Is this too long for 15 month old baby to play by himself?

[christmasmagic]

Thoughts?

I do a night shift every Wednesday night, I get home around 8am and go to bed for 4/5 hours.

My boyfriend works from home on Thursdays so I can get some sleep.we have a play room for the baby and the dining table over the baby fence which is where my boyfriend works so he can watch him. My baby is 15 months and he's totally happy playing away with himself and my boyfriend will obv acknowledge him now and again whilst working.

But is this bad? My boyfriends sister asked how does he work when I'm in bed and I said he just plays away in the play room and she said "awww poor baby" and I do get guilty about it so I only ever really get a small amount of sleep because I'll be upstairs feeling bad about it and come down.

Is this a long time to just leave a baby to it by themself?

Once a week, I don't think this will cause any harm.

However:

It is unusual - though with the update about TV, maybe less so - so you might want to chat to your health visitor about his development generally.

I am not sure if it's a long term solution - a 2-3 year old probably won't tolerate it

Is there a better solution? If it were me, I would get bf to request to start later that day, say 9:30/10 then he could take the toddler out to a playground first thing, then do an hour of solo playing, and a bit of TV, with snacks/lunch as required.

Your b a by v would certainly let you know if it was a problem! I dobthink though ypu should make sure that there is plenty of talking to him at other times.
Your son sounds to have a really good attention span and my own experience of several kids who can entertain themselves so well is that they turn out to be very intelligent

Because it’s only once a week!! Most posts on here about WFH with children are based on full time working hours!

Same! 😂 My dd never played by herself, she always needed interaction, it was exhausting. I'd have loved for her to even play an hour by herself.

Exactly. Fine if the toddler is happy, but it’s a very unusual toddler if so. I’d be a little sceptical.

Ignore the guilt inducing posts most seem as if they havnt read ur post properly, its only one day a week so even no interaction at all would likely not do long lasting damage "although definitely not good for bubba" ur husbands there with him talking making faces etc im guessing atleast every 20mins max hes fed watered and has a nap, toys, ms Rachel he has enough entertainment and he would 100% make it known and impossible for you both to leave him if he wasn't content so for one day a week do not worry at all enjoy ur sleep mama u both know ur son and would know if there was a problem or change in his behaviour then I'm sure you would change it up somehow, we all gotta do things are not always ideal but to make things work and just think back to old times parenting styles were all fine, too much unnecessary mum guilt now adays 🙄

I agree.

Is your boyfriend your son's father?

You need a proper sleep after a night shift. 4-5 hours max is very little.

Can your boyfriend not either flex or reduce his hours so that he can properly look after DS on Thursdays?

Sounds to me your baby /toddler is content with their own self to play

Quite normal at that age

Pottering about with toys /books and tv if needed in a big space

It's not like they are in a metre travel cot /playpen 🙄

It's for a few hours in total including a nap /snack time and his dad keeping an eye on him

The other 6.5 days I assume he goes out - sees friends /family and has time and love lavished on him

I remember at that age my toddler would happily play at my feet with a pile of books /duplo/musical toys and entertain her self

She knew I was there but was happily playing /pottering

A content child and sounds like your is as well

As they get older prob unlikely to still be able to do this and maybe then time to look at a cm or you stay awake and then nap when child does

That's what I did - I work nights as a maternity nurse and when my dd now 6 , was a baby /toddler I would go to bed 1-3/4 and sleep when she did

I assume you aren't working thur night so if need be can have a small nap when older and then go to bed yourself at 8/9/10pm
If tired

I mean, if this works great. I wouldn't bank on it working forever though.

This would have never worked for mine, but I guess all children are different and as long as they are getting attention when they need it, and stimulation/ interaction at other times.

So he's playing on his own for 4 hours every day? To be honest, I don't think that's OK....

At that age my children could entertain themselves for about 10 seconds. Maybe I'm just jealous

No

Once a week

For a morning

@Blondeshavemorefun I'm so sorry- I misunderstood. I reckon that's absolutely fine! Might it help you relax about it if your bf sets an alarm and plays with him for 10 minutes an hour or something like that?

I had no choice but to work (from home- own business) since my son was born pretty much. He’s never known any different and I’ve worked while he’s pottered away happily for most of his life 😂 I’m sitting on the sofa working so if he needs anything I’m there. This age was the time he probably was best at pottering too and didn’t necessarily need anything else. 4-5 hours is probably a bit long to go without snacks, nap etc, could you break it up a bit with your partner taking a break to take the little one a quick walk, get them an early lunch etc then down for a nap before you’re up

Also I think it’s one of the best skills a child can have is to have the ability to be bored. I didn’t let my little one watch tv when he was this age and he was great at entertaining himself. I find he has less of an attention span now he’s 2 and I blame myself for letting him watch tv. It’s much more easy for them to just be passive and not actually do anything to fill the time

It's once a week so I'm theory it's not bad. I'm assuming you have no other sensible option.

I'd be surprised if your baby is OK with it and doesn't complain. With TV on I could have done this for probably an hour.

You could try it and see how it goes but personally I wouldn't rely on it. Its v rare a bsby can entertain themselves this long.

People like you really bug me!!!! Before leaving a judgmental comment make sure to properly read the post....she said Thursday mornings

Sounds like your boyfriend is lying to me

Is he the child's father?