How much should I play with my 6 week old?

Hi Everyone,

Bubs is 6 weeks old, and I'm just wondering how much during the day I should be playing with him. He sometimes doesn't sleep much during the day, and if I was playing with him when he wasn't sleeping or feeding I would get NOTHING done myself. On the otherhand, if I leave him (or put him to bed to sleep) in his cot while I get on with something (eg hang the washing out), he just cries. Often, the only place he seems happy is lying on my shoulder while I walk around - and this is pretty tiring for me as he's getting quite heavy!

I'm concious of not wanting to over-stimulate him, but on the otherhand I hate leaving him to cry too if he doesn't seem to want to sleep, and I do want to be able to get on with things myself too.

Interested to hear how much other people are playing with their babies of similiar ages...

Cheers,
Bertie

Is it possible for you to wear him in a hug-a-bub or a Baby Bjorn or something similar so that you can get a few things done? This would leave your arms free to do a few jobs. Babies are often really soothed by it too as they love being close to you.

If you're not too keen on that idea, do you have a rocker? Perhaps you could put him in the rocker and take him into whatever room you need to do something in so that he can see you? You could attach a dangly toy to it so that he could look at that also. You could even take him outside in it whilst you hang the washing out. I used to do this with Jacob as his had a cover that pulled over it so he was protected from the sun. It was a nice change of scenery for him from being inside! But as I mentioned with moving from room to room, I would take him about in the rocker which had a little toy bar on it for him to look at and try to touch, but it also meant that he could see me and hear me and I could tell him all about what I was doing, whether it be putting a load of washing on, or preparing dinner.

So that was how I found time in the day to get a few jobs done. But I would try to limit these activities as much as I could to when he was sleeping, so that when he was awake, I could spend time 'playing' - to just sit with him and have cuddles, talk to him, put him in his play gym for tummy time, go for a walk in the pram etc etc, play with some age-appropriate toys.

I think Melinda has some lovely ideas. We also got a playmat that she used to lie on quite happily - specially with some music next to her. Of course she used to cry, and I would think she needed me, but all she really needed was to sleep!!!
Its so hard reading the tired signs and getting baby to sleep in those first 2-3 months, but soon it will all become clear for you.

A sling is a great way to have bubs with you while getting stuff done. And dont forget going for walks in a pram or something similar.

And also - housework really can wait!! Dont bust a gut to get it all done when you could be enjoying snuggle time wiht bubs :D
Fi

Dylan never slept much through the day until he was about 8 weeks old when I found out he was actually hungry (but that's a different story!) so I put him in a bouncer with a vibrating bottom and he was happy to sit there for quite a while as long as he could see me. O:)

i did and still do alternate playtime from rocker swing..to sling..to playmat..to sling throughout the day. That way Sammy is with me most of the time but it gives him some time like on his playmate for tummy time and nappy off time.

Jo