7 Ways to Start Your Baby Off with Independent Play
Hey Mamas, want to start encouraging independent play for your babies? Read on to discover my go to tips and tricks!
As a single mom, I’ve had to get creative about keeping my daughter entertained when I have to get some things done. We all know motherhood is an extreme sport and kiddos love being the center of attention ALL THE TIME. But if you’re trying to cook dinner, vacuum the house or get something done that requires a little bit of focus… It’s helpful to have a few go to tricks in your arsenal to keep your little one preoccupied.
This post is all about independent play for babies!
Benefits of independent play for babies
Encouraging independent play has many positive benefits to help your child develop skills like creativity, confidence, independence, and problem-solving!
-Creativity: Independent play will help your child develop their own style of creativity and allow their imagination to blossom freely. It can be amazing to see how your children are naturally drawn to play!
-Confidence: When babies have the opportunity to accomplish tasks without mom or dad interfering, their confidence will increase and they will learn how they can be successful on their own!
-Problem Solving: As parents, we can be tempted to show our kids how they should play with toys. But there are benefits to leaving our babies to their own devices and letting them figure things out on their own. Independent play allows babies to solve problems without the interference of mom and dad.
Benefits for parents
Parents can certainly benefit from encouraging your child to play independently as well. Some ways independent play will help out mom and dad include:
-Having moments to yourself: Parenthood can be stressful and sometimes all you need is a moment to destress, decompress, and relax and drink your coffee while it’s still hot.
-Frees up time to get household work done: Just because a little person is calling the shots all the time now doesn’t mean that housework magically goes away. Helping your child become comfortable with playing independently can create opportunities to get one or two chores done during the day.
-The joyful experience of watching your child grow: Parenthood is such a gift and it’s so cool to see how your child grows, learns, and interacts with the world. Everything is so new to them!
How long can babies play by themselves?
There aren’t any specific guidelines to follow for independent play but here is an idea to get you started.
- 5-10 minutes once or twice a day for a newborn
- 10-20 minutes two times a day for first months
- 15-30 minutes two times a day for the sitter
- 30-45 minutes one to two times a day for a little crawler
- Up to 60 minutes for 15-20 month old, supervised in the playpen
- 60-90 minutes for 18 month olds
- 60-90 minutes for toddlers, preschoolers and children
This chart doesn’t need to end all but hopefully it gives you a jumping off point!
To develop properly, your baby needs to have plenty of love and attention from you. But The reality is that parents have to get things done sometimes. Of course, you want to make sure your little one has a secure attachment to you but don’t feel bad if you need to set them down sometimes. Your child playing independently has positives of its own!
1. Set aside plenty of time where your baby has your undivided attention
As moms, we mean everything to our babies, and giving them lots of attention is vital for their mental and emotional health and development. They deserve to have your undivided attention most of the time. But it’s not a bad thing they learn early on that the world can’t revolve around them every single second!
Having lots of playtime with momma will help them feel fulfilled with the attention they need. And will help them transition to independent play more easily.
2. Rotate their toys
We all know from experience how quickly kids can get over toys and be onto the next thing.
Instead of giving them access to all of their toys all the time…Try choosing 5-7 toys at a time for your child to play with and put the rest away for 1-2 weeks. When they get their toys back, they may seem brand new to them. And it may help them have a greater appreciation for them when they have access.
This will make a big difference in their independent play because their toys will be able to keep their interest longer, and as they grow they may invent new ways to play with them!
Here are some of our favorite toys!
3. Find interesting things around the house
Admittedly, one of my go-to ways to keep my child entertained in a pinch is by finding them (safe) household items to hold and explore. Baby toys are great, but it’s often the random things that do it for my child. Everything is new to them so the things that are mundane to us are extremely interesting to them. My daughter will sit happily with a wooden spoon for quite a while.
Some things I reach for:
-Old remote (cleaned and with no batteries)
-Kitchen utensils
-Tupperware
-Water bottles
4. Create a safe zone
Babies are curious little adventurers and they want to explore everything. Creating a safe/child-proof area for them gives them space to roam around as they please. And gives you the peace of mind to know they won’t be getting into things they shouldn’t.
You can either have childproof areas in your house to let your child roam or invest in a baby fence area. We ended up investing in a BanaSuper Baby Playpen because my daughter was still managing to boink herself off furniture and I wanted to create a safer place for her to play. It’s sturdy and is a nice size.
Another great option is The GENTEACO Foldable Baby Playpen cause it folds up like a lawn chair for easy storage.
We also got a Montessori Wooden Climbing Set play set up and my daughter absolutely LOVES climbing on this thing. This play set is recommended for children aged 1-3.
5. Youtube shows
Screen time should always be kept in moderation, but it’s certainly a resource you can use in a pinch. When I need to do a quick spruce of the house or edit a blog post… I’ll turn on a show for my daughter and let her watch from her pack-and-play in the living room. Some of our favorite shows are:
As time has gone on I’ve watched my daughter engage with these shows more and more, learn new sounds, and grow in development! Another amazing Christian kid’s show is “Superbook”, but it is suited a little better for older kids.
6. Put them in something that gets them moving
One another amazing way to keep your child preoccupied is by getting them something they can be mobile in. This little car was a lifesaver for me when my daughter was 4-9 months old, I could get the vacuuming done, unload the dishwasher, etc.
It provided her with some freedom to roam and explore the house in a safe and stimulating way. You just have to make sure to be childproof so they don’t reach up and pull anything down on their heads. When my daughter got to be about 9 ½ months old, she started realizing she could pull on things and get herself out. But it was an amazing resource for months!
7. Let your child explore the world at their own pace
There’s such an emphasis on kids reaching certain milestones by particular times but many people fail to realize that learning is not a one-size-fits-all journey. Society’s standards are way off from reality for many children and that is okay.
Let your child be free to explore the world at their own pace and create a healthy environment for them to learn and grow. Kids are individuals and God made us all to be different, to have unique strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Public schools tend to criticize those who don’t fit perfectly into their square peg of what’s expected when it was never supposed to be like that in the first place.
Don’t let society pressure you into thinking that you’re doing something wrong as a parent if your child is not developing as fast as society deems is correct. You’re doing great mama and your child is created the way they are for a specific purpose in God’s great plan!
I hope you found this post about encouraging independent play in your babies helpful!
This post was all about encouraging independent play for babies!
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