Too much time in playpen for toddler?

[lexiss]

This morning DS 17 months woke up at 6am. I got up bf him and put him in the playpen. It is one of those extra large, hexagonal playpens.

Around 6.15 I gave him some water and changed his nappy. Then I went back to bed after making sure the playpen had only safe toys and the baby monitor was plugged in.

I fell asleep and woke up at 8.30. I went out to see DS and he was happily playing with this toys. He is very into small manipulative puzzles, shape boxes, stacking cups etc at the moment and he was busy playing with these.

He had been in the playpen for nearly 2.5 hours! Is this too long? Is there a problem that he plays happliy for this length of time by himself?

Most days I have a nap during the day for an hour or so and DS spends this time in the playpen but I have never left him for 2.5 hours before.

What do you think about this?

DD2 went through a phase of waking at 5am. Oh god it was shuddersome.

You are indulging you're own needs and not placing your babies above yours.

It is not smug to respond to your child's needs surely? 6 am is not 3 am it is the morning so why not respond to your child accordingly?

Why does a child need to get up at 6am but not 3am Goldenbear?

I don't think 6am is a reasonable time to get up, I am therefore responding to DS's need to get enough sleep by ensuring he is not getting up at 6am.

Mrs, your posting on a thread about a sleeping mother and supposedly things that you don't care about - do you not see the irony there?

but how can a toddler hear and see you if your not in the same room? If my ds is playing in his playpen in the family room and im pottering about in the kitchen then he's neither going to see me nor hear me. Are you suggesting that you should be in the same room as your dc at all time? Personally i don't see any difference, if i know my son is safe in his playpen then im happy to be in another room of my house, where i cant hear/see him and vice versa.

Not really. I care about leaving children alone I just don't think that whether you get up at 4am, 6am or 8am has any bearing on your moral fibre.

3 am would be considered in the middle of the night by most. 6 am is CATEGORICALLY not the night it's the morning. It is nothing to do with NIGHT. You therefore respond appropriately. A toddler can get enough sleep and wake up at 6. A few posts back your concern was your sleep now you've changed your tune to say it's your concern for your toddler's sleep.

I'm not sure why people post unfunny, irrelevant comments about medals and spreadsheets. I don't agree with you, like others don't, haven't - deal with it.

Ds was always up at 5.30 - 6 ish, it was hell but he was asleep by 7pm so by then he was ready to get up.

By 17 months ds could hoik his leg over the cot so he was in a bed by then. He would've have been able to get out of a play pen too hence my comment about if you are desperate for a snooze then kipping on the sofa is probably better.

At that age I had a quick shower and went to the loo by myself while he played, he was never interested in coming in with me, so he was used to playing by himself.

Also as a nanny who has seen too many over stimulated children and children who were never able to play by themselves, amusing himself was something I was keen to develop in ds.

Whatever, MrsDV. Three snaps in a z formation.

I think people should type our names formally. Also, MrsTP, which I get a lot makes me think of toilet paper.

Well according to my mum, when she was younger most parents had play pens, and picking up/ cuddling/ stimulating / playing with baby most of the day is a new style parenting. She was too busy working on the farm with my dad. Apparently she'd wrap us up warm when babies and put the pram in calf shed as she fed the calves. When she did the bookwork we were in the playpen. We had to fit in with her day.

Titty not i am not suggesting that - where did i say that?!

I said you should not leave your child totally alone for 2.5 hours. If i left my child in a seperate room (which i frequently do) i would a, leave the door open so they could hear me and b, check on them reguarly to make sure they are ok.

I would absolutely never, under any circumstances leave them along for 2.5 hours without checking on them but maybe that's just me! At the most basic of levels i just would not want to.

I really disagree that one should always put one's baby's needs/wants first. By 17 weeks, perhaps. By 17 months, no. Surely not.

I matter too.

Well i leave my ds up to ten hours alone. On another level of the house. With the doors closed. And don't check on him once. So there.

Oohlaalaa, totally correct as my mom said exactly the same.

When all of mine were small we had 'room play' and 'cot play'.

This meant that with the monitors on I could sit down for an hour with a cuppa and a magazine and I survived motherhood.

I wouldn't have slept tho except if I was absolutely knackered or ill and if that was the case I would bring the playpen into my room.

Absolutely nothing wrong with his time in the playpen op IMO, he's safe and with age appropriate toys(presumably) but think you shouldn't be sleeping.

Moral fibre - wtf? It is funny to say 6 am is the night? It sounds quite provincial I suppose and a bit precious. A bit precious for a fully grown adult to fret over getting up in the MORNING. In this post not getting up has every relevance to the child being left for 2.5 hrs so I suppose there is a moral angle to not getting up- do you want to add that to your spreadsheet (Ffs)?

MrsDeVere, I have an English Literature degree so I do understand 'irony' thanks. Do you understand, shades of grey when it comes to thinking about things or is it all black and white?

6AM is still night in my house. I get up in the week 7:30 and thats hard enough( and thats before my dc wake up) , I actually have no idea what time they get up on a weekend as they know not to disturb me before 9. Meh I don't care if your "moral" people who open the curtains before 7 think that is wrong.

Er...isn't it literally more provincial to have to get up at 6am to commute into London? (Irony, much, eh ?)

Most adults I know object to getting up at 6am. 6.30, perhaps one starts feeling there might be a reason, mainly if you have a loooooong journey in for an early start or you want to go swimming/running before work. Only in the alternative world of Impeccable Parenting With A Special Self-Denying Ordinance does it become precious to object to being forced awake.

Stupid comment titty so i won't bother to respond.

Retiring from this thread now as the real issue is getting completely lost.

If you think it's normal to leave your toddler alone in the daytime for 2.5 hours without checking in on them then i think it's a real shame for both you and your child. End of.

Motherinferior, yes 17 months what an age? iMO parents shouldn't be bored of putting a 1 year old's needs first?

My mother never left us in a cage in the 70's. DP's mother gated off the hallway and had baths and read her book for 2 hrs whilst DP played with his baby brother. Generally her children ALWAYs had to fit into her life. She is still very selfish and they are not particularly close, they both call her selfish to this day and she has no worries about that - I think that's odd and sad.

6am is night time in my house Goldenbear - I wanted DS to run to the same routine as the rest of the household, so we didn't treat 6am as getting up time because in my house it isn't. If 6am starts work for you then great, but for me - no. DS's bedtime used to be about 9pm (because that's what worked for us too!), so a 6am wake up was not enough sleep for any of us.

Of all the bizarre things to feel morally superior about, getting up early!

Thats Your Opinion katie not the end of.