Those early days with a newborn are a blur of sleepless nights, baby snuggles, and diapers. With both of my girls, making sure their needs were met consumed all of my time and energy. But sometimes I wanted to do more. A few newborn activities to bond and play with the tiny sweet baby in front of me.
I don’t love the added stress of focusing on baby milestones. I am a true believer that all babies and kids meet milestones on their own time. But I do like to know which activities are appropriate for each developmental stage. I don’t want to know what activities I should be doing with my newborn. I want to know what I can do. No added pressure during an already overwhelming time, just optional fun. So after doing some research, I decided to put together a list of a few fun activities to do during the first two months with my newborn. Having all of these ideas in one place makes it easy to reference when my sleep-deprived brain can’t remember what we actually can do together (other than snuggle).
I’m not sharing this list with you all to add stress to an already challenging and high-pressured time, but to give you a few ideas for those few spare moments when you aren’t changing a diaper or feeding your baby. Also, please note that I am not a baby expert and I am not commenting on baby development or health. I’m simply sharing my own experience with some of the activities I’ve learned. I hope you’ll share your favorite ways you bonded with your newborn in comments!
1. Read Together
Reading to my girls has remained my favorite way to spend time together. Even as a newborn, your little one will love to be close to your familiar scent, voice, and heartbeat while snuggling up and reading together. I wrote about my favorite bedtime stories for newborns here, as well as why I love starting the reading habit early.
2. Skin-to-Skin
I’ve been reading about the many health benefits of skin-to-skin, which can have a positive impact on sleep, weight gain, immunity, brain development, and digestion. All of that is wonderful, but the one thing I know for sure is I love skin-to-skin for bonding time. Wrap up in a robe or cozy blanket and enjoy the snuggles.
3. Tummy Time
I feel like I hear the phrase “tummy time” constantly these days. So often that tummy time can feel like homework, not a fun way to play and bond. Personally, I’m trying to change that perspective and simply enjoy this time together when an opportunity comes up naturally. I like to do tummy time with my newborn both on a play mat and on my chest. I keep it super short (1-2 minutes) and stop if she’s not enjoying it.
4. Play Gym
A play gym is a soft, safe place to play with your baby, do tummy time, and begin to reach for objects. This is also an ideal time to help your baby stretch and use muscles in a new way, such as supported side lying position. I have this beautiful play mat and this engaging play gym.
5. Face-to-Face Time
I love this one. Face-to-face time helped me stay in the present moment and focus on my baby amidst the chaos of daily routines. Stay 8-12 inches from your newborn’s face and notice when your little one starts maintaining eye contact for a few seconds. Slowly move your face back and forth so they can practice tracking.
6. Baby Massage
Lay your baby on their back on a soft surface. Use a gentle smoothing motion to massage their torso, shoulders, arms, hands, legs, and feet. You can even buy special baby-safe lotion and oil to use for baby massage. I’ve also seen classes for baby massage, but I’ve never personally tried one. Neither of my newborns seemed to enjoy baby massage, but maybe your baby will.
7. Sensory Play
Stroke your baby’s hands, feet, stomach, and face with different textures, such as a silk scarf, washcloth, or cozy blanket. You can also explore temperature using a cotton ball, warm water, and cool water.
8. High Contrast Images
Newborns best see high-contrast black-and-white images. Some companies make special cards and books for newborns. Some toys, like The Play Gym by Lovevery, incorporate high-contrast images into the design. My newborn loves this inexpensive mobile.
This is one of those newborn activities that might be great for development, but I don’t feel is as fun for bonding. I usually keep my newborn entertained with black-and-white patterns when I’m busy with something else.
If you want to learn more, Lovevery has a helpful blog post about high contrast images.
9. Sing
Choose a few fun songs and enjoy singing to your little one. They will love it.
10. Narrate Your Day
The newborn phase is a unique time because your baby doesn’t need constant entertainment. So you may as well take this time to do activities for yourself and simply narrate what you’re doing. Read your book or magazine aloud, tell them what you’re working on, sing your favorite songs. Your little one will just love hearing the sound of your voice.
What bonding activities do you like to do with your newborn? Share in comments!
P.S. My top newborn essentials, the best bedtime stories for newborns, and things I wish I had known as a new mom.
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