Mabel is easily bored. Her 3 second attention span to any activity seems to have happened literally over night (although I believe it started as soon as she learnt to crawl at the speed of light and more recently stand up AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY). And probably for the first time since she arrived, I am well and truly out of answers and to be honest, energy.
Mabel as I’m sure I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions is a happy, sunny little girl. If we’re out and about she’s delighted – anywhere will do. She loves nothing more than to absorb a new environment and people watch (she’ll often wave and smile at complete strangers, My Mabel certainly knows how to work a crowd…) but at home it’s become an entirely different story.
We play peekaboo, we sing nursery rhymes, we make a right ruddy racket on her very own mini orchestra complete with drum, xylephone and tambourine. We play fetch the ball, we fit brightly coloured plastic shapes into their rightful places, we dance to the various tunes on her vast array of battery operated musical baby laptops/pianos/pull along telephones….and there lies the problem. All of these toys and she just seems disinterested after what feels like no time at all. And as much as I love my daughter to the ends of the earth and beyond, it would be nice for her just to sit down and be entertained by something for ten minutes rather than just her Daddy or I. Even if it’s just so I can put the washing on, make a cup of tea or heaven forbid, actually get the opportunity to check my emails.
I think I may have been very spoilt in the last twelve months. Mabel would sit in her Bumbo and later her highchair and be more than happy to bash a wooden spoon or watch In The Night Garden. She would sit on her playmat and laugh her head off at anything that squeaked or rattled, be more than content to take things out of a draw and put them back in again…..but no, not anymore. There have been tears and tantrums even attempting to get her in her highchair.
What the hell happened?! Is it simply because she is more mobile she wants to do more?
James is going away soon on a ski trip with friends and I could really do with some advice and suggestions on what might entertain Mabel at home whilst it’s just us, are there any stimulating wonder products your littles particularly love?
The main issue is that I literally can’t take my eyes off her at the moment, she is so strong willed and fearless – as much as we’ve child proofed the house a fall is a fall. Do any of you have a playpen? And if so which brand/model? I’m thinking it might be an option particularly for the kitchen whilst I’m preparing meals and whatnot.
If you could share your experiences and recommendations in the comments section it would be massively appreciated!
Thanks a million in advance folks.
Bricks!!! Build a tower. Knock down a tower. Build a tower. Knock down a tower. Meanwhile mummy has built a princess castle. (Yes I like bricks too). Hattie loved playing with her bricks, I bought some beautiful ones from hamleys in lovely pastel shades and some have pretty heart decorations on. (Perfect for the aforementioned castle building).
Otherwise, and I’m sure you’ve looked, the Pinterest “moms” have some serious diy ideas. “Sensory boxes” look fab, especially the coloured rice (depending on how much Mabel puts in her mouth). Hattie would love different containers of those coloured pom poms and a variety of utensils (spoons of different sizes, little tongs etc) to move them from one container to another and then tip on floor and then in another.
I think anything that works in an ” open invitation” form holds their attention better as they can choose how they want to play with it and there is no “set” way to play. Think Montessori style ideas. Otherwise at this age, Hattie loved her little slide and trampoline (early learning centre – give Mabel a few months and she’ll be up and down a slide in no time). Ours lived in the playroom and were only little. Also we had an inflatable car ball pit which she loved to splash about in.
Books, the “that’s not my” series are great for this ago, sturdy, colourful with different textures on each page. Hattie loved “reading” her books on her own. (Yes they are all now ruined from violent page turning and trying to eat the cute fluffy penguin).
A good musical selection was a life saver, sounds like you’ve got a lot, but the cheap little maracas and things with Bells on (oh yes so musical me) and clapper things were always a winner.
Mabel is just super excited to be experiencing all these new wonderful things and I’m sure that’s why they don’t want to spend too much time doing one thing, because there is always another adventure to be had. Or another lipstick of mummy’s to eat.
Xxx
Thanks for the super suggestions Emily! I genuinely hadn’t thought about the brick option – great idea. I have seen a few things on pinterest it’s just having the time to do them, I don’t want to continually just “buy” things necessarily but it’s my only real option at the moment.
We are looking at buying her a swing for her birthday so will definitely have a look at the slide and trampoline x
Also Emily I would Love LOVE a playroom – a spare “room” for this is on the wishlist for the next house! x
Have a look at The Imagination Tree website! Lots of ideas.
Will do! Thanks so much Laura!
