How much alone time recommended for 8 month old

[Gabi1023]

Hi, I am just wondering how much alone play time is recommended for an 8 month old?  We do fun activities with her during her A time but we also have other things to get done, and we want her to learn to entertain herself as well.  What guidelines are there for alone time vs time with us?  thank you

[cath~]

8mo is still v young for independent play and a huge amount of it will depend on personality.
At that age L was always with me (ie in same room) and tbh at nearly 3 yrs she's still with me most of the time now, but if I had things to do at 8mo Eg in kitchen I would set L up with some toys on the floor by me for her to play with (sometimes things from kitchen cupboard so she could 'cook' too. If she wanted more attention singing to her often helped but she wouldn't play for that long without me. I think it's good to encourage her to play by herself a bit (ie next to you but not with you) but some LOs just aren't quite ready for it yet for long periods.

[We Three]

DD was happy in her excersaucer at that age....I could grab a quick shower (like, 7 minutes!).  I was always nearby though, like pp said. She loved being in her highchair, too...with her babysafe feeder or a toy while I cooked, swept, whatever.     So , 'alone' in that I wasn't holding her, but we were still interacting.

[skatty]

My dd was born a bookworm! She could just sit surrounded by books but never ever toys! I agree it has a lot to do with personality, even when having extreme SA she did her own thing but just liked me around. I think letting her amuse herself while you are still around is a really good thing to do 

[Gabi1023]

Well, I feel like a big dummy... We have been so scared of our 8 m/o little girl hurting herself, that we were only allowing her to play while in her play pen, the rest of the time she was either in her walker or in our arms... Come to find out, if we babyproofed our home (or at least some of the rooms in our home) we could allow her to crawl around the house and explore freely without worry.  Obviously, we always have an eye on her and never leave her unattended, but it has opened a new world to her and to us now that she doesn't have to be held hostage in a tiny play pen.  She will crawl around and follow us around the house and watch us cook or even just explore her surroundings... so nice to allow her some freedom and it has given us more freedom as well...  just thought I would share.  Thank you to everyone for the kind replies

[ZacsMumme]

Have you seen this?
Activity and toy ideas for 6-9mths

[cath~]

Yay pleased she (and you!) is enjoying her new freedom.  Such an exciting time

[Gabi1023]

Thank you for the link to the activities... always looking for new fun things to do.