92 Week Old Baby: Your Baby's Development and Your Recovery This Week

Your toddler is bossy in pretend play this week, and that's a good sign of imagination working.

At around 23 months, your toddler walks and runs in short bursts, expresses basic feelings in short phrases ("no like", "me sad", "baby happy"), and directs their own pretend play, the doll must sleep now, the bear is in trouble, papa has to drink the pretend tea. You'll be surprised how demanding a 2-foot director can be.

• Join the pretend play. Sit on the floor. Ask "what happens next?"
• Small world toys for this phase: a toy kitchen, a doctor's kit, a tiny dustpan and brush, soft toy family.
• No judgement of gender in play, cooking and cleaning and fixing things are all for every toddler.

• Your toddler is learning to turn a tap on and off, work a door handle, push a stool into position. The hand dexterity and problem-solving are jumping.

• Tap safety: set your home water heater to a maximum of 49 °C (120 °F) if you can adjust it, so a toddler alone at a tap can't scald themselves. If not adjustable, never let the toddler play with the hot tap alone. A toddler's skin burns faster than an adult's at the same water temperature.

• If your toddler shares a bed with you or sleeps near grandparents, consistency on bedtime, same time, same wind-down, same room layout, matters more than where they sleep. A soft lullaby (lori) works the same in a joint family bed.

Being bossed about by a tiny director is a strange sort of honour. That growing imagination sits proudly among 22 month old baby milestones, and you are its favourite co-star. Pour the pretend tea; these performances will become some of your fondest memories.

Around 22 months. Your toddler is starting to play independently for short stretches, a real shift for mum.

The independent-play moment

• Around 22 months, many toddlers can entertain themselves for 10–20 minutes, building blocks, sticker books, a sensory tray. This is genuine bandwidth back for you.

Things that protect this skill

• Don't interrupt to praise. Let them stay in the play.
• Resist the urge to redirect "right" play. A blocks-tower built sideways is fine.
• Set up the environment for self-play. Limited but engaging toys, a small table or rug as their "play zone".

For mum's window

Use the 15-minute solo-play stretches for things you actually need:

• Eat a real breakfast or lunch sitting down
• Make a quick phone call
• Take a hot shower
• Read a few pages of something

Eating well

• Three meals + two snacks. The Indian thali.

Indian-context note

• Indian extended families often have many adults around, which sometimes prevents independent play because someone is always engaging the toddler. Having one adult-free 30-minute window in the day (in a safe spot) builds the skill.

Worth flagging

• A toddler who cannot tolerate any solo play at 22 months, or who can't engage with a single activity for 5+ minutes, is worth a chat with the pediatrician. Most are within normal range; some benefit from early sensory or developmental input.

An Indian-context window for mum

• A 30-minute window where toddler is engaged and you can read, sip chai, take a walk, or simply sit silently is genuine recovery. Many Indian homes have an extra adult around (grandparent, helper) who can supervise these stretches. Use the window. Year 2 deserves you taking time.

Those short quiet stretches are not stolen; they are yours. Learning to use them without guilt is mother self care at its most practical. A mum who gets to finish her tea sitting down brings a softer heart back to the playroom.