40 minutes on their own....Really?????

[mattandcindy]

I was reading Tracy's toddler book and it says by age 1 they should be able to play for 40 minutes on their own.
Either I have an extremely needy child or I am misreading that. Does she really mean 40 minutes at one sitting?
Abigail can do about 20 max maybe 2x a day. Otherwise she wants Mama there playing with her.
Before I freak out I just wanted to see if others with 1 year olds play that long on their own??? (And if they do I'm jealous!  )

[~Angie~]

I don't have Tracy's Toddler book. But 40 minutes does seem extrememly long. My 2 year old can't even go that long. (30 max on a good day). When I taught Kindergarten, not many of my students would have been able to occupy themselves that long with out some kind of redirection or interaction. I am interested to hear what other have to say.

By the way, I love your duaghter's name-same as my LO's. 

[Nikki~Nathanamp;Danielle]

I *know* the book says that, but I don't think that my kids have ever played that long independently and honestly, it actually wouldn't feel right to me - I actually don't know how long they play on their own, enough for me to do things that I need anyway. I guess I'm always around and about near where they are. If they need me I respond, if they want a play I do, and then they go off and do their thing. I think it's just nice to have kids that *can* play independently for whatever amount of time, but we are social creatures and do crave company and interaction. Even now when Nathan does play on his own (which is the majority of the day) he likes to be in my company.  I guess I don't have many days that I'm fully at home with them to know how long they'd play alone, as we're always going on playdates or in the car, down to the mall or park or whatever. I personally wouldn't place too much emphasis on the 40mins (not disagreeing with what Tracy's written), but as long as Abigail can play on her own and 2 x 20mins sounds fine.