New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

Hi Moms,

I have a 17 day old baby boy and I feel so clueless as to what to do with him.

When he sleeps too much I wish he was awake and when he's up, I sometimes wish he were sleeping. All because I have no idea what to do with him when he's awake!

He doesn't like his bouncy seat or the play mat. I have no idea what to do with him.

How do you/did you entertain your newborn? What do you do with them when they are awake?

I'm starting to feel like such a failure. Where are my mommy instincts?

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

Awwww... you are fine! There is very little you can do with a 17 day old but feed it, sometimes bathe it, and let it sleep! Trust me there will be plenty of time down the road for playing- I promise!
You are fine- I would recommend a quick walk each day-unless the weather is super awful. Even on a cold day,a bundled up babyin the stroller walk will make YOU feel better

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

oh sweety - do NOT get down on yourself!!!!

if you do a search on new mom or baby sleeping - you'll see almost ALL of us once posted, all my baby does is sleep, eat and poop....is this normal??

right now - they need their sleep...and should only be awake for short periods of time!

sleep when the baby sleeps and play when the baby is awake and alert. by play - i mean smile, talk and read to him, things like that...he can't see very far away right now - so get up close and give kisses, etc... that's all they really need right now!

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

have you tried a swing?

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

Just hold him, take him for walks, maybe try the swing. They don't need much at this age.

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

I can totally relate!! you are not alone. At that age, I found that my DS liked being in the glider, just being held and walks around the neighborhood in his stroller. The walks also made me feel better too- just to get out of the house.

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

i know how you feel! that's one of the blessings and "burdens" of such a newborn baby. i kind of felt anxious when DD and DS where so little and were doing nothing but eating sleeping and getting a diaper change. enjoy the down time now b/c your DS will be awake a lot more in just a few short weeks....and then in the coming months you'll really have to entertain him! for now, definitely get out if you can. go for walks (this is such a pretty time of year!), maybe to a store. i wore my DS in a sling and walked too sometimes around the stores. also try the swing if you have one.

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

It does get better... it'll just take time and soon he'll love all his toys. Mason loved his playmat from day one, but hated the bouncy. Now he loves the bouncy. He can sit in it for 20 mins making the animals play music.

It's nice outside... maybe go for a walk.
I remember a friend of mine said her son hated all those toys (mat, swing, bouncy) b/c he hated being on his back so the Ped recommended to put him on his belly for a little and he's so happy. Now he's rolling over and fine either way. Try it and ask your Ped if that's ok b/c they usually prefer you don't put them on their belly unless it's necessary.

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

When they're that young there isn't much "to do" with them. The best thing to do is just go about your business and have your son nearby and talk or maybe sing to him...the best thing to do IMO is to get a sling and "wear him" throughout the day. Go about your business but just have him close to you...that should be your interaction with him now, just holding him, giving him a lot of love and affection and talking or singing to him.

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

Theres not much you can do IMO..

My girls are the same age...all they do is sleep. All I do is feed them and put them back to sleep.

Once they are 12+ weeks you will find that babies become more engaed in you and activities in a way.

Just relax now...

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

It's a little rough in the beginning. DS only started actually liking his swing last week at 5 weeks old. Other than that I rotate him between the bouncy seat, swing, holding him, tummy time on the play mat and I have been taking him out so he likes car rides and being pushed in the stroller. If it's a nice day out I would definetely take him for a walk.

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

I used the swing alot and the mobile over and over and over...walks. My dd basically ate and slept at that age.

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

Honestly, use this time to just stare at him....asleep, awake ...just stare..

It goes way too fast and I wished I had taken more time to

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

you are doing everything right

even now, at 6 weeks my day consists of

feeding KJ every 3 hours (a feeding is taking 30 minutes or so)

put him in his swing/bouncy seat

let him have some tummy time and put him on his back on his play mat to look at the toys dangling down

his is just now starting to make good eye contact so now I hold him alot and sing/read/talk to him - it is never too early to start this, IMHO

Re: New Mom feeling clueless (and slowly losing mind)- How do I entertain my newborn...

No way - you are doing great. These are all normal feelings. At that stage all you can do is really move them around from the swing, bouncy seat, etc. You could sit on the couch and have him next to you. I think it's more about just holding them and meeting their needs so early. I'm on my third and finally DD is almost 4 months old and baby - not newborn. It's ok to put him in the swing and just chill out.

Enjoy.