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Since I had a spring baby, I would try to go out for walks every chance we got. I hated being cooped up and figured the fresh air and new sounds and sights (though I know it's a bit limited as to how much they see) would do her good. When we were at home, I didn't tend to interact a ton, honestly. She spent a lot of time on her activity mat and I moved her around from room to room for a change of pace.

I've always wondered this, too. We do a lot of the same stuff (sing, read, playmat, tummy time, "chat" and laugh at each other, watch the ceiling fan lol). She's been crazy active the past few weeks and I feel like we go through our cycle of activities much quicker now and we need something new to spice it up! I think she's old enough now to go to our library's story time so we might try that. She loves to see other babies!

I always feel super guilty when she's not being interacted with, but sometimes she really is content to just play on her own for a few minutes. My mom finally convinced me it's good for her to be independent once in a while.

Dont feel bad about having awake time that isnt interactive! All of those things are great, but babies need time to take in the world around them. Just being alive is stimulating for them, and they need that uninterupted time to learn too

I gave him time on his own each day to chill and entertain himself. As he got older the time got longer. I'm soooo glad I did because independent playtime is invaluable now that he's a toddler! I'd say he just hung out at least 50% of his waking tw as an infant.

We spent a good deal of awake time outside the house. We live in an apartment, and I started to feel claustrophobic, pretty quickly.

Some of the things we enjoyed around that time:

-lots of beach walks, in the wrap or ergo
-trips to the local library (walking distance)
-visits to the pet supply store to see the colorful fish
-strolls through the butterfly sanctuary
-checking out the plots at the community garden (she always seemed to love sunflowers)

We didn't have a nap schedule that early on, but DD was great about falling asleep in the carrier, car or stroller. I would have probably been less liberal about being out so often if we had been more schedule-focused.

I also prioritized independent play, and didn't feel badly about giving her time to explore her surroundings. I believe it was a good thing; now, at a year old, she's pretty darn good about entertaining herself.

We didn't join official playgroups until she was a little older, but I got together with some moms (and their babes) in my birth group every so often. It was nice to chat and reconnect. We started attending a baby story-time at around five or six months, which she still seems to enjoy.

honestly I remember asking more senior mamas when they started actually interacting with their babies b/c my little guy didn't seem interested in much at that age. Almost everyone said around 3.5 months they start to like play with toys and interact more compared to 10 weeks. At this age I basically just held and talked to him!

@Mrs. Lion: Exactly. At that age, just watching & listening to you is plenty! I wouldn't stress over it. One day you'll look up & she will be begging for interaction!

I will say I wish I just snuggled & had quiet time with LO. At 9 months she's so on the move - I miss those snuggly newborn days!

Sounds about right. Once M could hold his head up well, he's been more fun.

I don't think I went out of my way to interact all the time. We went on a lot of walks and "play dates" (at that age, it was more like mommy meet ups where the babies just chilled), lots of errands, lots of her chilling while I pumped, lots of tummy time, some crib mobile time.......and then short burst of interaction from me. Lots of staring in the mirror, pointing out different objects in the house, some singing and cuddling.

Honestly, it's similar for us now! I'm doing my morning pump and LO is entertaining herself by going all over the room, opening cabinets and pulling books off the bookshelf, playing at her play table, trying to climb inside an Amazon box. Hehe

I know it's hard not to worry, but honestly you are doing an amazing job and your errands etc. are probably really interesting for LO anyway! I mean, my LO is 10 months and there are days/weekends where she is just along for the ride and she does better on those days, even though she's in the Ergo ALL day, than days at home!

I don't think I really interacted or said much to my infant at all! I don't know if it was postpartum hormones or what, but I just stared at him all the time, speechless. In my head, I knew I should be interacting with him, but it couldn't come out! So weird!! So I'd just lay him in his boppy for a while or give him tummy time with the music, etc. and just watched. It wasn't until he was a bit older and more alert that I started singing/talking to him. He's 1 now and is super vocal and interactive.

You're doing a fantastic job! As your LO gets older, you too will slowly find more things to do and it'll be more fun!

This is a really really good article about what independent play looks like for babies. It might help some of you that are feeling any guilt about letting your babies (and young children) have uninterrupted play time!

http://www.janetlansbury.com/2012/11/7-myths-that-discourage-independent-play/