Please help me be a better parent
As a SAHM I'm often with my now 11m old boy for 10hrs straight everyday. My problem is I don't know how to entertain him enough without feeling I'm going insane.
He has 3.5hr wake windows and recently dropped to 1 nap around 10am that is 2hrs max. He often wakes 6am and go to bed at 7pm.
During a typical wake window, I feel like a 1/3 of the time is feeding/changing him etc, 1/3 is him watching me do chores or make meals, and 1/3 is him playing with toys. When he's playing with toys, he is quite independent so I can be on my phone for 10min before he comes for attention.
This is where I feel bad. I don't interact with him enough during this time. I'll read him a book and it finishes in 5min. I'll do an activity suggested by an app (eg. assisted walking) and it's done in 5min. I'll play some blocks or toys with him, narrate it, but I don't feel I can do it for more than 5min without sounding like I'm hallucinating. I do take him out for walks and run errands which lasts 2hrs top before he gets restless, but that still leaves 3-4hrs each day to entertain him. I often end up doing my chores and him whining for time with me, or bribing him with rice crackers to sit still during this time.
How do you entertain or interact with your baby for hours at a time??
Posted Sep 23, 2026, 8:41 AM UTC