Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Does your child play alone at all? I really think Steven is incapable of playing by himself. He is hardly ever around other children, yet he can't keep himself occupied. We have to sit and play everything with him. I enjoy being with him and playing with him, but I want him to be able to play by himself too.

When he was an infant, he barely wanted to be held. Now, he is up my butt consantly (sometimes literally )

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Well Ava is still an only child technically because Dylan is still a lump who sleeps, eats and cries. .

She ALWAYS needed to be held when she was an infant...and was always fidgety. As soon as she was mobile she was on her own. She always played independently and still does to this day. I would feel bad but it works out nicely with a newborn in the house.

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

DS goes to daycare so he is around other kids. He does play by himself and he also likes to pull me around by my hand so I can follow and play with him.

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Andrew plays by himself very well.

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

DS is 3 years older than DD, but for the first 3 years, he would play alone all the time. He would play with toys, blocks, cars, etc for quite a while on his own. He still likes to occupy himself, especially when he doesn't want DD to "help" with his artwork...

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Emily does both. She definately plays by herself sometimes --- playing with her barbies, little people, pushing her trucks around the house with characters in them, puzzles, books, etc.

But she also LOVES me to play with her so we do that as well.

I would say that it is 50/50.

I do think that our play with her led to her playing on her own. She does a lot of the same scenarios when she is on her own, or I'll hear the conversations she's having her characters make with eachother mimic ones we've had with eachother.

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Posted by pmpkn087

Does your child play alone at all? I really think Steven is incapable of playing by himself. He is hardly ever around other children, yet he can't keep himself occupied. We have to sit and play everything with him. I enjoy being with him and playing with him, but I want him to be able to play by himself too.

When he was an infant, he barely wanted to be held. Now, he is up my butt consantly (sometimes literally )

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

She will be an only child until October But yes she plays well by herself.

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

DD plays well by herself....which I am grateful for.

When my stepdaughter first started living with us, she didn't know how to play by herself (she was 7). Now...at 12, she really doesn't know how to do anything herself except watch TV
I always hear...I'm bored, there's nothing to do, there's nobody to play with

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Noah does both, he plays brilliantly with other children, and at home he can entertain himself for hours with his trains and cars. He does some real pretending, he takes all kinds of toy items and plays Thomas with them, he takes dolls and calls them the fat controller and the thin controller. He is a genius.

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Actually Nikolas is the opposite - he is SO independent that he much rather play by himself than with me or his Daddy. Don't get me wrong, I love that he plays independently and doesn't need me to entertain him - but sometimes I feel badly when he gets 'annoyed' when I sit on the floor to play with him. For example, when I'm trying to help him build things with his blocks and he doesn't like the way I did it and smashes it to the floor The only way he likes to 'play' is to chase me around the house and vice versa, or to play 'wrestle' and that sort of thing. He's ALL boy

He was the opposite as an infant though - was cranky, clingy, somewhat colic and ALWAYS wanted and NEEDED to be held. I used to long for the times when he'd finally want to do his own thing and now I got my wish and I miss holding him

Oh and he also isn't around kids very often. Outside of the classes we take and when he sees his cousins 1x a week, it's pretty much me and him and sometimes visits with Grandma and Grandpa. When he is around other kids, he plays with them a little bit, but still basically does his own thing. Not sure if that is good or bad really

Message edited 7/30/2008 3:31:07 PM.

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Anthony plays by himself great, but at times he will grab your hand and say "sit" and will want you to play with him...

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

No way will Ava entertain herself long enough for me to get anything done. I absolutely hate it. She just NEEDS interaction. This is one of the things JT hates about being a parent, so I pointed out that this is a great reason why we need to have another child. Score one for Rachel!
Ugg, but she's so hard to deal with sometimes for this reason.

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Posted by luvsun27

I always hear...I'm bored, there's nothing to do, there's nobody to play with

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Michael plays very well by himself.

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Kerri plays very well independently and when she is with other children she will interact with them

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

Re: Parents of only children, 2 years plus

you need to get busy!!

hello hes got 2 friends here... just have to call!!