Ooh we have a similar ‘strong willed’ little lady! I’ve got Niema a little kitchen and some beautiful alphabet blocks from Janod for her birthday… and hoping they’ll entertain for a few minutes! We’ve had the same issue with tonnes of toys though – no interest whatsoever because opening the DVD cupoard and throwing each one over her shoulder is activity of choice. I recently moved her toy crate out of the lounge and put it under the stairs and for the first time ever she crawled off, sat in it and played. I’m CONVINCED it is because she thinks I took it off her and she’s not allowed it.
Otherwise I think they are just keen to be involved in everything mummy does. Mummy’s dinner is better, the dishwasher is obviously more fun than a jigsaw and Niema sat watching the washing machine go round the other day for far longer than she’ll watch Cbeebies.
We’re massively into emptying… other than it being annoying to have your clean, ironed laundry all over the floor I figure if I just check my handbag/laundry bin/crate of veggies for potential hazards and then just let her sit throwing everything around then it saves me money on new toys!
I’ve not got a playpen. I keep threatening to but I know she would just scream and hate it but I have gone with extra stair-gates to keep areas of downstairs to a ‘slightly safer zone’ She is up the stairs if they’re left open for even a second.
We tried hand painting and colouring pens at the weekend (she did a handprint for her BFF’s 1st birthday today) She enjoyed doing a little scribble!
Ahh it gets so much easier when they talk!!
I think Mabel is frustrated at not being able to talk – she is trying to communicate all the time. And my hand bag is also a toy of choice for Mabel, although only for 2 minutes!
She used to LOVE In The Night Garden but not interested anymore, there must be something else she’ll enjoy surely?! x
In terms of TV, have you tried the fresh hell that is Peppa? She’s a whingey spoilt brat, but does keep small children entertained for an inordinate amount of time. Failing that, my daughter is particularly keen on watching people open kinder surprise eggs on YouTube. And if you have a smart-tv (or virgin, or anything else which has a YouTube app) you don’t even have to give up your phone so they can do it…!
Electronically, the cbeebies app is really very good, and they can wash dinosaurs and draw and all sorts, which doesn’t require anything like as much supervision as real crafts do. Tomy hide n squeak eggs were a big hit at that age, but they are a massive PITA to keep all the pieces of.
My best tip though, which my mum gave to me, is to have two separate bags of toys (including one or two big ones). Rotate them weekly, so that they look more interesting and aren’t available all the time, it might pique her interest a bit more.
And just get on with what you need to do. She will learn to entertain herself and a little bit of grizzling because you’re not giving her 100% of your attention really won’t hurt her, especially if it’s interspersed with mummy-playtime.
I second Peppa, and agree she is a huge spoilt bitch, but Fred loves George! He’s also become a huge fan of Ben and Holly too, perfect for when I want to have a quiet breakfast by myself lol! (Having said that Fred’s younger then Mabel at 8 months, and only crawls backwards at the moment, so this may all change once he’s more mobile!)
Ha ha glad it’s not just me who thinks Peppa is a spoilt brat! I’ll see what Mabel thinks – so odd that she just completely lost interest in the Night Garden!
The separate toy bag is a great idea!
Oh that made me laugh out loud!!! My daughter is obsessed with the you tube videos. Especially the kinder egg opening, and “hello disney collector here”. Thinking it couldn’t get any worse she has now progressed to mine craft videos. “Stampylonghead” is her current favourite. Oh how I hate you tube!
Oh I can’t stand peppa pig either. I haven’t even watched more than one but I just can’t deal with the illustration!? (Tracey Beaker is rationed for the same reason) We live on Charlie and Lola – Lauren Child is such a staple part of our family life and I swear my children are so articulate thanks to that lady! And if on YouTube watch Pocoyo. He’s the most adorable and the design is perfect!
If shes having a hard time with her communication have a look at baby sign – http://www.babycentre.co.uk/a547348/baby-signing – friends of my parents little boy was having *such* a hard time with his communication he would literally bash his head of the wall/floor etc, until they used this. Its meant to help in the meantime but also encourage language development in general…and sign isn’t just for the Deaf. Also learning a new skill might hold her attention??
Yes, this sounds exactly like my daughter. I will definitely be checking back later to read through the comments. I use our a travel cot as a play pen. For keeping my daughter busy, I have found household items to be more interesting than toys – my daughter loves playing with jam jar lids and also dried pasta (moving it to container to container) at the moment
Pasta is a good idea! I did wonder about using the travel cot, ours is quite small though. Mabel is a fan of the sweetener dispenser – she uses it as a musical instrument…..
it gets much easier when the weather improves and you can spend time outdoors. I don’t think it’s unusual for a 1 yr old to have a limited attention span and I actually found it the hardest stage. toy wise David liked his farm and his v tech baby walker at that age. it does get better and by the time she is 18 months will be able to do so much more!
