What kind of activities do you suggest for LO before last nap of day?

[becky1969]

I'm having trouble finding activities to do at end of the day that won't overstimulate my LO. He's 13.5 weeks old, and by the end of the day, he's pretty on edge. He wakes from his afternoon nap (typically 2hours) rested, but not exactly ready to conquer the world, so we don't do our playmat (Einstein gym) or anything like that. We might turn on his mobile or the Fisher Price Aquarium in his crib, or play some hand games like patty cake or look at books. Even so, I still see him giving sleepy cues really early on so that this is our shortest A period of the day, and I still feel like he's going down for his nap cranky and overstimulated! And then he wakes up from his catnap cranky, is not well-rested for his bath, and then wind down for bed time is less than ideal.

I guess I'm just wondering is there something else I can be doing to make this part of the day easier on him, or is this just part of being a baby? Are they just plain tuckered out by the end of the day? I mean, it IS hard to eat, sleep and poop!

Should I just be parking him in the corner a little more and letting him watch me do housework during this part of the day? Sometimes I think the way my mom did it was best. I'm probably interacting with him a bit too much!

[Erin M]

Hi Becky!
Congrats on your little one!  I know at that age, evening was never Katie's best time and she was often fussy at that point, no matter what we did with her.  If he's content to sit in his swing or bouncy seat or on a blanket and watch you go about your business, I would definitely go with it.  We used to sit Katie on the table in her seat while we ate dinner in the hopes of amusing her long enough so we could actually eat.  He'll get better at that time of day sooner or later -- if you're not already doing it, you also might want to consider an earlier bedtime if he's that wiped out at that time of day.  But like I said, it is normal for babies to be fussier at that time of day.