Playtime with 8 Month Old

Hi this is C., I am a new mom too and I have a 9 month old. I felt exactly the same way you did. But I have to tell you he is getting enough stimulation and your such a good mom for being conerned. They will have short attention spans for awhile that means they are ready to move on to the next phase which might be crawing. Once my son started crawling his whole world changed he can entertain himself for a long time. Hang in there your doing great, he is getting exactly what he needs. Just relax and have fun he is only little once. I started my son on zwieback toast you can get it anywhere and they hold it and just crush it with there gums or teeth if he has some. If he can handle that (just keep an eye on him) then you can cut up bananas and maybe some dried fruit that melts in there mouth he knows if he is ready and give it a few days for him to pick up the chewing part. Please feel free to write me I am going through all the same stuff. But its just trial and error.

I can appreciate what your going thru, as I have a 2 yr old who is house bound with me because my newborn is on oxygen and we cant go far from her machine. Anything can be a toy at any age. She loves playing with my tupperware containers and pretend to cook, yes even at 8 months they can pretend like that. One thing to be careful with though, is not to do too much playing for him, or someday he wont be able to entertain himself, especially if you have more children and need to feed the baby or get other things done. To teach your baby to crawl, the best thing to do is place some favorite toys just out of his reach and encourage him to get it. Cheer him on loudly no matter what he does. My kids and I always had fun with this. Another game you could play to help with the crawl is when he does reach for the toy, move it slightly ahead and say things like uh oh, or come and get it. Stop if he gets frustrated. As for feeding, I put down a mat on the floor under the highchair and let them go for it. My daughter use to hold her spoon in one hand and eat with the other, it was cute. Yes it will be messy but they learn very quickly how to do it. Finger foods are best for this. I hope this helps!

My son is now 2 1/2 but he was born in Dec so as soon as warm nice weather came he was about 5 months...He became and outdoors kid!!! We spent most of the day outside...Even naps sometimes!!! We went to the park, took stroller rides, went swimming...Whatever we could to keep busy! I even just brought him out side and let him crawl around and explore! I know that the weather is changing, but there is still SO much you could try out!!! Even something as simple as reading to him...Not just at night! Also my son LOVED and continues to LOVE Baby Einstein DVDS!!! I let him watch one a day when he was little...They are only a half an hour long! Got a bit of "mommy" time in as well!!! :) Don't be afraid to get out and take him places...Some dude's playgound, Parks, even indoor swimming!!! :)

Hi M.,

I have a 10 month old and know how you feel. At this age the whole world is stimulation because it is a new discovery. You may want to give him more opportunities to be on his tummy so that he can try to explore and learn to entertain himself. The more he is on his tummy the more he will want to move around to see what you are doing. My son was so big that I could hardly hold him and I think that is why he learned to crawl and now walk because he had time on the floor to develop those muscles. Every baby is different so I wouldnt worry at all about his not crawling yet. Some babies never crawl and go straight to walking but he is still young and most of my friend babies didnt crawl until they were at least 9 months or older. I felt the same way and would call people every day with questions because you dont know what to do, but there really is no right answer other then let your baby tell you when he is ready for things. If he seems interested in what you are eating you can start him off with some steamed vegetables that are really soft. A great snack that isnt too messy is Veggie puffs and he can start to learn to feed himself with those. (they dissolve fast) They are in the baby section of the grocery store. Fruit that can be easily swallowed like little pieces of bananas are great too. I can tell you are a great mom because you are thinking about his best interests. Try new things, but at the end of the day your baby is very loved and feels it, and that is most important.

S.

I highly recommend allowing your son to play on his own a fair amount. I feel that it is important for him to learn to entertain himself and you will be glad you did when he gets older. Sure, he is going to get tired of the activities after a while, but that's why you have variety. Try offering one or two toys at a time. When he tires of them, remove them and offer a couple of different toys. It is also okay to let him cry for a while. This will help him to learn that you don't have to jump up to meet his every want. As far as learning to crawl, allowing him to get bored and then mad while playing on the floor might aid in him learning how to crawl. A lot of times they make their first forward motions because they are really mad.... and then it goes from there. I also wouldn't worry about him crawling much yet. He is still pretty young and children develope their skills at varying ages. My youngest son didn't crawl until he was eleven months old but started to walk a month later. Also, some kids never actually "crawl" in the sense that we think they should. My friends son's version of crawling was an army crawl. I feel as though I've rambled but I hope I've helped maybe a little.

