keeping them awake

my ds likes to sleep all day and I feel like he is not getting enough stimulation...what should I be doing ?? toys don't hold his attention for very long and he hates tummy time
he does enjoy one on one play with me talking silly and making faces but other than that, he'd just rather sleep

dd on the other hand, likes to play and is way more interactive...seems so much easier to please than ds

any suggestions??

 

I never tried to keep them awake, in many cases this can backfire and instead of sleeping comfortably the baby will then sleep more restlesslyl Sleep=sleep, I let them sleep wherever and whenever they wanted.

 

I too didn't *try* to keep them awake, unless it was too close to nighttime and I knew if I didn't provide some stimulation it would be a 3 a.m. bedtime. When they were that little during the day I would talk, read, sing to them and put them in their bouncies to "watch the fishies" - we had the Fisher Price OCean Wonders bouncer and they loved to stare at the fish.

 

I agree with Dianne. At 2 months if hes sleepy let him sleep. Just make sure to wake him to eat and maybe play for a couple minutes but if he starts dosing off let him sleep. Trust me in a couple months you will be begging him to sleep.

Oh and also both of my babies HATED tummy time they just screamed the whole time. I didn't make them lay on their tummies for too long each time and it seemed to help. I did a couple minutes at a time a few times a day and that worked much better for us than longer stretches. Now they love being on their tummies and hate their backs. Maybe get one of those tummy time mats that plays music and has pictures on it and he might like it better.


And I know it is so hard to do but try not to compare the babies to eachother. Just because they are twins does not mean they will do everything the other does at the same time. That was one of the hardest things for me to learn and I am still comparing them sometimes even though I know I shouldn't.

 

I've read a lot about this. Some babies need more sleep. While they're sleeping their brains are developing, their bodies are growing and they're getting the rest they need to explore and observe while they're awake. According to HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS HAPPY CHILD a child that sleep a lot will not be slower to develop or suffer from lack of stimulation. I wouldn't keep him up.

 

Let the little guy sleep. Well rested babies are happier and more likely to play when they are awake. Just think of it from his point of view. When you haven't gotten enough sleep you don't feel very happy and all you want to do is rest. And 3 month olds don't normally like tummy time, but just remember that even 5 minutes of tummy time is good.

 

I agree with the PP's. My boys slept a lot at 2 months. And really, they didn't really do anything with toys til closer to 5 months or so (they were 6 weeks premature).