Question
I have 22 month old twins.
Our house is very small, just under 900 square feet. About half of the house (2 rooms) is dedicated playspace for them, along with the living room when they're not in their playspace.
The twins spend about 50% of their day in their playspace together and 50% of their day in the living room with the whole family. We don't have a yard, but we hope to move into a house with a yard soon.
When they're in their playspace, my husband and I tend to pop in to bug them at least a few times per hour. The house is so small that we can hear everything, but we also use video baby monitors. They generally play with toys, listen to music, flip through books, etc. in their playspace until we bring them out for meals and family time.
Before I began this setup about 3 months ago, we had problems such as outbursts whenever we'd sit them down. However, optimizing the playspace for them has made them much less interested in us and more interested in their play. They usually seem content and this has made it easier for me to do the things I need to do (e.g. housework, cooking, etc.)
My question about this approach: is there such a thing as too much independent play for 22 month olds? They still spend over half of their waking hours with us between the living room and the times we pop into their playroom for about 10 minutes each time, but I don't know if this style of parenting is best for a slightly older child (2.5+ years) because in Rosemond's book "Terrible Twos", he doesn't recommend transitioning kids to a more independent mindset until they're at least 2.
I am glad for their independent playing skills and our small house/baby monitors that allows us to supervise them at all times without hovering, but as a first time parent I'm not 100% clear on the line between "encouraging independence" and being "too uninvolved", with children on the brink of age 2. I'm not sure whether I've started transitioning them too soon.
