What are your house rules for technology/screen usage and young kids (2.5-5yrs)?

DiveFrog · December 2014

So, we have been moderately restrictive with DD(2.5) in regards to screen time. Only recently has she really taken any interest at all. So, we have a couple children's apps on my ipad and she has started to take an interest in Dora and Daniel the Tiger on Amazon prime video.

I realized this week when she initiated the request to watch for the first time (previously it has been used as a last resort measure on long cars trips etc.) that we are going to need to establish some usage rules so that everyone (myself, DH, my parents, my brother who babysits, DH's parents and DD) are all on the same page in regards to when, what, and how long she can watch/play on the ipad/computer/smartphone.

So, what if any rules do you have in your home on this topic?

74dragonfly · December 2014

An hour a day most days is maximum. Done days we let her have more but since most days it is an hour the occasional binge is ok. The hour is tv plus ipad

[Deleted User] · December 2014

Hand him the Kindle and tell him to go to sleep when it shuts off?

[Deleted User] · December 2014

All joking aside, we really don't have a set limit. However, DS is extremely active and will just walk away mid-cartoon to start playing. He will sometimes incorporate what he has just watched. He doesn't have the attention span to sit and zone out at the screen.

He gets cartoons in the morning while I get ready and he watches some in the evening.

Virgo17 · December 2014

We don't limit it per se. However, we are on the go a lot, or playing, so they don't get a ton of screen time. I would start to worry if they chose screen time over playtime.

traveltheworld · December 2014

DS gets an episode or 2 of Daniel Tiger on the weekends. He watches about 20 - 30 minutes of some children's song & dance program on my mom's iPad when she watches him twice a week. That's about it. DH and I don't play on our phones or iPads when DS is awake, nor do we have the TV on. I downloaded the Endless Alphabet app on the iPad thinking that he'd be interested because he was showing a lot of interest in the alphabet, but oddly he got scared. Since we are usually very busy, I haven't bothered trying another app.

shakinros · December 2014

We don't really have rules. On average I'd say Dd gets about an hour a day on weekdays, 1.5hrs on weekends. She's 2.5 and it's 90% Daniel Tiger with the occasional Jake and the Neverland Pirates. We have an iPad that she gets to play games on instead of TV if she'd rather that.

I'm a little worried about this going into winter. It was easy to interest her in play when we could get outside more, but it's been so gross here recently that we are inside a lot.

vvvvvfee · December 2014

we don't have set limits, but DS (28 months) watches on average about 30 minutes per day (generally 1 episode of daniel tiger). we mostly use TV as a distraction when we really need to get something done without him underfoot (for instance, DH is watching him alone and has to make a work-related call, or the house is a disaster and we need to do a quick clean-up). occasionally we will all watch a G-rated movie together on weekends. DS doesn't do any smartphone/tablet games. if we are out at a restaurant or something and he gets restless, sometimes we'll let him watch youtube videos or netflix on one of our phones.

skibunny59 · December 2014

DD (2.5) watches one 30 minute show (usually 1980s Care Bears) in the morning when we get up. I am home now on ML and it gives me a chance to nurse and dress #2 and sit with my coffee.

We don't do ipad, computer,smartphone at all.

Leap08 · December 2014

I don't really have a set rule. On weekdays they watch a cartoon or two in the morning while eating breakfast/getting ready for the day. So less than an hour. Some evenings I will let them play on my ipad while we're making dinner. That's usually less than 30 minutes. We do movie nights a couple of times a month and their movies are usually about 90 minutes. I just kind of play it by ear. I can tell if we need to turn off the TV/take away the ipad and go do something else.

rubber_chicken · December 2014

We don't really have rules. Usually we only use the tablet when we need her to sit still: generally for her nebulizer treatments and when I'm doing her hair. We sometimes let her watch 20 minutes or so in the evenings, and a couple times we've done "Family Movie Night". DD is 2.5 but will actually sit through a feature length cartoon -- I don't think she's ever watched any shows or movies with real people, other than a couple World Cup football games.

Mustardseed2007 · December 2014

We try to be careful, because DS really loves TV. Really really. Although recently he will sometimes say "can we turn the tv off and play now". Which makes me feel lame.

Basically it's 15-45 minutes on a weekday; max 2 hours per day on weekends; 2 minute episodes on the Ipad while going potty (wow that sounds weird to say).

