[NortheastWifey]

What do you do all day and/or night with your little one? Also, do you watch TV with your LO at all? I've been so paranoid about this.

[KCMomma]

Well, it all kind of depends on her mood. I just started letting her watch Baby Einstein DVD's recently. But sometimes we lay and "talk" and other times she's in her bouncy seat while I cook or do other household duties. As for actual activities not yet. I'm really interested to see what other BTDT moms are doing. Good thread Hollie!!

[Lauren S]

We pretty much just move from one little thing to another especially at night when he is fussy. He might go in his swing with the music on, lay on his play mat, lay in his crib with his rainforest soother on, sit in his vibrating bouncy seat, lay on a pillow and "talk" to me (I talk and he coos back). We go on walks around the neighborhood sometimes too. He loves to be outside and look around.

We haven't done any TV yet, but he's only 2 months old. I have a bunch of Baby Einstein dvds that someone gave me, but I wasn't sure when the right time was to start watching them.

[courtneytcu98]

We really try to avoid Elliott watching tv as much as possible. It is on sometimes, but we try to avoid him vegging out in from of it. There are too many studies about ADHD being linked to too much screen time.

When Elliott is awake, we do tummy time, time in the exersaucer, time sitting up playing with toys and doing his favorite EATING!

[LindsLuvsSi]

Let's see....Zane is 8 months old and this is what we usually do....
Breakfast
Play time (consists of him crawling and pulling up on everything, chewing on toys, ripping books, etc)
(I leave the tv on in the mornings on PBS kids, he doesn't sit and watch it, I just need background noise. Sometimes he'll look at it for a few minutes but he's too interested in moving all around)
Naptime
Lunch
Playtime (again crawling around...etc, since the toddler shows are over at this time on PBS kids I put on one of his Baby Einstein videos, he'll sometimes look and watch for a bit but he's soo interested in everything else)
Naptime
Dinner
Bath
Story time
Bed
He's too big for his swing and bouncer and could care less about his exersaucer (I put him in it sometimes, but he can only take like 5 mintues, he loves to be moving around) We go on errands, go on walks, play ball together, take him to the park to swing and crawl in the grass, have playdates with other babies, I read to him, play with him- peekaboo, patacake, etc, play nursery rhymes.

[NortheastWifey]

I talk with Amelia a lot, read to her, we play with her toys - especially now that she's holding on to things, take walks, play peek-a-boo and other games.

I put her in her swing while I'm cooking or cleaning if DH isn't around to hold her.

I don't have Baby Einstien videos or anything, but I get paranoid about her "watching" TV when I'm watching a show I like. Most of the time she watches our dogs play or plays with her toys if I'm watching something and holding her, but after reading about the links to ADHD I get so nervous. I'm probably unnecessarily worried about it considering I don't watch that much TV, but I do have a couple of shows I like. I think I've found I'm a very paranoid first time mommy. I probably just need to relax a bit! I'm always so worried that I'm not stimulating her enough or not doing this or that - or just the opposite - doing too much of this or that. Ga! Anyway... it's nice to read what everyone else does to get some new ideas and also just to know that I'm doing a lot of those same things and I'm probably doing a fine job with Amelia.

[KCMomma]

Hollie - I'm right there with ya. I think I have become one of those paranoid first time mommas too!!! It scares me when she watches TV too when I'm watching. One time I was watching that show Intervention and she was next to me then I thought it was a horrible show for her to watch and immediately turned it off. Now, I know dang well that she doesn't know what she is watching but it still freaked me out!!!

I talk to him a lot.
We have floor time on blankets where we practice rolling.
Tummy time with and without toys. Now that he can hold his head up well he likes that.
Take him for walks outside.
Read to him (just started doing this more). I have some soft books with crinkles and textures he likes a lot. And those with bright illustrations are another of his favorites.
Sit him in his bumbo every other day or so (still not his favorite).
Sit in his bouncer and play. Or sometimes he just sits and stares at me, lol
Play on his playmat with his toys/teethers. Everything he grabs goes straight for his mouth!
I give him naked time on waterproof pads on the floor. He loves it.
Carry him around in our wrap sometimes. He doesn't like it so I am trying to get him more used to it.
Sit in his swing (where he naps during the day most of the time).
I tickle him and make funny faces at him a lot, lol
Sit him on my lap to chillax while I surf the web.
Capture boogies.
Baby yoga! I just started this yesterday and he loves it. I also have a mommy/baby workout I have been meaning to try.
Dad flies him around the house superman style.
Recently, we have had some pretty funny "talks" after I nurse him. He really chats it up, raising his eyebrows like he is explaining stuff to me and everything! I'll be nursing him and he just pops right off, starts hollering about something, then I answer back about how that is interesting or I say "then what did he do!?", he laughs, pops back on, then pops off again to talk some more! I know this could be setting myself up for disaster and a distracted nurser, but so far he only does it when he is done and it is adorable!

