Activities to Involve both baby and toddler.

[sixzigma]

DS1 is 25mo and DS2 is 5mo.

How do working mom manage those after office hours ?
I come back from office ,pick up DS1 from day care and join DS2 who is with the baby sitter at home.My office works leaves me with very little energy by the time I am back but I manage to prepare lunch for both , give both of them a shower .But that is it ! I am looking for ideas and suggestions to connect more with the kids during that part of weekdays.

 

[mummyruston]

I have a very diff age gap as my DD is 3.5yo and DS is 4w old. But I tend to play with her when he sleeps.

Can your DS2 sit up unaided? If so maybe all sit around and do games? You could try playing something like snap, colour matching games and just talk to your DD2 and let him watch?

I think your DS2 could possibly he entertained watching you and your DD1 play if you tell him what you're doing and handing him things here and there to include him?

 

[sixzigma]

will give that idea a shot ! thatnk honey .yes DS2 does sit with some support though .But we can manage a game sitting around !!

 

[catty]

some of the simple things we do when id rather sit and watch is -
get a top and tail bowl, fill it with bubby water and let them wash there plastic toys, giving them baths. sometimes we brush there teeth and do there hair haha. once baby was old enough to sit she would try and join in or just watch.

building blocks, my youngest has always tried to join in even if she couldnt do it at all she likes to knock them down.
get a big box of toys out, throw them all over the floor and get them to tidy up haha.
reading books, my youngest used to always try and steal the book so she got her own whilst me and ds read.
put music on amd let them dance around, usually one on my hip and one dancing then they swap over
mine have a very close age gap so alot of things are good fun for both of them.

 

[MindUtopia]

I don't have a second yet, but this is what I would do if I did. Most of my evening after I finish up work is devoted to getting dinner cooked and on the table and general tasks around the house done before bedtime. I pick my daughter up at 5 and she goes up for bed at 7. In between, we play and cook/eat dinner. If you need to get tasks done, like dinner, I would have your older one help - my daughter 'helps' by standing at the counter on a chair putting veg and things (not meat or fish obviously) that I chop up into the pot for dinner - and then wear the younger one in a wrap or sit up in a highchair next to the counter so that they can also see what you're doing. You can talk about what you're doing so both have a chance to interact with you and the younger one gets lots of language exposure. If I need to do dishes or something else my daughter can't help with, I set her up at a little table in the kitchen to play with playdoh or draw while I do what I need to do and we talk about what she's doing and how her day was (if I had a younger one, I'd do this with the little one in a wrap so they could see everything I was doing and get to spend time close to me). Then when all that is finished and while dinner cooks, we usually sit down together and read books or do sticker books or play with legos. A smaller one could sit on your lap and listen or watch what you're doing or practice handling some of the larger legos or a similarly baby appropriate toy. Really the little ones don't need a whole lot of entertainment. They'll be happy to just watch you and what you're doing with your older one, so whatever he likes to do would be a fun activity to involve them both in. Singing songs together is good too.

 

[Dolly84]

I have an almost 2yr old ds and a 4 month old dd , we blow bubbles (sometimes ds blows them at dd other times I pretend dd blows them while ds runs thru them)😂, we draw, in fact we put dd down on the floor on paper and draw around her,😭, they love it. We paint too but this gets very messy with both. Sitting on the floor rolling the ball to each other. Playing snap cards while the youngest watches too xxx

 

[apple_20]

Mine are 27months apart. Some games they both enjoy are bubbles, blocks, singing abd dancing, instruments, and messy play (It tends to be food we play with as baby would try abd eat paint)