***There is a post below this on how IP went today! :) ***

My initial opinion of Independent Playtime was, “That is stupid!”

When Little Bug was a baby and I first read about IP from the Babywise books and Babywise blog I found absolutely no value in it at all.

I couldn’t believe they suggested I put the baby I had waited so long for in a playpen and let her play by herself for X number of minutes. It just seemed crazy to me! I wanted to be with Little Bug at all times.

So, I didn’t do IP with Little Bug.

The result?

A fourteen-month-old toddler that does not know how to entertain herself at all. With naps being crazy the past two months, I honestly have just been surviving the days in an attempt to keep Little Bug happy, myself sane and my house running in somewhat of an orderly fashion.

I have found that I am so worn out from constantly entertaining Little Bug that by the time nap time rolls around all I want to do is sit instead of the work around the house that needs to be done.

And so I went back and read about Independent Playtime and realized I made a mistake by not implementing it with Little Bug when she was an infant.

So, what’s all the hype about IP?

Well, according to Babywise you want IP to be a time when your child can "focus and play independently without having someone or something there to 'entertain' him" (On Becoming Toddlerwise, page 48).

During Independent Playtime children learn these valuable skills:

• Mental Focusing Skills
• Sustained Attention Span
• Creativity
• Self-Play Adeptness
• Orderliness

Having taught 4th grade for four years I know if every single student of mine had walked into my classroom at the beginning of the year with those five skills, my entire teaching career would have been completely different! Especially, those first two skills. Man, if every single student had been able to completely focus and have an attention span greater than 5 minutes, I could have done so much more with my students’ education!

As with anything in life, there is a time for everything. There is a time for Independent Play and there is a time for play with Mama. How much IP playtime is appropriate for what age? This is what On Becoming Babywise II says about that:

• 10-20 minutes twice a day for first few months
• 15-30 minutes twice a day for the independent sitter
• 30-45 minutes at least once a day for the crawler
• Up to 60 minutes for the 15-20 month old in playpen or room

After reading the Babywise blog I found it says that children who have IP are more obedient and compliant.

I remember when Little Bug learned to crawl and started following me around the house. I thought that was the cutest thing in the world – and it was! There will still be times for that because Little Bug loves “helping Mama”, however, now I also see the importance of Little Bug learning the skills that are learned through Independent Playtime and I want to teach her those skills as well.

My end goal is one day being able to report I have a toddler who is capable of playing on her own without needing constant entertainment from mom or another source!

As you can tell from the post below, hopefully we are well on our way to reaching this goal!

- Elaine