3 month old - how to make independent player?

[suevcameron]

Hi
My DS is 13 weeks, so just 3 months old. He's a total joy at the moment; he's sleeping well at nap time and at night and is so much more aware of the world and is really enjoying his toys.
Two questions:

1. My LO sometimes seems to get fed up and tired really early after his 10am feed even if he's slept really well at night and had a good nap after his 7am feed. He feeds really quickly now - usually done in 15mins - so he has a lot more activity time than he used to - he starts crying when he's only been up for an hour, when he should be able to stay awake for 1 hr 20 - do you have any advice? I've extended his activity time to 1hr 20mins since he started waking up early from his naps and was really difficult to put down.

2. After he's been playing for a while he starts crying or shouting and I'll admit that I have been playing a lot with him and jumping in when he does this - do you have any advice about how to make him more independent? I realise that he's still really young and I don't want him to play on his own now, but I know that these things should be worked on from early on - I don't want him to be unable to play alone when he's older.

Thanks
Sue

[skibbit]

when my son was 3 months old i was giving him about 30 min. after his morning wake up tol just play in his crib by himself. its about the only time he would be by himself but now that hes older (2.5) i wake up at 8:30 and he gets up by himself anywhere from 7:30-8:30 but he stays in his room and plays by himself untill i get up. its great. i started early and its pretty easy.

when he was that little he slept a lot! i couldnt keep him up for more than 45 min without him getting overtired. so his schedual was always off and very stressfull. hopefully this goes well for you. good luck i hope i helped

[lilac83]

I have a 16 week old baby girl. I noticed that if I just "check in" with her periodically while I'm doing housework, she's fine. She will play on her own anywhere from 30 - 45 minutes with the periodic check in to get a smile and a giggle. I also notice that some toys she will stay with longer than others. So, if I need to get something done I will give her those toys and then she won't see that toy again for awhile so it stays fun in her mind.

Sometimes transitioning from one spot to another is hard on her. In that case I let her "yell" at me about it for a bit and then after she's got that off her chest she will typically settle into the new surrounding. Only if she's tired or hungry will she continue to yell at me.

Some things she really likes to do: anything hanging over her head she loves, being on tummy for short period of time looking in mirror, being a "big girl" and sitting up to play (she is really starting to like this and will sometimes cry if I lay her back down!) If she gets fussy and I know she's not tired or hungry I will take her outside to watch the trees and grass - she absolutely loves this! She will lay on a blanket and just stare at everything!

HTH!

[suevcameron]

Thank you - thats really helpful - I'd love Ewan to be as independent as your little boy, skibbit!
Thanks for the ideas - am going to try giving him some space today and see how it goes - I wonder if my LO is keen to sit up more now? - will try it!
Thank you again
xxx