4 and 1/2 months. Am I doing enough?

[mamachops]

I'm worried that I'm not doing enough or the right kind of play to stimulate my little girl.

In the morning she wakes around 7.30, so I feed her then put her back down to sleep for a little longer until I have to get up if we're off out. Sometimes she goes straight back to sleep, other times she coos to herself, and I hear her spinning a thing on her cot toy aquarium, but essentially I leave her to amuse her self for a while.

If we're out and she's awake, she has to play with her car toys or pram tie. If we're at home I try and put her down for her tummy time, but I'm not very dedicated about getting down on the floor with her, and if I don't sit down with her, I often find she pushes her toys out of reach and just gazes at them.

Sometimes I pop her in a bumbo seat, put her on the work top and put on some music and sing with her while I do stuff in the kitchen.

My problem is, that after sleeps, feeds, going out etc, I probably only get one or two opportunities to put her on her tummy and possibly play with her/read a story.

I don't feel like I'm doing enough to stimulate her. How does it compare to what you do or did when your littlie was this age? :confused:

[almond eyes]

Yeah sometimes you feel you run out of things to do with your little one, especially at that age (4 and a half months) when they can't crawl or explore yet by themselves. I remember I started reading books to my bub at this age, if not a little earlier. I would hold up the books while we're both on our backs and the vibrant colors and the stories amuse him. I change my voice depending on the story. This seems to get his attention too.

Another thing that I found to be good is puppets. I bought several soft hand puppets and he absolutely loved it at that age. Play lots of soothing music or sing to your bub. Another thing he used to love is hand movements when we're on the bed. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to come up with a lot more stimulating activities along the way. :)

[Kooy]

I was given some great books from my Nanna when the little one was born and I have found them to be fantastic! They are by Gymboree and I have one for Babies (up to one year of age) and one for Toddler to small children. They have heaps of great activities to do. My bub is 10 months now and I still refer to them on days we are bored. I'm pretty sure you could find them in any bookstore even maybe Target..?

[Briswegian]

read stories provide toys with contrasting colours play music......your bub may just not be very active at this time also. My DS1 was super active from day one but DS2 is much more laid back and was almost comatose for the first few months. He now has bursts of activity during the day (5 months) but the rest of the time he's pretty mellow.