Newborns: Master the Chaos
By: Pooja Mehta
Tags: Baby Activities, Baby, Motherhood, Newborns, Mom

When my son Kiaan was able to sit upright and support himself (6 months old) I felt the BIGGEST RELIEF. I thought to myself, “uhh HUGE WIN because I can finally get back to toning my arms.” Moms, I know I’m not the only one who feels like my biceps got Arnold Schwarzenegger jacked after carrying a baby around all day. Rest assured, it gets better after they start crawling. More importantly, I was excited for Kiaan to be more alert and interactive.

0–6 months was one hell of a roller-coaster. The highs felt incredibly comforting, like a cup of hot chocolate on a snowy cold day. But the lows really made me want to pull out my hair, curl up in bed and hide from it all. The lows are what made me realize how valuable it is to know that every mom goes through this. And how encouraging it is to hear stories that made me feel like everything is going to be all right.

The first few months seem like a blur, they flew by in diaper changing, nursing, learning all the different things about breast milk, decoding cries, sterilizing bottles, and all the things in between. Not only was I getting in sync with my baby to understand his needs, but I was also figuring out and making sense of the changes I was going through as a new mom. In those first 3 months, I don’t even think my son needed entertainment beyond feeding and pooping every 2 hours. But once things settled…THEN WHAT?

At some point you will master the chaos, you’ll start to realize there is time in the day to actually hang out with your baby. I felt like there wasn’t enough out there to tell you what to do with young babies! Here are some fun and interactive things I did:

Read books:

Try some touch and feel books, pop-up books, and pick up books your baby knows the song too. Here are some of Kiaan’s favorites:

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

Llama Llama Hoppity-hop by Anna Dewdney

Alpha block by Christopher Franceschelli

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the bed by Eileen Christelow

Around the farm by Eric Carle

Brown bear brown bear what do you see by Eric Carle

Follow me 123 by Igloo books

Follow me ABC by Igloo books

The itsy bitsy spider by igloo books

Everything is Mama by Jimmy Falon

Your baby’s first words will be Dada by Jimmy Falon

Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings by Matthew Van Fleet

The adventures of little Nutbrown hare by Sam McBratney

Talk!!!

I found myself talking out loud all day, often to the point where I thought I was losing all my shits. I swear, there were days where I was at the door like a lost puppy waiting for my husband to come home so I could finally speak to another adult! BUT, know your baby is listening to you and picking up on your words and sounds. Your voice is one your baby recognizes and it really does soothe and calm him. Pro Tip: try speaking to them in different languages — It keeps things a little more interesting when you’re talking to yourself all day.

Music/sing to them:

We used Spotify play lists — Overall singing became a really fun activity we did together.

Instrumental nursery music (early on, calmed Kiaan and helped put him to sleep)

Nursery rhymes (made him smile and clap)

Bollywood music (got Kiaan to kick and dance)

Prayers (soothing)

Dance together:

Sometimes you just need to boogie and bring beats and fun moves for lots of giggles and claps. This must be where Kiaan’s love for “Bongo Butts” began. Dancing and jumping around with him always brought positive energy and excitement that continuously lifts our moods.

Tummy time:

Tummy time works muscles in the neck and shoulder to make them stronger and prepare your baby to sit up, crawl, stand, and walk.

We used the boppy pillow for Kiaan, but to change things up, tummy time water mats can be a really fun alternative. They’re visually enticing with lots of color and can boost strengthening the core. Also, the floating water animals are fun for the little ones to track as the animals move around with you. DM or comment if anyone has tried the water mats — I would love to know your thoughts!

Play peek-a-boo:

You will see gradually they start to pick up on what this game is all about and their reaction is so cute!

Bubble time:

Early on, Kiaan tried eating, poking, popping and holding bubbles and as he grew a little older he tried chasing and catching bubbles by crawling and standing.

Play dates:

NO, I don’t only mean for your baby! Set plays dates for yourself WITHOUT your baby too. You need YOU time!

You may think what’s the point of all these play dates if my baby isn’t engaging or interacting with others? BUT, play dates are important for 3 main reasons: babies learn how to share their mom (which they aren’t used to), learn how to mix with others, and since all babies are different and advance in different areas — this gives your baby motivation/incentive.

Toys:

I had lots of lists of toys from various people but none that would clearly just tell me which ones to use for my really young infant. I found flash cards (foam ones), teething toys (Zoli chubby gummy teethers and silicone elephant teethers), and rattles, mobiles over the crib, and activity gyms to be the most useful for that 0–6 month period.

There are so many different things you can do with your infant early on. I touched on a few of my favorites, but for those of you looking for more, DM me and I would love to share! Also, comment below if you have other fun and interactive ideas! I would love to hear and learn from your own personal experiences. Remember, all these moments are truly amazing with your little ones, but the day they sit up and wobble around take that as a sign that life gets easier!