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I have my adorable little 10 month old miracle boy (he survived nearly dying twice when he was born due to a shit ton of complications) and I have no idea what I can do with him other than toys, tickling, peekaboo, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (the last of which is reserved for if I need to cook dinner lol). We read a lot during the day and also after bath time but I'm more or less looking for things to do with him during the day, mainly at home. Crafts? Is he too young for crafts? Lol. We just bought him these rubber blocks and I stack them and he knocks them over, but he hasn't made an attempt to stack them himself yet - he's more into "peglegging" (dragging himself around the room with one leg tucked under him LOL) until he finds something to get into or a toy that interests him other than the cat or dog LOL. We walk around the block for a bit every day just to get out of the house, but I have an extreme anxiety with driving - especially with him in the car - and so going places isn't really an option (at least until I get better with driving lol...I know that's sad).
Also, talk to me about food. He's eating with his hands now and turns his nose up at the spoon haha. We've been cutting up different fruits and giving him small veggies like peas and corn, but he prefers Cheerios, raviolis (cut up), and Spaghetti O's (the last two I remove the sauce). He'll eat most other things though as long as it's not on a spoon, but I need ideas.
And last but not least...is it terrible he's not on a strict schedule like "this is the exact hour he wakes up, takes a nap, etc."? He wakes up anywhere from 5:30 (ugh) to 8:30, but usually between 7-8, and goes down between 8-8:30 at night. The rest of the day is dependent on when he wakes up.
He can do sensory stuff right now. Fill a water bottle with rice, bright pom poms, water/glitter, etc. Just be sure to glue the cap on tight. He can experiment with shaking them and rolling them around. You also can let him finger paint with pudding. Put shaving cream and food dye in a big Baggie, tape it to the floor and let him smoosh it.
As far as food, stop the canned crap, it isn't the best for him. Try instead...
Steam fresh veggies- so easy
Pasta with EVOO
Small shreds of chicken or tender meats
Small cubes of cheese
Yogurt
Avacado
A pot roast, potatoes and carrots is always so easy!
Basically anything you eat, just make sure it isn't spicy.
My kids were never on a super strict schedule. They would sleep anywhere and pretty much just went with the flow so I'm no help there!
As nutbagmcgee said, he can do sensory things. If you have a decent sized box or container, totally add some rice in. To make it more eye catching or interesting, add food coloring to it. Add some blue to one rice bowl, green to the other, you get it. Then mix it all up.
2. Finger painting inside a little Ziploc bag or something is an awesome idea as well.
3. This might be a waste of tape, lol, but if you use some masking tape or velcro strips, you can tape some of his toys to the floor and act as if you need his help to unstick it.
4. Are you able to build some sort of '' obstacle course ''? He can navigate using solid objects (chairs, couches, boxes, etc) Add some pillows or low boxes so he can crawl over things and navigate his way around. May be a bit of a hassle to move furniture like that around though!
5. You can try building a fort or something. If you have a table that you can use, lay a blanket over it. Add some pillows underneath the table and play peekaboo or just let him explore his new cave/fort area.
6. Fill an empty tissue box with different types of fabric (scarves for example, (and different colors!) and encourage him to pull them out.
7. If he has a toy that makes music or something, hide it somewhere (easy for him to find of course or he'll lose interest) and get him to try and find it.
8. Singing and dancing? Lol
9. Crafts are always fun with kids. You can use non-toxic paint and have him get a feel of it. Finger painting, foot painting, etc. If you're worried about mess, drop down some newspaper or something and put poster boards over it.
10. There are also some different crayon options. There are some crayola triangles so he can easily grab them and draw with them or big round crayola crayons. Whatever works best for him. Let him go to town drawing.
11. Stickers are fun. Animal stickers, car stickers, any type of stickers basically.
12. Bath time can be made much more fun with simple colors. If you freeze some ice cubes with food coloring in them, there will be different colors of ice cubes that you can drop in a bath and let him play with and watch them as they melt. (They end up melting and looking like giant clouds so it's cool to see)
Or take different bowls, add water, food coloring to each and let him mix and splash.
Apparently I'm big into colors, lol!
13. Also, you can build him a sensory board. There are tutorials online and different options of what to add to your sensory board.
