When do they play by themselves?

[kris10]

aghh going crazy today. I keep trying to get things done and my 2 year old just follows me around and hardly ever plays by herself. This is making me feel guilty about not playing with her and fraustrating me so i can't get anything done. Then when I am trying to do something she keeps saying she is "hungry"(which i think she is just trying to get my attention cuz it is like every hour and i have been feeding her) and then she cries and cries and I am yelling and feeling horrible so now i am onto ignoring her at this point.No to mention i have a sore throat.

[vibrantflame]

I hear you! I have been there. By 2 years old, my son would and often preferred to play by himself....so long as I was sitting there not doing anything. If I started to do anything, all of a sudden he needed me to play with him and now. I really don't have any good tips, sorry! I tried to work around his naps and stuff and get stuff done then, and if I had to do something like cook supper and I couldn't have him in the kitchen, I put him in the living room and tried to ignore him....it was all I could think of to do. Eventually he moved past this stage, and I am sure yours will too, but I know how frustrating it can be in the mean time!

[reese&rorysmom]

Not really sure if this is good parenting or not but when Reese was 2 and Rory was just born I used to put Reese in his room (he couldn't open the door) for "Independent Play Time."

His room was child proofed and he had safe toys in there and he would play for 30 minutes to an hour, content, all by himself while I got things done, fed/bathed the baby etc.

Perhaps not a strategy for everyone, but it worked for me

[kris10]

did it help him play on his own by doing that? I know what you mean... i feel bad but i do close the door on my daughter sometimes cuz i usually put her to bed when i am fraustrated with her or she does something wrong ( it is sorta like a timeout. I usually leave it open but sometimes i don't want her to come out 'till i have gotten over it a little for like 5 minutes.

[poppleton]

The most effective thing we've found to do is build up the amount of time they are entertaining themselves. If you're going to make dinner, for example, set up an activity of some sort that your child can do at the kitchen table. She can still ask questions, etc., but encourage her to do it on her own. Once she's able to do that with you in the room, you can build up to a separate room, finding her own activity, etc. I have an illness that makes it so I can't be up and about playing with my 3yo and 19 month old all the time, and they've adjusted very quickly to finding their own activities to entertain themselves if I'm not able to be completely involved. It's usually boredom that makes my kids follow me around, so I have to remember to stop and give them something specific to do (especially when there's something I really need to get done in a specific time period). Good luck - she's a cutie!!

[francine1985]

my ds is 14 months. he loves to play in his room by himself and has been doing so for 3 or 4 months now (since he was a litle before 1). I put him in his play room and we have a gate up in the doorway because he hates having the door closed. I'm not sure how well that would work at 2 (are they able to climb over the gate by then?). I try to have some time to cuddle with him but hes always fighting to get down and go play in his room