Questions about overstimulation

[zayla]

I've got a 3 month old who I'm pretty sure is spirited and have a few questions about overstimulation.

First I'm having problems telling when he's overstimulated and when he is understimulated and when he is just tired! (he doesn't really do tired signs until about  a minute before he falls asleep...) I've caught him doing the looking away things once or twice when we have visitors but it's certainly not something that he does regularly. Sometimes offering him something new or a change of scene quietens him down, but other times it doesn't and I'm not sure if that's just because the new thing isn't interesting and I get the impression he's bored of certain toys anyway. But I'm also wondering if he might be overstimulated sometimes when he gets grizzly towards the end of an A session.

I'm also not sure which activities are more stimulating than others - at the moment the range of things we do includes

• Going for walks when the weather is nice enough
• Socialising (baby groups, having visitors, visiting other mums)
• Singing, talking, making faces etc, reading books together
• Tummy time
• Playing with a toy (or random household object!) in chair /on playmat
• Sitting in chair watching me do chores
• Bath and massage at bedtime
• Swimming (occasionally)
• Swinging in his swing

I can see that e.g. socialising is likely to be very stimulating, but what about things like singing, tummy time, playing with toys and going for walks?

And one last thing,  if we do want to do more stimulating activities, are there better times of day than others to do them?

Thank you everyone!

[clazzat]

At 3m frankly everything is stimulating!  Clearly, sitting in a quiet room reading stories with you is not going to be as stimulating as being at a baby group, for example, but as everything is new and different for them they take in and notice a lot more and therefore everything is exciting, iyswim?

Of the list of things you do, I would say that the things which risk being overstimulating are baby groups and bath (for some babies, for others it is a great winddown at the end of the day).  The other things sound like great ways to spend the day, and I wouldn't worry too much about OS from them.

If he is grizzly towards the end of an A session but then goes on to have a decent nap and settles for it normally then he is just tired when he has been awake for the right amount of time.  If he was OS, I would expect that firstly he wouldn't just be a bit grizzly, and secondly I would expect it to be very difficult to get him down for his nap and/or to keep him asleep.

If you want to do more stimulating activities, then the best time to do them (as a sweeping generalisation) is just after a nap, when he is rested and fed, but over time you will probably get a feel for what particular time of day is better for him.

[zayla]

Thanks clazzat! That's a really useful guide. He's so alert the whole time, always looking at absolutely everything, that I can't figure out if he needs more or less stimulation than other babies, but looking at how easily he settles and how well he naps sounds like a good guide.

[anna*]

I think spirited babies USUALLY need less stimulation. I would try spending an A time just lying on the bed with mama and staring/chatting with each other, and see if he settles easily after that.

[skatty]

This thread might help

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=183615.0

Everything was stimulating to my dd at that age, she got a bit better after about 5 months but to be honest we were well into the toddler years before we could really relax about not getting her OS