To expect my three year old to play on his own for five minutes?

[Whatsdoneisdoneisdone]

Well?
Am I?
He seems to think so. I can't even go out of his sight without him saying 'mummmmyyyyy'
He is driving me MAD.

Oh I feel your pain. My three year old is the same.

I have found nursery helps him to play independently slightly more often. Also when I am genuinely really busy he will often amuse himself. But he still really wants me to play a lot with him. I do it quite a lot, but trains/building isn't really my thing tbh! I prefer crafts/stories.

I used to start ds playing with something then tell him I needed to do something in the kitchen but I would be back in 5 mins to see how he had got on, usually called from the other room just so he knew I hadn't run off anywhere!

My 3 yo DD tells me to go away. She is happily doing jigsaws while I am on the phone and sorting the plumber out. She has not noticed the plumber has gone yet, so a bit of sneaky MNing.

Agree nursery/pre-school has helped her as she was v clingy before. But now goes into her own little world.

DD was great at playing on her own from about 2 to 2.5. I was quite smug. She's nearly 3 now and OMG she is in my face from the minute she gets up to the moment she goes to sleep - roll on pre-school in September!!

Hope - YANBU
Expect - YABU

Things that might help- get a timer (sand, stop watch or one of these ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31-l6fTx7HL.SL500_AA300.jpg )

Something visual, so they can observe that time is moving by & when time is finished. Establish a time, maybe special time or quiet time or something & tell your little one that you are both going to spend time doing something on your own. Ask him what he would like to play with during that time (initially it will probably be the timer!) Initially you might like to stay in the same room. This might be a chance for you to read a book or something similar.

Set the timer. If he comes to talk to you *unless it is urgent or an obvious emergency. Just remind him it is quiet time and that you can help/play/talk when quiet time is finished. Turn off distractions.

As you continue to keep the routine you can encourage him to think about it a bit more. Reflect- "remember yesterday you needed a drink during quiet time, shall we get everything ready before hand so you have it with you?" Encourage him to think about what he will need. What he needs for his activity, does he need to go toilet or have a drink available. Prepare together so that you can each enjoy your 5-10 minutes peace. As he gets better at preparing & understands it will be a regular routine that you will stick to you can stretch it longer.

It is key to treat this as a normal, expected part of life. We each need time to ourselves, to rest, reflect & recuperate. So it is not a punishment or a favour that he is doing you. So you present it as a normal, every day, part of life.

Oh no, I could cry reading this my just 2 year old ds is driving me mad saying mummy and wanting me every second. Was looking forward to him being 3 and playing for 10mins on his own.
Looks like it will be a long while off yet.

YABU!

I can't even get 2 seconds peace when mine's awake nevermind a whole 5 minutes!

Ignore him and crack on with what you need to get done. Kids have to learn the world doesn't revolve around them, but also that it's okay and the world won't end if they don't get 24/7 attention.
Maybe set him off playing with something then when he's engrossed, leave him 5 mins or so and then come back, extending the period you are absent each time.