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Yesterday I wrote some thoughts from when Brayden was sick about two weeks ago (see Night Hunger ). Here is a recap:
About two weeks ago, Brayden woke up at 4:45 AM. He was sick and had thrown up in his bed. Since he is a sun riser, I raced like a mad-woman to get this bed cleaned up and remade before the sun came up and signaled daytime to him. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it. He kept telling me he had already gone to bed and it was daytime.
He was obviously tired. We started our day officially at the normal time. I put him in independent playtime when it was time. When I went to get him from independent playtime, he was asleep on the floor. He had taken a pillow and blanket off his bed and had taken a little nap. He then took his afternoon nap as usual when it was time.
This is something I love about independent playtime. If Brayden is tired because of sickness or a growth spurt, he will just take a nap during that time. If he were around people, he would never do that, and he isn’t the type to ask for a nap. But if he is alone, he will choose to nap if he needs it.
So keep at it and keep implementing it. If you haven’t started yet, do so. It is well worth your efforts, for so many reasons. Here are other posts about independent playtime:
- Independent Playtime: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/independent-playtime.html
- Independent Playtime Lengths : http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/03/independent-playtime-lengths.html
- Word to the Weary: Independent Play: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/02/word-to-weary-independent-play.html
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Valerie, also known as The Babywise Mom, is the mother to four children. She has been blogging on Babywise and general parenting since 2007. She has a degree in technical writing and loves using those skills to help parents be the best parents they can be! Read her book, The Babywise Mom Nap Guide, to get help on sleep from birth through the preschool years. You can also find her writing at Babywise.life, Today Parenting, and Her View From Home. Read more about Valerie and her family on the About page. Follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for more tips and helps.
My 10 month old has been experiencing SA for quite a few months now. He cries any time I leave the room. I’ve found that the only time he’ll play by himself is when he wakes up from his nap, and sometimes he’ll play up to 45 minutes. Can this count as independent play or should I be trying independent play in a playpen at another time instead?Thanks for all your help and encouragement!- KCH
KCH,In some respects it can have benefit. He is entertaining himself. But, it isn’t gaining the fullest from independent play that he can. He isn’t being told by mommy directly that it is time to play. He doesn’t have toys with him to work on and problem solve. I would work with him slowly on official independent play. Start with 5 minutes a day and do that until he can do that happily. Work up from there. Be sure to see the others posts listed in this post. Don’t be discouraged; my son went through a period of hating independent play, but he quickly grew to love it and really would stay there all day if I let him 🙂
Would you recommend setting the playpen up in the child’s bedroom so that when it is time for roomtime, they’ll be accustomed to being alone in their room? That is where mine is and I usually turn the monitor on so I can hear what she’s doing, as well as sneaking back to check on her quite a bit.
my baby started to sleep on her own but from 3 days onwards she again relies on me. and she is very active now all the time watching her toes and hands. she is 14 weeks. could u plz give us programme of 3 or 5 days of cry it out method that how to apply it.whenever i breastfed her , she always vomits but when i bottlefed her formula milk , she never vomits, shud i stop breastfeeding?could u also please tell us the symptoms when i shud start weaning solids. as slowly after milk feeds she is getting fussy, but she dpnt drink milk. her normal feed is 4 oz at this stage giveing her after 3 hours.
Heather,If that works for you, it sounds like a good idea. My daughter always had playpen time in my room, and has had her roomtime in her without a problem. It certainly shouldn’t hurt anything 🙂
Proudmum,It is very normal to have good days and bad days, good nights, and bad nights. This is especially true in the younger months while baby has so many growth spurts and needs to switch up the schedule often. I don’t really know that a 3-5 day CIO method would work. I think it is always going to take longer than that for crying to go away. See these posts for my helps on CIO:CIO Bootcamp: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2007/11/cio-bootcamp.htmlWhen Does it Get Better?: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2007/12/when-does-it-get-better.htmlI wouldn’t recommend stopping breastfeeding if you don’t want to; research is undisputed that breastmilk is best for your baby. My guess would be that you are eating something in your diet that is irritating your baby. I would cut things from your diet and try to find out what is bothering your baby. Do you mean introducing solids rather than weaning solids? Here is my post on when to start solids:Solids: When to Start: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2007/12/solids-when-to-start.html
My Kiddo was fine during independent play time – we started doing it when he was 3m old. He is now 9m old. For the last month everyday during independent time he cries NONSTOP. He will letup for maybe (maybe) 1 minute every 5minutes. I think I need to rename independent play to crytime. I have tried everything I can think of to make the experience better for him.
Has anything changed about independent play? Time, location, etc? Is he sick or teething? If everything is the same, the first thing I always look into if a child suddenly starts being upset with something is sickness or teething.