I think that's it. I tried putting him in his bouncer chair thingy whatever when he was 8 weeks but he hated it so I took it apart. I bet he would like it now though.

As you can probably guess, I am a paranoid mama too! But near the beginning I felt like all he did was sit in his swing (he hated his bouncy seat, and to be held too long) so as he gets older it has been fun to add more and more activities. Plus I had a lot of mommy guilt for being useless after my section, so I try to make his life somewhat enriching even if I can't hold him all day b/c I have stuff to do. 3 months so far is my favorite age! He just seems so smart and perceptive. As for the TV, we have a big one and Jack zones in on it so we block his view. He would be a major TV junkie if we let him. But I have let him watch maybe 10 minutes of wrestling here, 10 minutes of PBS there on occasion. But I too limit it, and most weeks he doesn't see any TV unless he is sneaky about it when we are watching and don't block his view adequately. As it is we hardly watch it ourselves these days.

Oh I forgot, we also do that arm pull exercise were he lays on his back and we slowly/gently pull him to a sitting position using his arms. He is getting better at that. We started it b/c I felt like he was behind on holding his head up a while back. Turns out everyone in my DDC was exaggerating a bit and I was worrying for nothing. Babies develop at their own pace. In fact, a couple weeks ao for about a week Jack olyl ate and slept. But when he came to he could suddenly look and play with toys on his left side as well as he had been with his right side, and he could hold his head and chest up while on his tummy. He just needed time I guess.

[~Andrea~]

I have my tv on all day long for background noise! Lilyana will get distracted by it for a while at a time, but I'm not too worried. DH and I have a million shows we watch every week at night, so we will have them on while playing with Lily. We just have her back to the tv! This way we can look at and play with her and she doesn't see the tv.

[KCMomma]

Great ideas on here! I'm definitely gonna try some! Michelle - I like the naked play time...just might try that!! Is Jack rolling over yet? Paige is not, but I try to help her along!

[SassyMama]

Recently, we have had some pretty funny "talks" after I nurse him. He really chats it up, raising his eyebrows like he is explaining stuff to me and everything! I'll be nursing him and he just pops right off, starts hollering about something, then I answer back about how that is interesting or I say "then what did he do!?", he laughs, pops back on, then pops off again to talk some more! I know this could be setting myself up for disaster and a distracted nurser, but so far he only does it when he is done and it is adorable!

That's soooooo stinkin' cute! I love baby convos!


When it's nice out, I put Siera in her stroller and just walk around the neighborhood with her. She loves being outdoors and is such a nosybody - she could sit and stare at the world all day if I let her. Sometimes she hangs out in her bouncer or her jumperoo - doesn't last that long but it keeps her occupied for a good 15-20 minutes. I read to her - either her books or mine (it's not like she knows what I'm talking about, right? ). She lovessss grabbing the books and trying to turn the pages. She's fascinated by them (which I'm sooo happy about because I'm such a book-nerd). Sometimes I put a sheet or a blanket down over our carpet, throw all her toys onto it and let her play on her stomach. Sometimes we go roll around on my bed. I do let her watch TV once in awhile but she doesn't really care for it longer than 10 minutes. She gets bored. Which I guess is a good thing.

I don't really know what to do with her anymore than that, though, and I kind of can't wait until she learns how to occupy herself. She loves being around people and hates it when I leave her to her own devices. Even when she's in her jumperoo, she wants either DH or I to sit there and laugh at her. It just gets exhausting.

Gwen, Jack has rolled 2 or 3 times on his own. But he isn't consistent yet so we practice a lot where I give him a good nudge or show him how to plant his feet and push off. Not sure if he gets it but it can't hurt!

[NortheastWifey]

Originally Posted by *MJ*

Gwen, Jack has rolled 2 or 3 times on his own. But he isn't consistent yet so we practice a lot where I give him a good nudge or show him how to plant his feet and push off. Not sure if he gets it but it can't hurt!

Amelia rolled at daycare the other day but we've yet to see it. She's coming pretty close at home, though.

[KCMomma]

Paige will only roll over if I help her or if she's already laying at an angle! I can't wait for this and for them to sit up on their own!!!!

[samspain]

My day consists of trying to keep Ana out of everything and make sure she leaves the cat alone!

playing- she is now crawling, so I scatter her toys all over the lounge and she goes to what she wants. (ALWAYS the electrical socket), she has just started thinking about pulling herself up, so I spend a lot of time sat on the floor whilst she tries to pull up on everything.

Until she could roll over she was a nightmare and wouldnt stay anywhere longerthan 5 minutes!

[courtneytcu98]

I still can't get over that Ana is crawling!

Now that Elliott is army-crawling, he is OBSESSED with electrical cords and Humphrey's toys~so a lot of his awake time is spent redirecting him. He absolutely loves his exersaucer, so that is where he goes part of the time when I am getting ready for work.

[Celry]

i can't wait ubtil i can do some of these things with the girls. right now our days are spent nursing and screaming. i'm not joining in on the screaming yet. they don't sleep much during the day unless i hold them.