14. Also, not saying you should just toss him in front of a TV, but if ever you need to do some cleaning, cooking or just want to do something else, don't be afraid to put on some Baby Einstein or something educational. Baby Einstein teaches colors, shapes, numbers, alphabets, etc. It's pretty mesmerizing actually. As long as he's not watching it all day everyday, I don't think you need to worry much. Just so you can get things done or catch a break.
There's also nursery rhymes. TeeHee Town, Chu Chu TV, etc. You'll find more in the recommended section on one of the video's. Try different options and see what your son likes most. You can sing and dance along. You can find Baby Einstein and nursery rhymes on YouTube!
As far as food, mashed bananas or simply give him a banana if you are more into BLW. Soft carrots, soft broccoli, any type of vegetable that's cooked and soft so he can easily bite and chew. Anything you eat is A okay.
And as far as schedules, routine and consistency. The routine you mentioned actually seems pretty normal for his age. He doesn't have to get up a certain hour time frame everyday. As long as he (and you
Wow. Not sure why my post is cut off at the end BUT *As long as he and you know what to expect. Children are comforted by routines because they know what to expect everyday. (and parents can get through the day easier knowing that their kid will go to bed at some point so they can have time to themselves)
I agree with the above posts, but I have a little bit of downer disclaimer that may or may not apply to you with regards to any activities. Some 10 month olds just don't have that long of an attention span. It frustrated me so much when I bought or spent time preparing the perfect activity for my LO and he just. didn't. care. Or he gave it a cursory look over for about 2 mins and left me with a mess of rice/flour/fingerpaint to clean up.
I tried a ton of stuff but what he liked most at that age was (this will be controversial hehe) singing and dancing to the nursery rhymes from MotherGooseClubPlayhouse or SuperSimpleSongs on YouTube. It's free and bonus he pretty well learnt his alphabet and to count to ten from them.
In between going outside and playing in the dirt, these channels kept me sane. Trying to entertain my son was hard (for me) at that age. I'm not proud of it, (and I kinda chuckle at how I'd have gotten torn apart on here around that period of time if I were a YouTube mum) but they perfectly engage a toddler where storyline-cartoons do not.
I'm so happy now he's two and lovessss colouring and pretend play with fake food and trucks and reading books! He'd much rather sing his own garbled made up songs and wrestle his dad. And it's glorious.
maplecross wrote:I agree with the above posts, but I have a little bit of downer disclaimer that may or may not apply to you with regards to any activities. Some 10 month olds just don't have that long of an attention span. It frustrated me so much when I bought or spent time preparing the perfect activity for my LO and he just. didn't. care. Or he gave it a cursory look over for about 2 mins and left me with a mess of rice/flour/fingerpaint to clean up.
I tried a ton of stuff but what he liked most at that age was (this will be controversial hehe) singing and dancing to the nursery rhymes from MotherGooseClubPlayhouse or SuperSimpleSongs on YouTube. It's free and bonus he pretty well learnt his alphabet and to count to ten from them.
In between going outside and playing in the dirt, these channels kept me sane. Trying to entertain my son was hard (for me) at that age. I'm not proud of it, (and I kinda chuckle at how I'd have gotten torn apart on here around that period of time if I were a YouTube mum) but they perfectly engage a toddler where storyline-cartoons do not.
I'm so happy now he's two and lovessss colouring and pretend play with fake food and trucks and reading books! He'd much rather sing his own garbled made up songs and wrestle his dad. And it's glorious.
All this to say, well, it really gets better!
HAHA! I have to laugh at this because:
1. The sensory thing is exactly what happened
and 2. We've been using Super Simple Songs on YouTube and he is (ashamedly) hooked. I just forgot to mention that haha. He gets a lot more of that than MMC. But as you said, the attention span...most times he will sit and watch if it's a specific song (Itsy Bitsy Spider, Find Me Something Blue/Pink, etc.) but most of the time as I mentioned before he just "peglegs" on the floor to his toys or other things.
I suggest take him outside. Not just for a walk in a stroller, but to a playground. When mine was that age, songs and plucking the grass, watching older children play, trying to climb up the slide, sitting and splashing in a little puddle and crawling around in the sunshine were the only things that would keep her attention. I feel like I put a lot of emphasis on having toys and activities available (and you should offer an activity once a day..just tape down a piece of paper and toss out a couple of crayons, or give him a couple of ice cubes to smear around/throw on the ground) and now that she's ginalky nearly 3 she's starting to play with these for a sustained time on her own. Also..maybe a ball pit?
