What to Do with a 4 Month Old?

Hi J.:
I'm glad you asked this...I was having the same problem with my 4 mo. old. I'm not one of those super creative moms with a great baby imagination who can always come up with new ideas and games. But I read a lot to help my cause. One book that has been SO GREAT in offering age appropriate games is: Baby's First Skills by Miriam Stoppard. Check it out on amazon. It offers fun stuff to do through 12 months. We try something new every week (because mom gets bored too!). This weekend we made sock puppets and started playing "horsey." :) I also subscribe to Family Fun magazine and cut out articles and craft ideas to save for when she's older! Good luck and have fun...

Tupperware!

You don't need to buy a lot of toys to keep them interested, you just need new things.

Wood spoons, measuring cups and anything with lights. :)

I have a 4 month old and my baby loves the surfboard tummytime mat you get a walmart he realy enjoys the detachable prop-up pillow it helps hold up his body so he play with water mat that comes with it my baby also loves for me to play super baby i hold him up in the air and he laughs and soft books he likes to look and feel at the pages

Just another idea to add to your toolbox: While you go about doing your business around the house or out and about, babies LOVE to be carried in a sling or pouch, facing outwards - they're up at adult level which is highly interesting, they love the motion, watching the social interaction, they're comfy and cozy and safe. Overall, it's wonderful for their physical and social development, makes them really happy, AND it allows you to work hands-free or go out and about without a bunch of big, heavy baby gear. And our babies are so cuddly at this age, too, so I love wearing my babies as much as they love being worn! Here's a video that shows what I'm talking about (I'm a more visual learner):
http://www.tummy2tummy.com/info/videos/p-kangaroo.mov
More clips: http://www.tummy2tummy.com/info/default.asp?menu=video

A great place to check out slings and pouches in person to see if you and your baby would like something like this is to attend a local non-profit parenting group that meets once or more a month to see/try on other mom's carriers. It really helped me to talk with other moms, try on what worked for them, etc., when I was looking for a comfy way to carry my baby, keep her entertained & safe, etc. Here in Cincinnati, 2 groups that would be ideal (and both have meetings coming up soon):

Babywearing group, meets this Sat 12/2 @ 1pm at Norwood Library meeting room
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cincinnatiNINO/

API-Cincinnati, meets next Sat 12/9 @ 4pm at Norwood Library meeting room
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/API-Cincinnati/

Hope this helps!

When My youngest was 4 months we bought her the Bumbo Seat!!I Loved it and so did she! I think as long as she can hold up her head she will be fine. It runs about $40 at target but It kept her happy so $40 was a great price!!
Good luck I hope it helps!!

It is quiet typical for infants (especially at your daughters age) to get bored easily... but actually it's not boredom but rather them wanting to move on to something new and just take everything in. Your daughter is at an age where she wants to learn and that means her attention span is very short. As she gets older it will stay short when she learns to crawl and again when she learns to walk... it really isn't until kids are about 3 years old that their attention span starts to get longer.
Some ideas would be to introduce her to music. Kids love sitting on moms lap and listening to music. I also really think the activity gyms that have hanging toys are great, and so are excersaucers... which both provide excercise and entertainment.

Her attention span will not be real long, put her in postions that she can play with multiple toys maybe. Cause and effect toys, such as rattles and any toy that when you hit it, it makes noises. Do you have background noise? Like music playing in the room she is in? Does she like tummy time? Putting her on her tummy with toys around her to play with would be good if her head control would allow her to do so. Make sure she can reach them though. In the next few months she will start to transfer toys from one hand to another, you can start to work on this by giving her a toy in one hand and handing her another toy on the same side as the toy that's there, just to see what she will do. Otherwise, I'm not really sure what you can do. I hope others can help you out!

Honestly? Dance with her. Put on some music that YOU enjoy listening to, pick her up and dance. My daughter got the biggest kick out of this, because she was being held by mommy and bounced at the same time. Their needs are very simple at such a young age. Sometimes I would put her in a sling, really turn up the stereo and dance around the house so that she could look at things also. Many times, doing this got both me and her out of the doldrums.

Hi J., babies at this age don't have the cognitive ability to realize that they do the same things all the time. So she is not bored dont worry. You just probably feel that you aren't doing anything with her which is how I felt with my two oldest and my now 3 month old. Don't worry, all they need is love and some type of stimulation.
M.

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter! My youngest daughter is about 6-1/2 months old, and I started wedging her upright in her exersaucer-type playstation at about 4 months. Since she wasn't quite strong enough to hold herself upright, I wedged a blanket in front of her so that she wouldn't fall face first into the hard plastic. In no time at all she began reaching for and/or playing with the attached toys and I was able to stop using the blanket soon after that. She LOVES her playstation now!

Good luck!

I second the response about the baby sling. I used a Baby Bjorn for my two children and they loved it. At four months old too they are light and you can take them anywhere in it and they are happy. Go for walks, go shopping, etc. I'd even wear my babies around the house a lot.

Otherwise, you just have to keep them moving around... a few minutes here, a few minutes there. At this age, I don't think any babies like toys. Soon she can hold things and chew on them but probably not yet.

As far as TV goes for a 4 month old, that is up to the parents but the American Academy of Pediatricians does not advise any TV for children under 2. Just a thought.

My reccomendation definitly isn't for more than once or twice a week, but my son is 8 months old and since he was about 2 monrhs, he has been in love with Baby Einstein tapes. I let him watch them once a day.. and it's good for his attention span and learning. Plus he can just mellow out and do his thing on the floor.
Once your child is able to keep her posture, an exersaucer might be an idea too. I don't know what I would do without mine! That's my son's other love. :)
Best of luck!

Hello J.,
I made homemade mobiles and had short baby einstein videos to listen to. The really still don't have the best eye sight at that age, but the music is always great for them to listen to. Get on the floor and play sock puppet with her. Using bells and diffrent types of materials for her to feel. I had special socks that had bells on them. She was happy with that for ahile. Babies don't have really long attention spans. Its hard to keep them happy for long. The best thing is to keep doing a toy in movement. Keep some back for a couple of days then but them back out for her to play with. I also used to do baby exercises with her. My doctor gave me some ideas of what I could do for that age group so I didn't have to worry about hurting her. very slow bicycle movements, very light leg resistance and same for arms. I used a pie pan and would flick my finger against it a couple of times for diffrent sound to watch for reacations. Just not hard enough to scare her. crumple up paper or make a small drum out of an oatmeal canister. These things of course require you to be there with her, but that is the fun part of watching her reactions to these little experiments. The best part is that you alrady have some of these around your house so you don't have to spend any extra money getting them. The videos you can get at the library. Read to her lots. Even if its just from the news paper. Just hearing your voice is good for her. Hope this helps some. There are some books out that that can give you more ideas on what to do with each stage.