Weekdays he normally watches 1/2 episode of something that has 2 stories in 1 episode (ie 15 minutes of Jake Pirate or Agent Oso) so I can get him dressed. It helps when he zones out. Then after school he sometimes watches an episode of something, but sometimes not.

He sometimes watches the Ipad while going potty, in which event it's a 2 minute Nina Needs to Go episode/occasionally Sam Sandwich.

Then on the weekends, we try to limit to no more than 2 hours in a day, though I like to keep it at closer to 1 hour. Lately on weekends he's been watching Wild Kratts b/c those episodes are a full 30 minutes, so we discourage him from watching that during the week. Also I find Wild Kratts really annoying.

ETA: DS will be 3 tomorrow (*tear*)

CarrieB. · December 2014

At this point, we really don't do much to limit screen usage. The kids are home with my DH all day and I realize that they probably get a lot of screen time, especially the 3 year old. But in all honesty, I don't really care. They are well behaved, smart and social. TV does not appear to be destroying them.

sdlaura · December 2014

No rules here either for almost 2.5 yr old DD. She loses interest after about 10 minutes.

HobbityBarb · December 2014

catbenatar said:

No set rules for us. We wing it. Has she watched a few shows/movies already? Ok, let's turn it off and do something else. Is she getting downright crazy and needs some time to just sit, let's offer her the tv for a bit. The only app she's into is a drawing pad app. Decent practice with fine motor skills and such. If she ever starts demanding or freaking out over screen time, we'll reevaluate.

This has always been my approach too - and there have been a few times where DS has started freaking out about the end of his turn on the X-Box or whatever and whenever that's happened he's lost access to all the electronics (DH is a gamer, so we have a lot!) for a couple of days and then he's on probation for a while to make sure he's learned to stay calm and it has worked - he's an intense boy anyway but he's always calm about sharing screen-time these days.

ridesbuttons · December 2014

My kids are 5 (six next month) and 7. To this point we have not allowed any games on any hand held electronic. At their PC they can go to coolmathgames or lego.com and play games together for up to an hour.

Hand held electronics they can watch youtube for 45min at a time max (we have no TV right now).

At friends' homes, they are exposed to Minecraft and other games but we don't allow them at home.

We get some complaining from the 7 year old about it.

We don't have a daily limit for screen time yet. If it is a cold, crappy, rainy day there will be more screentime. If it is nice out and we have stuff going on, there might be none. We go day by day but I will admit that if we've had a few 'heavy' screen time days, I will look to restrict for a few days by providing alternative activities before it even comes up.

Tricky business though. I worry about it a lot.

reb84 · December 2014

At first I thought I'd limit screen time, but DH has the tv on anytime he is home. I also put on a movie when we get home from work so DD can not cling on me when I'm starting to make dinner or cleanup. What bothers me about screen time is that I don't seem to get any. It's always a kid show or something silly DH puts on. I rarely get to netflix my Gilmore Girls.

MickeyM04 · December 2014

Oh man, ya'll are making me feel horrendous.

Before DS was 20 months, he had never watched any TV. Then at about that age I started allowing 2 Mickeys per day (so about 50 minutes). Then DD was born and all that shit went straight out the window. Whatever allowed me to nurse/do what I had to do for her without a complete meltdown was A-OK, and that was usually TV. I'm not too worried about it, because during the week he's at DC all day, from like 7am - 6pm (yes, I hate our schedule). So at night he gets 1 episode of Mickey before bath/bed. On the weekends I don't limit him, because a), he gets about a total of 2 hours during the week, and b) we are usually out doing something most days anyway. If I had to guess, I would say a total of 10 hours per week, maybe more. I kind of wing it as others have mentioned. Some mornings he will watch a Mickey and then ask for more, and then another, and then another and after 3 or so episodes I'll be like, OK let's do something else now and turn it off. Other days he will watch a Mickey and not even make it halfway through an episode before he's off doing something else.

I agree with the PP who stated, I'm not really worried about it. However much TV he's watching, he's very social, bright, well-adjusted, and happy. At 2.5, he can count to 20, knows his ABCs A through I, and P through Z. He has memorized most of the board books in our house as well as a number of songs. Whatever we (or DC) are doing, it seems to be working, TV or iPad or not.

