Parents Grappling with Child Screen Time

“I posted recently about screen time and chikdren learning to entertain themselves. Am just happy to share my crackdown had success with limiting Tablet,phone and now tv screen use. The younger one, now better adjusted to school is figuring out how to self entertain at least for an hour. the older one still needs more guidance. putting a password on youtube failed, so I just disconnected the smart tv from the internet. now, they only get cable, which they dont watch anyway. I try to. avoid thinki”

“Hi, I’m a FTM pregnant with my first. Something that has heavily been on my mind is raising my kid with no screens and no algorithm. I’m Gen Z and grew up with the computer and phone at 12, I have diagnosed attention issues and I struggle with social media addiction. I do not want my child seeing me on my phone constantly, and I do worry about how seeing adults scrolling constantly will affect them. I plan to move to Europe (Portugal or Spain) while they’re a toddler where screen addiction isn’t”

“My son has started his Christmas campaign to get a PS5 already. I don’t really want to buy one because he only wants to play Astrobot. So I’m thinking about renting one for a few month till he’s bored of that game. Good idea? Terrible idea? Am I going to get stung with hidden fees if renting from Direct Flex/Raylo? Anything else to be aware of? submitted by /u/IsTheSeaWet [link] [comments]”

“I have one rule for my son (3.5yo) and screen time: He can play/watch as much as he wants as long as he's doing it with me AND we're talking. ^ That's a rule for both me and him. There's so much slop aimed at kids so I made it my mission to play video games together. Together means actual split screen or online multiplayer (PS5, PC + Steam Deck) - no "pretend" controller tricks, he clocked that pretty early. There's so much to learn/teach from actually playing games”

“…how and when did you “surrender” and start letting your children use screens in public places (malls, restaurants, etc)? Our baby is 7 months old and we just sat down to eat a burger with the Mrs. There is literally 6 out 7 families with 12+m old ones around us with a smartphone or a tablet on their faces. Is it really inevitable, after all?😥 submitted by /u/TapThink2310 [link] [comments]”

“Like many, my son’s (he’s five) favorite activity is watching TV. We made the mistake of allowing him to turn it on on his own. Now it’s all he wants to do. He has been signed up to play soccer and has gone twice. He has his third session today and has made it clear he doesn’t want to go. We agreed as a family we would try every session, but it’s become a point of contention. Looking for advice on a couple things: Has anyone ran into a situation where their kid is t interested in an activity the”

“my daughters are pre-teens, very responsible, but youtube can be a slippery slope even for me - get caught in a 30 min rabbit hole waste. ive given them 15 min of youtube time a day and more on the weekend. it took me a long time to figure out how to setup parental settings for apple watch, ipad, chromebook, windows PC, and how to manage it all - and each of these platforms do not work 100% of the time (adjust a setting, kid keeps watching youtube for hours because it didnt sync). my wife berate”

“We’re jumping on the anti streaming bandwagon and I am trying to determine the best way to move forward with the kiddos tv time. Are you guys doing blu ray? VCR? Jailbreaking streaming sticks? submitted by /u/1FlyGuy3 [link] [comments]”

“My 13 year old son really wants a tv in his room. I had one growing up in mine. He already has a computer. Should I do it or is this a black hole I’ll regret? submitted by /u/daily_self_discovery [link] [comments]”

“I am in my 8th month of pregnancy and it is kicking my ass ...my almost 2 y/o inevitably gets a lot of Blues Clues/Sesame Street time just so I can sit and find my breath (and not be crowded in the kitchen, or followed into the bathroom, or climbed on). I dont know if im creating a bad habit, or if this will compound once new baby is here. But damn i am TIRED. We go for walks and to the park every day but thats only for so long, and tv seems to quell his feral-ness unlike much else. Any advice o”

“I have a ten month old who I would like to keep off screens as long as possible. My husband and his family are obsessed with football and it’s on at all social gatherings and realistically in my own home for certain games. Would this be the same as watching TV shows and movies or is sports on tv ok? Do I need to keep her away while games are on? I don’t want her to lose the socialization with her family but I’m finding my self frustrated with the tv being on because my baby gets locked on and lo”

“First time mom to a 1 year old. We haven’t given her any screens so far, and would like to keep it that way. However, with football season here it’s starting to feel unavoidable that the TV is on while she’s awake and playing in the main living area. My question is - how are other non screen families navigating football season? Is it a concern that football games are playing (what feels like everyday) and she can easily watch? So far, she might watch the games/commercials here and there but isn’”

“Lifelong gamer here. I started playing video games when I was around 5 or 6, but my parents were strict about it. If I got in trouble, my games were the first thing to go. They never played with me either. My son is 6 now, and I plan to do things differently. I'd like to play games together and make it something that brings us closer. Just some good time for us to hang out and connect. He's still figuring out the controller, so a lot of games are complicated for him. For those with kids”

“My son turns six next month. We are a no screens house but my son loves competition, racing, games, etc. We were thinking old school Mario Kart would be perfect for him. Should I get the old N64 setup or is there a more modern platform for him? submitted by /u/Lost_Consequence_162 [link] [comments]”

“How many of you have a little guy that you game with? My son is 7 and we have been playing the Lego games on my Xbox account and some kids games on my new pc. Well, at 7 I am looking at getting him his own account to play with his friends. Is there a way for him to have his own account based off of mine? Or at least share the games/progress we have bought together? Obviously his online interactions would be SEVERELY limited to the neighbor kids and me on rainy/sick days and only when we are supe”

