Under stimulated baby: is it concerning???

[momof2napril]

Okay prefacing with my sister in law love each other and respect all choices the other makes!

I’m just looking for opinions, experience or research!

I feel like I’m our home we live a very calm life. We don’t run the TV all day, music is calm if any, we don’t fill our days so full that we’re out and about all the time, we don’t take on anything that might be inconvenient or overwhelming, etc. my sis in law seems like - to me and hubby - the opposite. They’re super busy all the time with out of home things, and their kids are always doing something provided by the parents (zoo trip to another city on the weekend, next weekend another thing, next weekend hockey tournament, one after that is birthday party, etc.)

Personally I feel that her little ones kind of expect to be entertained, if that makes sense. They constantly have something going on and have for years. This is totally fine! But she said something the other day and I can’t get it out of my head… my daughter has 1 “noisy toy” that sings songs. It sounds like a slot machine to me lol… she likes it sometimes, but I send a video to sis in law the other day and I said my daughter was a bit fussy all day but the “magic puppy” (noisy toy” seemed to cure it.

Sis in law says “Yes! Babies need a lot of stimulation!”

So now all I can think is…. What if my baby isn’t stimulated enough? Is this a thing? She watched some TV shows (I like the animated books, hey bear, etc while j make dinner) but am I being silly? I feel like there’s a correlation between being super stimulated and needing MORE stimulation? Am I being silly???

 

[midas]

@momof2napril They definitely need a lot of stimulation, but babies are stimulated by everything! Watching you cook, sitting outside, going on a walk, listening to you talk, exploring the house, etc. We’re more similar to your household and prefer it! Our girl is happy to play quietly in the living room and we have few noisy toys. She loves music and just hanging out with my husband and I! We also spend a lot of time outside and that seems to tire her out quite a bit! Whenever I get anxious about parenting choices I remind myself that a couple hundred years ago there were no noisy toys or trips to the zoo, so our kiddos will be fine without them! (We do also love the zoo though haha!)

 

[ddavis]

@midas I always think of the simple
Wooden toys pioneer children played with too hahaha

 

[momof2napril]

@midas Yes this sounds like us! I look forward to zoo trips though as well. For us it’ll be a nice packed lunch and looking at animals, for hers it’s face paint and noise makers and extra candy/pop haha. Different strokes I guess!

 

[congnh2412]

@momof2napril No way! A calm, quiet environment isn't "under-stimulating". I would say under-stimulation would be something like not providing any toys/books/decor, no outside time, no conversation, basically neglect. Clearly that's not what's happening here. Honestly babies get enraptured watching a ceiling fan, and they get over-stimulated easily, so there's no way you're under-stimulating your kid. I think you just have a very different personality from your SIL, which is ok.

My husband and I are like you; I can't have tv on in the background, we take batteries out of toys if they can't be muted (I'd prefer no battery operated toys, but my toddler loves them), we're just generally quiet people. I take our toddler out for activities every day, but more than 1-2 things is overwhelming, I need downtime! My cousin's family is like your SIL, always going somewhere, noisy toys and kids, always someone shouting etc. Neither household is better than the other, just different things for different people.

 

[seemypdf]

@congnh2412 Oh my gosh the shouting households lol. Drives me crazy, I think my hearing is sensitive. Our first daycare was like that and I had to take her out.

 

[racheldiane]

@seemypdf My husband’s family is just LOUD. I had to develop a signal to my husband early in our relationship to lower the volume of his voice because it was too much for me. They aren’t yelling, they just have a totally different base volume level than I grew up with.

 

[chuck64]

@racheldiane I was like that when I met my husband too. Now when I go visit my own family it gets overwhelming

 

[livinggrace]

@racheldiane It's me. I'm your husband. I'm not yelling.. I'm just from Jersey.