how much time should i spend with my baby who seems to like being on his own?

Question

he likes spending time on the floor exploring his toys and chewing on them (he's teething)

Answer 1

Time on the floor is great, but your baby should also enjoy time gazing at your face and "flirting" with you. Put your baby in your lap facing you and look into his eyes. Sing quiet songs, talk about his toes, clap hands, make faces. Let him touch your face. If he makes noises, you respond with sounds and words. Pay attention to what he likes and doesn't like when playing with you. Some children like calm and quiet, some children like fast and noisy, most children like both depending on their mood.
Altogether you should spend at least an hour a day with just you and baby face to face. Feeding time doesn't count.

When baby is on the floor playing, you can be on the floor too. Talk to your baby about what he is doing. Quietly watch what he does with his toys. Imitate what he does with his toys. Then add something to his play. If he is pushing blocks around, you can push a few around too. Then put one on top of another.

If you child does not respond to face to face time or is bothered by it, you should talk to your doctor. It may be nothing, but several things can make face to face time troublesome for babies. If your child's behavior bothers you, trust yourself and ask an expert.

Answer 2

Let him have some space and time on his own to explore - just make sure you are close enough he can see you. This way he will feel safe and secure from your presence and you will know what he is doing! It is important for babies to have constant supervision, but that doesn't mean they have to be held 100% of the time. When he needs a cuddle he'll come to you. Also make sure you talk to him while he explores, explaining things like "that is a red ball" to help his cognitive development.

Answer 3

You should be with him as much as possible. I mean, think about it - this is the only day he's gonna be this age! Even if he doesn't like to be held all the time (which I would consider a blessing lol) he would still be reassured knowing that you're there when he needs you.
I had a cabinet in my kitchen that was baby-proof that they could play in when I was doing dishes. For other rooms I would take a rubbermade tote with toys in it for them to play with. That way they would be occupied with something interesting, and I could do whatever I needed to do.

Much Love!!

Answer 4

I am raising a granddaughter who is the same way. I let her go and play with her things and then when I am cooking I bring her into the kitchen with me and she sits in her high chair and snacks or when I am doing laundry I take her into that room and she plays with the clean clothes and tries to fold them ( it's more like wadding them up). I take her outside to play at least once a day for a couple of hours, etc. As you can see, I still let her have her time alone but I try to incorporate it with whatever I am doing.

Answer 5

I would spend as much time as you can with him. You don't have to interact with him to spend time with him. Just being near is great. Let him explore as long as he wants and do what he wants. He will let you know when he needs a break.

Answer 6

You really don't need to "spend" time with him. What you need to do is always be available for him. Always be nearby. Sit on the floor where he's playing and read a book., but listen for his sounds. He may need awknowledgement. You should be there as much as you can to make sure he doesn't get into trouble. But all babies need solitary play.. to discover and learn unhindered.

Answer 7

depends on age, but you should be down there on the floor with him, playing and helping him explore. As he gets older like 12 months, then you can let him be on his own (under supervision of course).

Answer 8

As long as your in the room with him your spending time with him. Interact with him by doing little things like handing him toys so things like that.. My son is the same way.. He'd rather be doing his own thing whether its running around in cirlces chasing the puppies or playin with his toys. I just sit in the room with him and he comes to me when he wants me to do something with him.

Answer 9

How much is he spending time alone? Does he not like attention very much? Does he not like to make eye contact? because this might mean that he has autism, my little brother has autism and we didnt know why he was so impersonal and distant, and we went and got him tested and found out he had autism. I would get hims tested if i was at all concerned, just to be safe, its best to catch it as soon as possible.

Answer 10

That's good that he's independant but you should still spend time with him as much as possible because before you know it he'll be older and really won't want you around.