How to encourage a 2.5yr old to play independently? ?

Question

my 2.5 yr old son has always had a baby sitter and i am a work at home mom. So he is used to having someone play with him all the time. The baby sitter we have has been with him since he is 6 mnths old and is very attached to him and loves to play with him. So i have no reason to complain.

However, i would like to him to play by himself sometime and not want someone around all the time. If the baby sitter is not available, he wants me to play with him and if i am busy, he wants the baby sitter by his side. How do i encourage him to play independently and not want someone around all the time?

Answer 1

Get an exciting new toy or plaything that can be played with solo.

I suggest a sandbox.  I built a 4 ft by 4ft one for our 2 and 1/2 year old son at the beginning of summer this year.  He LOVES it.  Tell the sitter what you're doing (nicely) and ask that she let him explore some creativity there by himself.  

Some other ideas:  a water gun!  Funny, but this also provides lengthy stretches of solo time for my son while he actively shoots everything in sight.  My son also has a Thomas the Train trainset that he adores--he builds new track configurations and pushes the little trains around and has a ball doing it.  Sometimes he asks for help with the track, but for the most part he plays quietly by himself.

I also think our dogs provide lots of fun for him--as well as security and companionship--and lets him be the boss!  I trust our dogs implicitly and they are playful and gentle with him.  I think our Lab's loyalty and good nature in particular helps our son to be more independant than he would be normally--while our tough quirky Pug allows him to be bigger than someone, at least, in the house (pecking order! LOL).

The sitter works for you, right?  No matter how attached she is, it is important for you to stand firm as the parent on any issue.  Natural development of self-soothing and self-play is more important for you son than his attachment to a non-family member.  

Good luck.

Answer 2

get him a stuffed animal ... kids always need a friend ...but in this case maybe a puppy or kitty would be even better ( assuming that you can have animals ) animals a the best things for kids every kids should have on e!

Answer 3

Maybe the problem is not that he doesn’t want to play but rather that the toys he has don’t gain his attention and prefers to play with company. Why don’t you get on the net check out some sites and make sure that he goes through the toys with you until you find something that he likes a lot. Here is a good link to start with here they sell a whole bunch of toys and educational toys.