Playtime with Infants

My girls just turned 7 months today and are finally able to stay up longer in between naps. :woo: I probably play with them a total of 45-60 minutes per day. I read, sing to them and I'm almost always in the same room with them. If I do leave the room I am constantly talking to them. Lately they seem more interested in playing with each other and by themselves I think partly because they are becoming more mobile and vocal by the second. Just wondering how much others play with their infants...DH thinks I should play with them every second and my mother thinks I should let them play independently, so I wonder if what I'm doing is a good mix of the two.

 

I have always done a mixture of both, leaning towards them having more independent playtime. Now that they are a bit older, they are very good about finding things to amuse themselves, not necessarily involving me!

 

that's awesome becky! i don't feel so alone. i think i would go insane if i was in baby land all day. love my girls, but i also need to get stuff around the house since i'm also a housewife.

 

i have also always done a little of both, but i do always try to be in the same room with them. but that has just gotten to be more important because they will pick on each other if left unsupervised for too long, and DD like to eat bits of nasty stuff from the floor (dog hair, my hair, crumbs, random bits of dirt which are somehow still there even though i vacuum almost everyday..)gross...

i do think that it is important for them to have playtime without me, that is when they are exploring and learning things for themselves. so i say keep up the good work!

 

I probably play/entertain mine 2-3 hours a day. Usually about an hour or so in between each bottle and then DH plays with them when he gets home. I try to let them play on their own a lot too but I'm usually in the room with them or have the baby gate up and can see them in their room from the kitchen. That way the dogs don't go in to kiss them. Sometimes I feel like I entertain them too much, especially DD, because she melts down when I leave the room. DS really doesn't really mind if I'm there or not, I'm not as interesting as his toys these days.

 

I totally agree with finding a balance between playing with them & letting them play independently. I have friends who always (and I mean always) played with their kids when they were little and they still have to entertain them now that they are bigger. Kids need to learn how to entertain themselves, it's a life skill!

 

Sounds like a good mix to me....I usually play for 15-20 mins with them and then they play by themselves for about 1/2 hour then I go back and play with them again for another 20 mins or so and somedays I'm always in playtime and some days I'm just not feeling it and they play more on their own Glad to know for the guilt I feel sometimes that I'm not alone!

 

I hear that. I feel guilty a lot, but they seem to be doing fine and still love their mommy, so I must be doing something right.

 

I wonder all the time if I am spending enough time with them since there always seems to be something to do around the house and I don't think you have as much time to spend one on one when you have two since there is more to do. Everything just takes a little longer changing diapers, feeding, puting them to sleep etc so it sometime kind of chews up that little bit of extra time that you would probably have with just one baby. Mine would play the whole two hours they are up by themselves as long as I rotated them between toys. They seem to amuse themselves and I try to pop in and out although I am always in the same room or the room next to them. I think though that it is good that they entertain themselves since it will hopefully pay off in the long run and I try to look at my with them is also when I am nursing them and putting them to bed and feeding them.

 

I feel like I am always playing with my girls (6 months) when I am home. I work 4 days a week and leave at 7 in the morning (I play wiht them for 30 min, feed them bottle and let them be in their swings for 30 mins while I get ready for work). I get home at 5.30 and play with them until they fall asleep at 8. On the weekends, I spend most of my time with them and their 22 months old brother. If I have to do stuff around the house, I have them in swings/highchairs next to me.