) none of my friends have babies .......so .....I am improvising ...he does seems very keen to play and I want to make sure I'm not boring him.

Today I tied Christmas decorations that my mother ( weirdly ) sent me, to a string across his bassinette and cos they rattle he had great fun kicking them with his feet, and bashing them with his hands.

Same thing with me and the rattle, he seems much more interested in things that are hanging.

Thanks Jo. Great idea.

What I did was took Nina to a shop show her all the toys and see which ones she reacted to, then bought those. Also we noticed from early on that she loves music, so we bought her a Xylophone (for 18mth+, but who cares) and she loves banging on it now.

Olivia, does your MCHN organise a mothers group. I have a friend in yarraville, and hers didn't as she was told there were not many new mums there. Her daughter would be about 2 now though, so not the same age.

Soft rattles are a great idea, the kind with a clear, thick plastic ring to hold are good as there is usually things inside the ring for the baby to look at too.

What about a playgym, the kind with overhanging toys - you can usually pick these up on ebay.

And even the thing plastic rings are good too, I think playgro make them.

Yep - I rate mirrors, and its never too early to start reading to them :D
While the weather is nice,, get outside in a shady patch and watch the trees blwoing in the wind - leaves are great fun. UNder the washing line too!

Or you can get soft rattle bracelets.......they velcro attach to a babkes wrist & make all sorts of noises.....we put them on Lexie and she giggles as she tried to get them off/chews them.....

Jesse loved anything with lights. His bouncer had a thing that went across that played music and lit up and he could sit looking at it for ages. He didnt start grasping until he was 12 weeks old but i got him some rings that are all linked together and he loves them. He can hold on to them easily and shake them around. Also any soft toys he loves too.

Kellxx - those are the thin rings that I meant too. milo loved them becuase it was easier for him to grab hold of, and I could attach them to him gym, car seat etc.

Rayray, yeh i think theyre great.. he has a bit of trouble grabbing onto some things but those rings things are a perfect size and shape for them to hold.

Great ...lots of ideas ...should keep me going for a bit...thanks heaps

Um ...as for Yarraville, I just presumed she would mention/arrange for when they were around 3 months ...I don't why I presumed that ???? I can't believe that they're aren't enough mothers ...Yarraville is literally bursting with kids and prams and Mums ...I will have to get on to that cos I was looking forward to it ....today I got a bit desperate for feedback and this is probably my first real post to this forum ...

I will have to follow up, thanks for mentioning.

Just adding another yay for the Playgro plastic rings... they are fantastic and every now and them B will still play with hers (has had them since 6w) although now she just likes to pull them apart and try to get them back together. Best toy she had prior to being 6mths and the most played with. I actually buy them now as a birth pressie when others have bubs.

hi girls,

Julia loves any soft toys with long arms and things to suck on (teething things) that he plays with her hand and pushes them too. Also Lamaze sells soft toys in a box of 3 with rings that crunch and rattle they are great too or you can buy them at cheaper stores like Target, Kmart or Big W. She also loves her little blankie which is a taggie blankie it has heaps of tags on it if you want their website pm me and I will send to you , we arent able to post links unfortunately. The tags have tought her how to grasp things. She also loves holding rattles and playing under her playgym the most, she goos and gahs so much under there.

Kitty - not sure where you are from but like the other girls mentioned can you call your nearest childhood centre? they set up a mothers group for us.

Bel

the linka doos links are great!!i think they are fisher price

I have to throw in a thanks there too.... I have gotten heaps out of that :D
Olivia - Thanks for starting that cause I was feeling like i was boring my little man and not doing enough,
Jodi - GREAT IDEA!! I am going to try that one for sure!:lol:

Oh... pls don't think I am crazy, well any more than you do already... but read to you babe everyday. I have since birth.... I got B some hard cardboard books with animal pics and to start with our eading was this is a dog, the dog says woof... and make the noises... she loved mum making the funny sounds. Also sing (even if you can't your babe will think you have the best voice in the world) Hand action songs are great... twinkle twinkle, the frog song... and old macdonald had a farm... although i would incorperate people she knew as well... like grandad says and something he says all the time... or daddy has and something distinctive.

I also made her a book all about herself which she loved to go through... intially with me but then by herself... it was just a $2 photo album with pics of her and her family and we would go through it and say... there is Pa, look at his silly hat... there is grandma... here is Bridie fast asleep... that sort of thing. This is also good to help them recognise relatives they don't always get to see. Like my brother lives interstate and she can point at any picture of him, not just the one in her book, and say 'es' (her version of rex).. even though she has only ever met him a handful of times.