2chatter · December 2014

I was really hard core with my first. My second was addicted (and still is at 7) to TV. The third had no TV until he had RSV and had to do breathing treatments around age 2. And then it was only while he was doing treatments. Now...no firm rules. I hate TV and background noise, so tend to yell "no more TV, say bye" and just turn it off. The kids have had little interest in Leapsters, LeapPads or a DS, but they have them.

We definitely let them watch more in the winter. This winter has been mild so it's been playing outside and bike rides all week so far.

The older ones (7 and 10) watch an hour after school while I finish working if they don't want to play outside and have no more than an hour of homework they can do later, then we all go out together after I pick up DS. We generally read after dinner instead of TV. When I am super worn out and DH is traveling our worst day would be 1.5 hours in the morning for DS and 1 hour at night, so 2.5 hours in the day. But he gets up at 5:30 and I have started dropping him at DC around 9:00. On mornings he will not play but I am immersed in a work task and just beaten down, he gets TV.

Beevol · December 2014

We don't have a rule, but we're not big TV people to begin with so there are weeks that go by without any TV watching. When she's at one of her grandparents' houses, it's anything goes. That's once every other month or so though, so if my dad lets her watch TV for 3 hours in a row 6 or 7 times a year, it's not going to harm her (especially since she wont sit still that long, so it's more like having the TV on while she intermittently watches and plays).

When we do watch TV with her, it's usually a kids movie on a Saturday morning while one of us gets to sleep in. On long road trips or other times when we need her to sit quietly but can't entertain her, we'll let her watch youtube clips for a bit (mainly disney songs, she loves villain song compilations). I have this one counting game on my phone that she'll play through (~10 minutes) maybe once a week.

potbellypig · December 2014

DD watches two episodes of cartoons in the morning, one or two before supper and one before bed. Lots, but it's pretty cold out here now, and I need to get stuff done during our time at home. I wish it was less, but then I think to myself that I watched a similar amount of TV when I was a kid and I'm a well-adjusted adult who hardly watches any TV now.

She doesn't play with the smart phone (off limits) or with a tablet (we don't have one). She's either zoned out watching TV or playing with actual toys.

2-Step · December 2014

We are more about balance than setting super strict time frames. Most days it's 15 min in the am and 15-30 evening and then they have the option to watch a 30 min show while I make dinner or play video games. Some days it's zero and some we sit down and watch movie after daycare if we are all tired or just need down time. I try not to make hard and fast rules because then they just use it to negotiate or whine if they don't get it. We are pretty active so I try to go with whatever feels balanced. If we have a babysitter usually I just tell them what shows are appropriate and let them be the judge. If my mom needs a break I'm fine with a little extra TV on that day.

DiveFrog · December 2014

Thanks for all the input Ladies!

The TV is on a lot more than I would like around DD (although not kids programming). She typically ignores it at this point primarily because we don't ever have it on kids programming. For the time being, DH and I discussed the issue and we are going to limit the ipad and phone use (either show,games, photos or apps) to 30min. sessions and 1hr. total per day.

jetgrrrl · December 2014

So, I'm in the minority but we've got a 3 and a 5 year old and we don't have an iPad, don't let them play with our phones and do almost no TV. Since weekdays are comprised of rushing them out the door to school, getting them home, getting them through dinner and then to bed, TV would just replace the half hour or so they spend playing together while DH gets dinner ready (he is home before I am) and then probably delay actually getting them to the table. When my mother visits or we visit her, she has an iPad that they play with a bit, and at her house they watch videos. It really only gets to me when our youngest is down for a nap on the weekends and our oldest won't let me get anything done, but typically one of us gets him out of the house during that time (we'll see during the winter whether that changes - last year he was still napping on weekends). It really just kind of evolved this way but I do worry that we're creating forbidden fruit - they can't WAIT to go to my parents' house to watch tv when we do go there.

2chatter · December 2014

I view Skype and other interactive things, like Just Dance on the Wii, not so much as screen time.

I vividly recall my mom being on the phone and leaving her along to chat with her friends and family. I played Atari for hours...days of Nintendo literally....Watched tons of Scooby Doo and Flipper and the Brady Bunch.

I kind of got over all the categorizing when I told my oldest she needed to play while watching TV, she could use her imagination but she could not just sit there. She imitated an animal on Bindi the Jungle Girl that chewed on a wire, pried off a plug cover with a toy screwdriver and inserted a Christmas ornament hanger into the socket with her mouth. Scariest moment in parenting to date and made me a little more laid back about TV, oddly enough.

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