Hi! I have a 2 month old and I am not sure what to do with her when she is awake.?

Question

I talk to her and put her in her play gym. I feel like I am not doing enough. Every time I try to read to her, she cries in the middle of it. Any suggestions? Am I doing anything wrong?? Thanks!

Answer 1

I have a 6 weeks old.....we just had the greatest playtime "session" this morning....

We sat in a big comfy chair, next to the window, she loves to look outside. We talked about going outside, and what we'll do when she's old enough....this lasted about 3 minutes....LOL.

Then we sang her favorite song....."The itsy-bitsy Spider"...it's short, so it holds her attention....and she loves the hand motions. We sang this about 5 times....but not in a row.....

We also did this little game where we touched her eyes, her nose, lips and chin....and then tickled her....she made her first "Squeel!!!" at this.....

(when we did this, you say "eye blinker, nose blower, mouth chomper, chin tickler....then tickle)

I use a happy, high pitched voice...she loves it.

Then I held her like I was going to burp her....it's her favorite way to be held, and just patted or rubbed her back.

After about 20 minutes of that kind of play, alternating what we were doing, she was tired, and went right to sleep.

Reading might be a little too much for your baby, as their attention spans aren't very long at this point. But points to you for trying.....the most important thing is the time you spend with your infant....not necessarily "what" you're doing....

Don't be afraid to make a fool of yourself either....if you have a bad singing voice or not....your baby doesn't care, she just loves her MOMMY!!!

Answer 2

I felt the exact same way. My daughter is now 3 and 1/2 months old. Babies at two months old can only stay awake for about 1-2 hours at a time. You are doing the best thing that you can do. All they need right now is you and talking, singing, smiling, reading to them are all great things that you can do. She may be crying in the middle of reading, because she is over stimulated. If she cries stop reading and just sit quietly. Sometimes, 10-15 minutes of any stimulation is all they can take. Just take it slow and also watch for tired signs after about 1-2 hours of being awake.

You are doing fine...don't worry.

Answer 3

Hello,

I have a 2 1/2 month old. Every child is different in how they react to their surroundings. Some children are high maintenance and others are more low-key. My son is pretty low key but he does get bored if he is in one setting for too long. What I have done to cure the problem is set up swings/rockers in different rooms and when he gets bored he gets moved. We have play time, tummy time, reading time, and quiet time. When he starts to get upset with the reading I call it quits and try to find something else he wants to do. The attention spans of babies are usually not that long. Keep things interesting for her and you should be ok. It will mean a little bit of work on your part but the end results are worth the effort. And remember, sometimes, a baby just wants to be held. As I am typing this I am holding my son because that is the only thing that makes him happy at the moment.

Good luck and congratulations on your new arrival!

Answer 4

She is just a tiny tot, all she really needs is you to be near her at this stage, talking to her, popping her under the play gym, putting music on, singing songs, just general household hustle and bustle is enough for her. She is a little young to be read to, but there is no harm in showing her pages from her books, bear in mind that she has a really short attention span at the moment, this is something that develops over time. You are not doing anything wrong, just try to chill and enjoy her, before too long you won't be able to sit down without having a book presented to you and a small person curled up on your knee waiting to be read to!

Answer 5

I would read the newspaper to my daughter and books that I enjoy. I did this as I fed her a bottle. Sometimes I would sing the alphabet or count to 100. Then I would sometimes lay her down and show her picture books. I wouldn't read, I would just watch her expression as I passed through the pages. She LOVED "Oh The Thinks You Can Think" by Dr.Seuss. She would stare and grin at the page with 'think of light think of bright, think of stairs in the night'

I would also rub her hands against different textures and temperatures and say "What is this.....This is------!"

Sometimes I would run her hand under cold water or put it against a cold drink and I'd fill in the word 'cold' or 'wet'. I'd do that with soft, hard, smooth, rough....etc.

Her first word was 'what'. She's 20 months old and she's pretty smart and loves learning new stuff.

Answer 6

You are doing everyting just fine. Talking to her is one of the most important things you can do with her. It doesn't matter if it is reading from a book (although its a good routine to get into if you keep up with it and she will sit there) or just you telling her what you are doing while you fold laundry. Pretty soon you will know what else she wants to do. But for now you are doing exactly what she wants and needs. When she cries, that means she has had enough stimulation.

Answer 7

A two month old isn't awake for very long, but she doesn't need a lot from you. Talking to her about the day and what you are doing is a great start. If she isn't ready to process reading, singing to her is just fine.

Baby massage will also help her development, but the most important thing, is to make sure she gets her tummy time to help her learn to crawl and to help her stomach muscles and digestion develop. Many babies who get colic have problems because they don't get enough tummy time.

You could even try a mommy-baby postpartum yoga video to help you bond while you exercise!

Below are a few of my articles on this topic.

Answer 8

Talk to her and sing to her...she can't focus on a book yet so while keeping her exposed to books her whole life is great...right now she has no clue. Lay down on a big blanket with her and talk to her and sing silly songs and stay close to her so she can really see you well. Take her hands and have her touch your nose and say things like "this is mama's nose". Also have her do exercise that cross the center point of her body...like taking her arm and then gently stretching it over to her opposite hip. This is great for brain stimulus on infants.

Pretty soon she will be smiling, laughing, cooing etc and telling you just what things she does enjoy.

Answer 9

My little one is 4 months old, when you read to your little one, they will only pay attention for a few minutes, so if you get a couple of pages in your doing great. Babies respond to your voice, your facial expressions, so just talking to her, playing on the floor with her, singing to her, and introducing her to toys are great ways to spend time with your child. When my little one was 2 months old, I would lay on the floor with her, and shake rattles around her, and help her hold toys, I would lay in front of her while she had tummy time and smile at her, and sing songs to her. I know there isn't much to do with babies when they are that small but just listening to your voice, and watching your facial expressions is a lot.

Answer 10

No your not doing anything wrong. New Mother? You will do great. Sounds like you are doing everything right. Time to lay by themselves allows them not to be spoiled and want to be held all the time. You should talk with her and hold her some. They love to be cuddle when young like that, but not to much. Enjoy while he/she is little. Good Luck