How much solo play does your 2-3 year old do?

[mummylonglegs]

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[Nemo1977]

my ds ia 19mths and does a lot of solo play when im around but with dh he always gets him involved...dont know why i do play wiht him sometimes but he has this thing about playing games with daddy.

[phucknuckle]

He is usually perfectly happy to play on his own most of the time, and if we have other kids round, i don't get a look in!!!

[Frizbe]

dd is 19 mths and will play by herself for about half an hour at a time, although if I remind her I'm about, she'll want me to join in! but if she forgets I'm there, she'll rattle on, on her own.

[mummylonglegs]

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[Newbarnsleygirl]

DD who is nearly 20 months plays quite well on her own, in fact most of the time however in the last week she has started to come over to me and dh and grab our hands and pull us over to her toys or where ever she wants us to be.

[krist]

Not alot having older brother his used to having someone to play with great in half terms they entertain them selfs pain when back in school 2 yr old can be v clingy expecially when tired

[cherith]

My little boy is now 4 and hardly ever plays by himself and has always been like this. this is esspecially difficult because he seems to be always talking whilst i try to get stuff done and he naggs me alot to play with him. He seems to try and engage me in something by shoving a puppet or hiself in front of me. In the end i end put the telly on which makes me feel bad. I really feel the guilt in one way or another. I think i should play with him more and i worry about the lack of time i spend with him. I do obviously try to spend time with him but his little brother, chores and all that other stuff overwhelms me. I do wonder myself as to why he is not happy to play by himself. I did have more time for him when he was a baby and found him easier to play with. He was quite difficult from day one and needed to be played with in order for him to stop crying. Although im unsure if this is the reason why he always needs some one to play with or along side him.

[mummylonglegs]

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[mummylonglegs]

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[Orinoco]

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[mummylonglegs]

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[Orinoco]

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[handlemecarefully]

2.11 year old plays on her own fairly well for half hour spells 3 or 4 times a day. Dolls and teddies are her thing and enacting various scenarios with them (picnics, giving them story time etc)

[mummylonglegs]

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[Hulababy]

DD is 3y 2m and she actually plays on her own quite a lot. It does vary at times though. Some days she wants either me or DH to play with her (or have our attention) constantly.

Generally though she is happy to play on her own in the house. Things like her Happy Land, her dolls, her kitchen, etc are her favourite things for playing alone. And she will play with her Happy Land for a good hour or more happily.

If she wants to do crafty type activities then she does wnt attention all the time - and Ihave to give it or my table would be a mess!

I suppose DD does a lot of interactive play with others 2 days a week at nursery all day, and one to one attention from MIL one day a week. Plus we do Gymboree (interactive) class once a week too, and weekends are usually spent as a family. So on the times we are in the house she probably craves some indivdual time to herself!

[Orinoco]

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[mummylonglegs]

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[Hulababy]

Erm, just thinking. It has developed more and more with time. Certianly since going to her new nursery (at 2y 5m) and making some very good friends and playing so much more, she has started to play more and more independently at home - as I said, may be her just enjoying some time to herself after all the shared play/activities at nursery/PILs.

TBH though I really wouldn't worry too much about it. All children are different. One of DD's male friends who is older than her doesn't play very independently at all. He just has a different personality that's all.

[Hulababy]

It terms of language/walking your DD sounds similar to my DD. She walked at 10 months, after hardly crawling at all. And she spoke early too, and was using sentences at 18 months. She tsill talks non stop - at least now it is aimed at her dolls, Happy Land characters and some imaginery friend we seem to have staying with us at times right now.

I still do have to play with her at times (either voluntary or at her insistance), but the latter is much less nowadays. She loves me to play with her, but if I can't for some reason (cooking, working, etc.) she will normally play on her own happily. Certainly her ability to accept that bit has developed a lot in the last couple of months or so.


As I mentioned before - not sure why some children play on their own and some don't. I personallythink it is just personality, rather than related to learning/development maybe.

[mummylonglegs]

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[Hulababy]

mummylonglegs - I suspect she will as she gets older. DD is desperate for a sibling. We have some friends who are pg, and she keeps patting my tummy and asking when we can have a baby to play with. DD was to be an only child - we were quite sure about that. But when she was 2y 3m I changed my mond all of a sudden and decided we wanted another. So I am trying for her!

[mummylonglegs]

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[Hulababy]

Sorry about that Your DD must be extra special!

[mummylonglegs]

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