How Do You Entertain a New Crawler?

Hi K.,
The best toys ever are pots and pans......I know crazy,
after all the money we spend trying to entertain them.
I would baby proof all your kitchen cupboards and drawers...except one or perhaps two. In these let your little one have excess to get out a few pots and pans and wooden spoons and measuring cups etc. Let her spread them all over the kitchen floor, put baby gates up where you need to keep her from not going. I swear it will occupy her for hours while she stays safe and you can get some work done providing you can see her or keep an eye on her.
This is really a fun age. Even a balloon can keep her occupied for a long time. Again with you keeping an eye on her. Put fun kids music on she will love listening to it.
One thing we did when it was winter time when my son was small. We put one of those little kids plastic swing sets and slides inside our house. It was in our family room and he absolutely loved it. You can put pillows all around for cushion when they climb. We put those tents and tubes in our family room for him to crawl through. We would put lots of books inside the tent (you can get them from the library too)
and he would literally spend a hour in the tent looking at the books. Blocks are a good toy to occupy them with.
I only have a boy so I know dinosaurs, trains and cars ocuppy them very early on . Little girls I am not so sure. I would imagine, high chairs, strollers, baby dolls etc.
Give you child objects that can expand her imagination like
a simlpe box. She might spend a long time crawling inside it,
outside it, on top of it and so forth.
good luck.
M.

I bought my son the Laugh and learn Learning home by fischer price when he was almost a year old. He is now 4 years old and has a baby brother who is now 2. They both continue to play with this toy.
So I've had this toy in my living room for quite some time and they have yet to get bored with it. Every relative who comes to visist is amazed that I still have this thing in my living room and they they are playing with it after all this time!
The toy looks like a house and has a little door that they can crawl through. It has windows to lift up and down. It teaches ABC's counting colors and plays songs they can sing. It has a clock on top of the house that teaches numbers and how to tell time.
Of all the toys they have had this one is still intact.
they only draw back is that its not an inexspensive toy.
I know too that alot of moms are against television. But my son is a visual learner so he does watch alot of educational DVD's (Brainy Baby, Baby Bumblebee) when I'm busy. My two year old can now count to 38 because of the Seaseme street DVD's.
However, your little one is crawling and discovery independance so sitting still for a DVD is probably the last thing she wants to do right now.
good luck!

You are truely blessed to be able to have these moments at home with your children and to have a helpful mother-in-law One thing I might suggest is the little crawl tubes they have now that you can always place in different places to keep it interesting and maybe hide a toy that plays music for the baby to locate the sound Back when my children were small though I would also have a set of pans wooden spoons bowls etc to make there own music Also You did not say how old your other children were I found that when my youngest was at that stage and my other two where 4 and 7 they where actually good play mates while I was engaged in other activities such as fixing lunch helping one with homework etc It seemed the baby just wanted to seem as though she was part of the big kids fun and it gave the other children a since of responsability So since you have your mother in law to help instead of her removing the other children from the home maybe have mother in law come to the home to help monitor the room while you are engaged in your at home work if the other children are school aged and not available maybe find someone in a similar in situation and trade play dates I just think Sophia just might be a social creature and might want a real friend instead of Elmo Big Bird etc

Maybe put her toy on a box for her to scoot over to. Or toys in a box for her to open and close.
A. H

K.,

Ohh, crawling; now the fun starts. :) There are some great little toys now that are pretty inexpensive. You could place a few around the living room, but make sure you gate off rooms you don't want your darling daughter to get into, because believe me, she'll get in there if you don't. My kids loved playing with something like this: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2574114

And my daughter was fascinated by toys like this: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2574131

Good luck and enjoy your beautiful baby.