Kathryn I can’t wait for the better weather! That’s the main problem I think – she doesn’t like being stuck in the same four walls. I’m hoping I can find a few (semi) attention grabbing things to amuse her if even for 10 minute periods just so I can get things done around the house x
Isabelle is just coming up to ten months so I love reading your posts about Mabel. I feel it is preparing me for what is just around the corner! Although isabelle is off crawling everywhere she will sit and play with her Toot Toot animal safari, even though it does take up some of our living room space it was a good purchase. Isabelle’s main aim at the moment is to totally destroy it and I rebuild it each evening but it keeps her entertained. We’ve bought a couple of extras for it now and it’s gradually growing but she loves the songs, moving parts and animals. Hope you find something to entertain your adventurous little one! X
Thanks Samantha – will go and check the safari out now! Mabel does like to destroy things….. (!) x
Oh we just got the Toot Toot safari too! My husband took them on a rainy day outing to the toy shop and Alice was obsessed so despite saying we categorically did not need any more toys we now have a big plastic track. She does love it though! x
Samantha this looks fab! Also seems to be a good investment as you can buy the extra bits and pieces. There is quite a price difference depending on where you look. For anyone reading this comment, in Babies R Us it’s £28.99 where as Argos it’s £39.99 x
Yes, I couldn’t believe the difference in price between stores. We bought it from Babies R Us and received a free play mat at the time. We have the main safari, the bear cave and an extra set of animals. It can be loud at times with everything going at once but Isabelle loves it.
We’re even considering packing it all up for our week in the Lake District next week!
I think we are definitely going to invest! Thanks so much for he tip x
Morning Charlotte, well this made me giggle and sound all too familiar. My Sofia is 15 months now and literally does not stop for a single second, she is exhausting. As you have described she also has a short attention span, she doesn’t like to sit now that she has found her feet (understandable I guess). I find she flits between various toys and books and entertains herself that way. For her first birthday some of her favourite gifts were the Leap frog singing octopus and the early learning centre kitchen walker. She also loves books. I must admit I am starting to notice that her attention span is getting better, I guess it comes with age.
Good luck and I hope she has a lovely birthday. Xx
Thanks Louise! I’m hoping Mabel will show more interest in books soon – she has so many lovely ones. At the moment it’s only the one that plays nursery rhymes and I have to sing and clap and jig about to keep her interested (at least it’s keeping me fit!!!)
I have no idea what Leap frog singing Octopus is but it sounds hilarious! these folk that design kids toys must have the best time! x
http://www.amazon.co.uk/LeapFrog-19179-Peek-a-Shoe-Talking-Octopus/dp/B004MWJLFC
Here is the octopus. I know all the words now. God what has my life become!!
Thanks Louise! I am going to Babies R Us at lunchtime so will definitely have a look around for this! x
I used to use the travel cot as a temporary playpen as I could then bring it into whichever room I was in, whether I needed to do half an hour’s work or just load the dishwasher. I’d put a load of toys inside it and Milo would sit there for a bit & play, although unfortunately not for much longer than 10-15 minutes as he did have the attention span of a flea.
As Kathryn said above, it’s a really intensive stage as they’re on the move and into everything but can’t talk so it is hard sometimes. The ‘that’s not my…’ books were great as someone suggested earlier, although he did essentially just chew them at that stage, as were some of the Melissa and Doug wooden jigsaws – although he obviously couldn’t do them, he did play with the dinosaurs etc that came out of them for a while. Someone told me too that it’s a good idea to rotate the toys so that they seem ‘new’ so I had two toy boxes and would use one for a week then put them away and use the other box for a week. Not sure it really helped though!
Ultimately though he needed a huge amount of interaction and hardly ever sat still once he learned to move (still doesn’t!) but it was definitely easier when the sun was shining and we could get out in the garden and he discovered the joys of playing with mud!
Ha ha! I’m not looking forward to the mud aspect that much (!) but I can’t wait for Mabel to be able to go in the garden. Someone else mentioned toy rotation and it definitely seems like a good idea – worth a try! x
Hello 🙂 I’m an Early Years bod, so hopefully I can be sort-of-useful.
In all the early years settings I have worked, I have found that some Little People can be occupied for ages with one thing, whereas other Little People prefer a fast turnaround! All of them develop the skill of self-amusement though (actually, having said that, I definitely haven’t..)!
I second the recommendation for The Imagination Tree, such a wonderful site. The lovely thing about this age is you don’t have to spend much money at all to keep them occupied: heuristic play is usually a winner! Loo rolls are good, as are plastic boxes of different sizes: all the better if you can find some non-‘chokeable’ objects for Mabel to put in, and tip out, and put in, and tip out!
