Independent Play

[mom2myMMS]

Please help!  My DS used to...which I know is key for AP...play independently for 45 minutes without a problem when he was 10 mo.  He is now 12 mo and cannot play for more than a few minutes.  I know exactly what happened...we've had a TON of company who played with him constantly and I'm now paying for it.  I don't know how to teach him to play independently again.  I can't even leave the room for the few minutes of independent play, I have to be in the room.  I'm guessing some of this may be related to separation anxiety, but I'm sure it's not all because of that.

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

[Canadian_Mom]

My DS went through the same thing about a month or two ago.  He went from being totally independent with playing, to needing me nearby 24/7!  It was a combo of seperation anxiety and teething and it took a few weeks (maybe it was a shorter amount of time...it felt like forever!) but he did get back to his normal self.  The key from what I have read about seperation anxiety is that if they are crying for you, they really do NEED you.  Letting them cry, and not meeting that need, can actually length the time that they need to move past this stage.  Playing games like peek-a-boo etc, will help them realize that mommy does comes back when she goes out of sight   There is some info aobut seperation anxiety on the discipline/socialization part, but I tried to attach a link to one thread with tips for seperation anxiety to see if there is anything there that might help!


http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=84719.135