independent activity time?

[ginger72]

Hi all!

I'm a little worried that our 5 month old LO doesn't seem able to enjoy 'independent' activity time. By that I mean, playing on his own either on an activity mat, under the baby gym or in his boucy chair. He's OK for the first 5 mins and after that starts grizzling/whining and really doesn't seem to want to play on his own. As the day progresses he becomes progressively harder work during A time and by the end is pretty much only happy if being carried around or walked in the stroller. 

I guess I'm just not sure if this is normal or not or whether by always trying to avoid any grizzling/whining we've created a high-maintenance LO. Can anyone advise me - is this normal? if not, what is and what can we do?!

Thanks in advance!
Michelle

[RyansMum]

Hiya

Do you have any groups that you go to at all?  Sometimes I have found that breaks up the day and makes the afternoon a little less hard work!  Still my lo does have a whine late in the afternoon and needs more attention than say in the morning.  I guess it must be their winding down.

At the age of your lo my lo would play independantly if for example I placed him at my feet while I sat on the sofa so I was close by.  I have found he can amuse himself for longer as he has gotten older.

I too feel that sometimes my lo is a little high maintenance but by changing the scene or going out to groups helps him and me to enjoy the day and be less wingy.

[tiki_mama]

have you tried him with some less stimulating toys? i was given a beautiful mamas and papas baby gym for my dd and she HATED it!!
for a start the mat was very padded so she couldn't roll around and all the brightly coloured stuff hanging over her head really annoyed her 

she also hates her bouncy chair! it was just a plain one but she always got frustrated with it after a few minutes (i think she hated being strapped in). we just bought her a bumbo seat and she loves that 

her favourite pastime is just lying on a rug on the floor with a couple of little toys that she can grab and put in her mouth! she spends ages playing herself (in addition to being entertained by myself and dh!), but i always make sure she knows i'm close by 

[cassidyJamiesmom]

i just read your post and had top laugh becuz it sounds so much like my dd.  It seems she only wants facew to face interaction.  I do use the paci to quiet her grumblings while she plays a lone.  I also sometimes take down the arches of her playmat so she just sort of plays with her toes or her hands and does npt fget overstimulated.

high maintenance, indeed!!

I am hoping she'll outgrow it 

[Erin M]

My LO always had a tough time at the end of the day as well.  They just get more and more tired as the day goes on.  I would just stay close and keep him as happy as you can.  Let him play for as long as he can and then do some entertaining yourself for a bit.  Try and stretch out the times that he plays independently.  He'll figure out how to entertain himself eventually - 5 minutes is a very long time for a 5 month old anyway.  Once he starts moving more too things might change, I know mine is very content to just crawl around now between her toys and sometimes entertain herself - sometimes she still comes over to show me something or tell me about something and then we'll play together for a bit.

[ginger72]

Thanks so much for your replies - I'm trying with more independent time in the morning when he's a bit fresher and a little less 'needy'. I think you're right about movement - at the moment we're the sole source of entertainment but I think that as time goes on and he's able to explore things on his own a bit better it'll be easier. As everyone's said, the late afternoon/early evening is the worst time!