Are any 2 1/2 year olds capable of entertaining themselves for any length of time?

[fizzbuzz]

Dd is full on all the time. If you ignore her, she just screams and screams.

She wants 100% entertainment all the time, and seems incapable of playing by herself. I have tried either ignoring her demands,or giving her what she wants. Either way she is exhausting. Is this normal?

depends on your definition of any length of time.
5/10 mins - yes
any long - yes, but doing something that you really don't want them to be doing
my youngest is 2.11 now and he potters, I don't spend all the time playing with him, but he also has an older brother to annoy entertain him.

sorry but yes my 22 month old plays independently quite alot

is you dd an only child?
my first dd wasn't very good at playing on own

you may have to train her out of screaming to get your attention

good luck

My 2.5 yo entertains herself most of the time, she wants her big sis but doesnt really want me to play with her.
Some children are just more demanding I think, dd1 used to have to go out all the time, we spent our lives in toddler group and soft play.

She's not an only child, but her siblings are much much older, and I guess she likes adult attention.

She likes to go out ALL the time as well. She's never any trouble outside

My dd (3.5) is like this. She's no trouble if you go out, but needs attention every minute at home. If I try to do something else, she will either hang off my clothing or just lie forlornly on the sofa sucking her thumb but will not play on her own. 'Play with me' is the constant refrain.

It's rough over the holidays. No family and most of her toddler chums are unavailable. Dh and I will be trading off a lot.

I really don't know what to do about it. It's extremely draining and it's hard to spend a lot of time going out, cheaply, at this time of year.

Yes, I recognise the hanging off the clothing thing [sigh]

she also lassoo's my legs with her arms to keep me near her, if she thinks I am going anywhere.

1 hour. I am very

Imagine that. A whole hour.

I just don't know if I can keep this up for 2 weeks without losing my sense of humour...

She can play on her own. She just doesn't want to because she is 2.5 and RULES THE WORLD.

DS aged 2.8 can play for about 15 mins without demanding attention. Sadly he always wants me to be in the room he is in rather than the other way round. We have devised new shopping game though that involves traumatising the weeks vegetables and allows me to keep doing stuff in the kitchen.

Oh and what I try to do is go out and do a full on activity like swimming which tires him out, that way he has a bit of one to one Mummy attention and I don't feel so guilty for ignoring him a bit later.