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Indoorvoice 01:14 PM 10-03-2018
About how long should a 6 month old be expected to play independently before getting extremely fussy? I'm getting about 5 minutes before he can't handle it anymore. Not sure if I should work on extending it and allowing him to fuss for a few more minutes or if 5 minutes is truly all I can expect right now. I know he doesn't get independent play time at home so I don't want to overly stress him out. My other infants have gone longer but they weren't criers in general and this one is. Thanks!
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Miss A 01:22 PM 10-03-2018
I currently have a 7 month old that can play independently for up to 30 minutes, but he rolls himself to where he wants to be, watches the older kids, and the older kids often bring toys to him and sit and interact with him. I am pretty lucky in that he is a mostly content, happy baby.

In the past though, I have had babies that were not content to play on the floor for more than a few minutes at a time, even with me sitting right by them and interacting with them. My own DS would start to cry as soon as I would bend over to put him on the floor, and would scream bloody murder the entire time he was down there.

I would work on extending his time on the floor, letting him fuss it out for a few minutes. This is a prime opportunity to help baby learn to self soothe.
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Leigh 06:12 PM 10-03-2018
I have one now that could probably go hours without any other human interaction-all he cares about is exploring, learning to walk (he is cruising and standing independently for a few seconds at a time already!), and trying to figure out how everything works. The one before him couldn't handle 5 minutes alone, either. It is all about the kid, I'm afraid.
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Tags:6 month old, independent play, milestones
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