Does Mabel have a Treasure Basket? These are wonderful and can be made up of whatever bits you have in the house: a Google image search will give you an idea. Discovery bottles are also an easy DIY option: any empty little bottles (we use the Panda Pops ones) filled with water, glitter, food colouring and then glued shut) keep them occupied for ages: they’re also quite soothing for little minds!
Purchase-wise: it’s great to have bags of toys that are ‘different but the same’ to develop their understanding. Different textured balls (great painting opportunity also, haha!) in one bag, little cars, different shapes/material of brick.. One bag will take them a while to discover all the elements of!
Once it’s a tiny bit warmer then I would recommend investing in a plastic tray to put at ground level, then all sorts of sensory play opportunities can be realised: pasta, jelly, etc!
Happy Playing! x
Alice’s favourite for ages has been the Happy Land stuff from ELC or Mothercare. The little people are small enough to entertain them but safe enough for little hands. The bus is a big favourite as she loves putting the people in and out. For hours! That and the house and she has played with them both so much since her first birthday. We now have a whole collection.
She’ll soon go back to playing nicely, its just that exploring phase of not really knowing what she wants. As someone else said put toys away for a few weeks then they seem new and exciting again. Failing that both mine loved a few bowls, a wooden spoon and some pegs to put in and out!
Oh and again, Peppa!! Alice is obsessed and doesn’t move from it!
Good luck.
x
Only a few weeks to go until our little monkey arrives, so reading with interest.
But, having worked with little folks in various capacities, I’d second using a Montessori philosophy and encouraging exploratory/imaginative play that incorporates learning. So, loving the blocks, farm animals, zoo animals, peg people, bricks, different shapes and sizes etc.
Another idea stolen from my mother is using wildlife DVDs and documentaries instead of cartoons/children’s programmes per se. I guess she was lucky that my brothers and I were interested in animals very early, but from around Mabel’s age we would be shoved in front of Attenborough VHSs. Things like Planet Earth are great as the scenes/animals featured change regularly… and then of course there’s the most soothing voice in the world in the background!
Ooh. How about a jumperoo or bouncing zebra type thing (technical description alert!) My little one loved his at that age and I could get on for a little while. Our local facebook mums selling site often has second hand ones on for about £35.
Well mine is only 10 weeks and currently finds the living room lamp the most entertaining, downright hilarious thing in the house despite the array of multi sensory developmental toys he owns. Anywho, playpen wise I did inherit the Baby Dan playpen which is fantastic if you have the room (it’s not that big, just fits his play gym inside) it’s great because the base can be at ground level or higher up for really little ones so right now I can leave Felix playing and know he’s safe and off the floor away from cats but when he’s older I can use it to contain him whilst I empty the dishwasher etc. so it would be great for Mabel now, then great for number two to keep baby safe and secure from big sisters.
Lots of good ideas already, but a few more from me! Daisy loves sitting at her own little table and chair set and doing ‘arts & crafts’! That could mean a little tablet sized chalk board with the chunky chalk to draw with: Artbox 23x30cm Chalk Board Set https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00402ZGRQ/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_CD1.ub0E5JXG5
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00402ZGRQ/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_CD1.ub0E5JXG5 and 20 Giant Chalks https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000FJAAKQ/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_oE1.ub1GXYNN5
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000FJAAKQ/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_oE1.ub1GXYNN5 to playing with bricks there.
You can sit her in your bath with messy sensory things like cooked spaghetti, finger paints etc
Walkers, baby prams etc are always fun. We have this lovely pram: Moover Wooden Pram https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001EHJSWE/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_eJ1.ub1C5GZ1W
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001EHJSWE/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_eJ1.ub1C5GZ1W
The talking octopus is great too!
I haven’t read all the comments, so sorry if I repeat, but to be honest, I think it’s just the age.
My little boy will turn one on friday, and he’s exactly the same. And my daughter was also like that just before 12 months.
There is a wonder week around this time, which makes it worse (google it, I wish someone had told me about it when my little girl was a baby!), but they are just frustrated.
The only thing that slightly helps is to put some of the toys away for a week and then rotate the toys out every few days, they became “new” again for a short period of time, and I could get stuff done.
TV wise, L is in love with Bing and Raa Raa (both on cbeebies), so those are worth a try, he is also bored of In The Night Garden unfortunately.
Dragging out random kitchen objects also seems to provide a short bit of entertainment, or any other random bits and pieces you can find around the house.
From what I remember, once they can walk it all shifts again and they are so pleased that they can walk that they become so much happier to wander about by themselves again.
Hang in there! x