Play Time Alone

I think as long as you have baby/kid proofed it is okay at birth. I will leave both of my kids 3 and 10 months for a few minutes at a time. I have to be more careful about leaving them together because my 3 year old can be rough with my 10 month old. My challenge is for my 3 year old to stay and play be herself she must be going through another seperation anxiety phase because she always comes looking for me. My 10 month old almost does better by himself than her.

I let my LOs plays alone from day one, either in a play pen or in a child safe room. I am now even letting my 28 month old play outside alone (in a fenced in yard) --with supervision from a window. And I let my 7 month old play in the playroom alone when I am next door in the office on the computer for a few minutes every day. Some might think I am nuts, but the room is child-proof, and he gets my attention if he needs me (sometimes he crawls in to see me, it's very cute).

My oldest will be 4 in Sept. and she has been playing alone in another room since her little bro was born 2 years ago. I have potentially dangerous rooms (kitchen, laundry) blocked with a gate but she has the run of the bedrooms and the playroom. We keep the bathroom doors closed (little bro proof), she can open them to use the potty. The only reason she didn't play in another room alone before bro was born is that she didn't want to play alone, she would bring toys to wherever I was and play near me. Now I think she craves alone time since her bro shadows her every move. I leave them both alone as much as I can (I'm doing chores,work) but within earshot. The rooms they have access to are safe and I will discretely check on them if it is too quiet. Assuming you trust yours to not get into to anything and/or the room/s are reasonably childproof then let him play alone!

Oh my...I've allowed my children to play alone from the time they were very little. It started where I would just let them play in their cribs with crib toys. Then we graduated to playing in the playpen. Then about 18 mo or so, I would allow them to stay in the living room while I would go to the kitchen to work on meals. Of course, I would always check on them periodically, but I would never smother them. My thought is that your son is beyond old enough to allow to play on his own. You just need to develop sharper hearing so you can tell if/when he's doing something he's not supposed to and then to check up on him periodically.

as long as the room is safe, there's no reason he cant play alone. My daughter has been since a little over a year.

He is definitely okay to be playing alone. My daughter isn't two yet and i put a gate on her room a long time ago and made sure there wasn't anything bad she could get to and i let her play in there. I just check on her every so often.

My daughter just turned 3 and she has been playing in her room by herself for awhile. I think that it depends on how much you trust your child and what they are capable of. My daughter likes to play on her own but she will come out of her room now and then if she wants something or wants us to play with her. She is not alone in her room for long periods of time and I check up on her every couple of min.

I agree-- it's time! My 2 y 10 mo old plays alone in his room from time to time-- I have a monitor on, close the other doors up stairs, and check each time that his room is safe for him to play alone. I think it is good to foster independence and get some things done while they are happily playing elsewhere.

I agree with the moms who say it depends on the child and the room. My son was about your son's age when we started letting him be in his room by himself. I would be on the same floor as him and have the baby monitor on. When downstairs, he could play in the living room alone if my hubby or I were downstairs (our downstairs is small and you can hear everything from any place). He started playing downstairs on his own around 2 1/2 or 3.

YOU need to be comfortable with him being alone, and if you aren't comfortable yet, don't do it, or work up to it. I won't let our 18-month old play alone in a room yet because she gets into lots of stuff! If you do let him play alone in a room, consider getting down on the floor at his level and look at anything he could get into. Keeping doors to other rooms closed is always a good idea, along with having gates across stairs/other problematic areas. A couple of things to consider with "babyproofed" rooms. If there is any kind of regular bed in the room, a child can fall off it or hurt themselves by bouncing on it (my son fell off our bed several times when we were right on the bed with him). Also, if there are lamps or anything else with a cord plugged in, they can pull on the cord and have the item fall on them or pull the plug out of the outlet and you then have an exposed outlet, ripe for exploration. Things like curtains or blinds can be pulled down, causing injury. This is why we waited until our son was mature enough to understand he wasn't allowed to do any of these things, or he would lose the privilege. When you are ready, it will be a wonderful/scary thing until you get used to it. Good luck!

My daughter is 3yrs old and we let her in her room with her door closed (she closes it) to play alone all the time. I know there isn't much in there that could harm her and I check on her every few minutes. Honestly, it is a nice break and I wish she did it more often. It of course is usually right before we have to go somewhere not when I want her to so I can get things done. But I think it is great to let them play independently. She definitely likes to play with kids but seems to need her alone time too. I would embrace it if your son wants to play alone.

He's fine now, as long as your house is child proof and stairs and gated, etc. You know your home and child. There's no reason he can't play in his room with his toys alone as long as it's on the same floor as you. You know how trustworthy he is and what things he'd get into and won't. Close bathroom doors if he likes to play in water, stuff like that.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

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I started letting my son play alone around 2 1/2. By alone, I mean I am always listening and checking up on him if I don't hear "normal" play noises. He doesn't like to play alone too much though so usually he is hanging with me. I think it is good for them to learn to entertain themselves and be a little independent.

I think it depends on the child! I think he is old enough to play by himself with you in the next room, for sure.
My daughters were able to play by themselves pretty early, but they just recently started going upstairs to play in their room by together, and they are 4 and 5. We babysit our nephew who is almost 3, and I won't go too far when he is around because he needs to be supervised more (lots of grabbing toys).

My 22 month old has been playing alone in a gated in baby-proofed playroom for at least a year. I don't leave her for long periods of time and I check on her frequently, but she will play alone while I wash dishes, get dressed, etc.

It depends on the kid and the room. I think if the door is open a three year old can play by themselves. If you are concerned you can set up a baby camera in a play area so you can check every once in a while or when you here the inevitable BOOM.

B. Davis

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Make sure no hanging cords from drapes, or other potential dangers. Remember that kids can hit their heads, which are not as hard as adult heads. I would check, periodically to see what he is up to...
I would probably put a baby monitor in the room, turned on, so you can hear what is going on, or if he gets quiet. In theory he should be fine, but I have heard too many sad stories, so I tend to be paranoid!