Hi M.!

My son is 13 months old, so I know how you're feeling! As far as what to play with, I found that very ordinary things were facsinating to him when he was that age (still are, actually!). Jack really liked to play with empty gallon milk jugs. Sometimes I'll put a little bit of water in them and put the top back on...he loves to shake it around. Balls & boxes of all sizes are great toys for that age too. He might like Little People, if for no other reason he can stick them in his mouth. Pots & pans are good, plastic containers with lids, big plastic spoons, measuring cups...the kitchen is a treasure trove of toys. I also put on "shows" with his stuffed animals singing & dancing to music (my son LOVES music). I would also pick him up & dance with him. Plus I gave him a lot of books & let him "read" (a.k.a. tear up) my magazines when I was done with them. Now he can actually sit still long enough for a story and knows how to turn the pages. I found that no matter what I gave him though, he would quickly lose interest and be on to something new.

As far as crawling, I think they really just have to figure that out on their own. Jack didn't crawl until almost 10 months, but now he's walking. It seemed like he would never crawl (he could stand & walk holding onto our hands long before he could crawl), he spent several months army crawling/slithering on his belly. But then all of a sudden in the same week he learned to crawl & to pull himself up on stuff (other than his crib side or our hands) and he started really crusing along everything. Almost a month ago started walking.

As far as feeding himself, if he grans for his spoon, give it to him and let him try to feed himself. At first, I just gave Jack an empty baby spoon while I fed him with a different spoon so he could get used to maneuvering it to his mouth, with minimal mess. Then with thicker food (like mashed potatoes) I gave him the spoon with a little food on it. I also gave him lots of finger foods, like little cut up green beans, little pieces of soft bread, little cheese chunks (I loved the Crumbles by Kraft...no cutting!), flaked fish, blueberries, peas, etc. and let him feed himself while I fed him from a spoon. Then I bought a baby fork and started using that for some of the finger foods, around 10 months or so. Now he can eat from his bowl, he eats little sandwhiches by himself, and can use a fork and spoon proficiently (although the spoon is still messy, since it doesn't hold the food like a fork does!). Of course he has't mastered putting the food on the utensil yet, but that coming.

I hope this helps!
M.

You could try taking your son to a playgroup to get both him and you out of the house. He might enjoy playing with other kids, instead of always being at home. They have playgroups at Family to Family in Henderson for his age group. The best thing is that they are free. The phone number is ###-###-####. When my son was your son's age I took him to classes at the Rec Centers in Henderson. They have a few classes for his age group and they are very reasonably priced. My son didn't start to crawl until I started to take him to play groups where he saw other kids doing it. After a few times he started to crawl on his own.

If you are looking for things to do at home, you can always do things like find stuff around the house to play with. My son always liked playing with empty paper towel rolls, pots and pans, plastic cooking utensils and that kind of stuff. He was always just as amused with things like that just as much as the expensive toys. I also got a plastic container about the size of a shoe box and filled it with different color and size dried beans. I let him play in it kind of like a sandbox. I still use that with my son. He likes to use cups to pour the beans and play with them. (You can also use rice or cornmeal) The best thing is if they eat a little it's safe (however keep an eye on him).

In regards to the question about allowing your son to self feed, you could probably start giving your son Cherios to start. You don't have to worry about him choking because they disolve. You could also try small chunks of banana. My pediatrician said that they can pretty much have anything at that age as long as it isn't really hard. (Like I wouldn't give him chunks of meat that is hard to chew). My son loved toast at 8 months. I would cut it into little cubes and he would feed it to himself.

Hopefully some of this helps.

M.
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Hope this helps
A.

I have a 15 month old and i got her a fisher price monkey that strolls along the floor and she took off. You would know it if you saw it. Tummy time is key even if the child doesn't like it. Divina hated it but I put her on her belly anyway. For feeding herself I just offered the fork and spoon with every meal and helped her SOMETIMES!!! She only picked it up about a month ago and is still not so good. Offer foods that are easy to gum and stuff. Cereal bars, green beans, peas, and any soft meat!!! Hope a was of help

P.S. I tried to rush Divina to keep up with the AVERAGE... Remember it is just an average so dont rush your little one. They are smarter then we think and pick it all up.

he will start to crawl on his own big babies are slower at learning this mine were ten pounds at birth lol and babies dont get bored playin the same games over n over they just love your attention start by giving him cherioes and crackers at his high chair its healthy and he will start to get the idea on his own kat