Independent Play & Room Time

Many people who hear about Babywise think it's only about those first few weeks/months when you are teaching your child to sleep through the night. That's not the case though! Babywise is a lifestyle that extends beyond sleep habits. One of the main components of Babywise is independent play. This is basically picking a consistent time each day and letting your child play on his own. This begins at a young age in the pack-n-play and moves to room time as he or she gets older and shows the maturity to handle a larger play area. 

Confession time: I totally did not do any independent play time with Hadley when she was a baby. *cue gasps from other more hardcore Babywise followers* To be honest, I don't exactly remember why I didn't do it, I guess I just thought it wasn't super important because she has been what I consider a very independent child from the beginning. She has always been pretty content to entertain herself while I get some things done around the house so I figured it wasn't an issue that we needed to address. 

Now that Hadley is 2, I know she needs this time on her own (and I need a little time to myself to clean house, make phone calls, etc.). Independent play time teaches two important things: how to entertain yourself, and boundaries. Since Hadley is now too big for a pack-n-play, we just went straight to room time. I believe the recommendation for her age is up to an hour, twice a day. To me, that seems a bit much, but we may eventually get there as she gets older. My goal for right now is 30-40 minutes, once a day. I choose to do room time in the half hour before lunch so that I can prep lunch without her under my feet. It really doesn't matter when you do independent play time, as long as it's the same time every day (consistency and routine!). 

The main thing to remember is this: room time is NOT when your child just decides to go in his room and play for a while. Room time happens when MOM (not child) decides it begins and ends. 

It's important to keep the toys interesting and challenging to prevent boredom during independent play. The cat was not one of the chosen toys this day...

I excitedly tell Hadley it's time to play in her room, take her there, get out a few toys, close the gate and tell her goodbye and to have fun. 

I chose to use a small gate in her doorway rather than shutting her door so I can peek in on her and hear her better.

The iPod set up in her room to play classical music and also serve as the timer

I turn on some classical music for her to listen to and set a timer. Once the timer goes off, I go in there and praise her for playing so well on her own! We will usually play together for the remaining few minutes before lunch. 

For more information, tips for success, and troubleshooting, I strongly recommend visiting Chronicles of a Babywise Mom. She has a whole list of posts specifically on independent play and room time. (http://www.babywisemom.com/2009/08/index-independent-play.html)

Hadley has done amazingly well with room time so far. It is one of many Babywise principles that has benefitted her and our entire family.