“My 14-year-old son keeps playing video games when he is supposed to be doing homework, and I’m getting really frustrated and don’t know how to handle it. On Monday, I found out that he was playing games while working on an assignment and early in the morning, which made hime miss the school bus. I talked to him about it on Tuesday and explained that homework time needs to be for homework. Then on Thursday night, he told me he had an important English assignment to finish. While I was preparing h”

“Is everyone letting their kids play video games whenever they want? Are we the strict house for just allowing an hour a day? The kids say everyone plays all the time in other homes. Wondering how true that is. They're 9 and 12. submitted by /u/kohniva [link] [comments]”

“Ok, so my 4 year old has about 30 minutes/week where we play ps5 together, any advice on a small hand friendly ps5 compatible controller? submitted by /u/Button1891 [link] [comments]”

“My kid is five, and I'm trying to cut down on the time he spends sitting in front of the computer. We've tried controller games. He liked it at first, then got frustrated after hitting the wrong buttons a few times and threw the controller down. I recently found these motion games where kids just use their body instead of a controller. Seems like that could be a lot easier for a little kid. Does anyone have a game console for their kids? do kids actually stick with them? I'd hate to”

“Technology abuse can become an issue and preventing it is certainly one of the parenting challenges of our times. I created a system to help manage the screen time of my 8-year-old and I am pretty happy with the results, so I decided to share here in hopes it will help other families. It has the advantage of making him responsible about his screen time while helping my partner and I being on the same page as far as how much TV has been watched during the week and when it should be allowed or den”

“Is that too much ? It doesn’t seem like he has other things that he enjoys anymore. He will start basketball in a couple months. He used to draw all the time before I let him play video games. submitted by /u/bluewavenov6 [link] [comments]”

“Hey all! I’m a mum to a beautiful 2 year old and I also love to have my cosy gaming time. Yesterday I was playing Stardew Valley when my daughter was sleeping. She woke up around 11 and was begging her dad to see me so she came to me but noticed I had farm animals on my screen and wanted to see. All day today she’s been asking to see the ‘monsters’ (in the mines) and the cows but I feel like it’s too early for her to be introduced to gaming. I would love to be able to build together in sims and”

“I need a little help here. My son (15 months) gets a lot of screen time. Like an amount I don’t want to admit publicly. My parents (divorced) watch him a bulk of the time and my dad definitely relies on Ms. Rachel and Sesame Street to entertain my son and daycare isn’t an option for us. But if I’m being honest, I know I’m using it too much too. I do my best to interact with him while the screen is on and to turn it off whenever he stops being interested in it. Unfortunately, it is something that”

“Hi all, I have a question about screen time for babies. I understand the consequences of screen time in different age groups, but I can't get a clear answer as to WHY these consequences happen. And quite frankly, I don't have time to dig through the research right now unfortunately. Is screen time for babies bad because they don't get adequate social interaction (kind of a confounder or indirect link?) because parents who use screens in this age group tend to be less interactive? Or”

“Going on a 6 hour long flight with our 4 year old. We’re planning on bringing an iPad but looking for some offline game apps he can play? Thanks! submitted by /u/AdSilent9067 [link] [comments]”

“I’m a little behind. Still regretting putting the kid in front of the computer for an hour at age two. Gameboy, video games, never ending. Kids now don’t even have to do their homework. Makes hooked on Spanish look great.”

“My 4-year-old used to come home from preschool and go straight for the tablet or TV. He wanted screens during meals and before bed too. Turning them off usually ended in tears and a meltdown. We tried time limits and taking the devices away, but neither really worked. The more we told him he couldn’t have screen time, the more he wanted it. I was worried about his eyesight and felt like we were spending less time together. Recently we started focusing on finding things he actually enjoys instead”

“So we have a 2y9m old daughter and we don't use any sort of tablets but she does love Hilda and Bluey. So usually maybe once every two days we allow 20 minutes of screen time... We watch it together on the tv, she's never alone and we explain stuff to her also due to the fact that english is not our first language and we try to get her to understand the jokes, the funny parts and also we try to use it as our main source of getting her into English despite reading English books as well. I”

“My daughter is 5 and in kindergarten and is about the age I was when my older sister got an NES way back when. That said though, I'm 40 (insert Mike Gundy joke) and stopped gaming a while ago just because of life, and her ironically. But new consoles just seem way too advanced for a kid her age. Are the pre-loaded NES/SNES mini-consoles the way to go or am I not giving her enough credit to pick up a Switch? Unfortunately I'm also a hoarder who aggressively declutters to stay on top of it”

“We didn’t introduce the TV for our little guy until about 20 months. And then after that, it was highly regulated to just 1-2x/wk for 10-20min at a time until about 22-23 months. And then as things got more busy around the house we’d watch it more… mostly on the weekends, but still maybe maximum of 30-45mins per day of tv, max 4 days a week. It started to become a thing where after daycare all he’d talk about is watching tv when we got home. So about 2-3 weeks ago, with my wife 38 weeks pregnant”

“10 year old with ADHD, he has an iPad, Nintendo switch, the switch 2, a laptop, tv of course, PlayStation and VR. Now coparent wants to get him a cellphone this Christmas. Thoughts? He already seems to be fairly deep into a screen addition, doesn’t want to play any sports or have any other hobbies. submitted by /u/Tropophilous [link] [comments]”

“Summer is coming to an end and the evenings are starting to get darker. I'd like to find a new project or hobby to do with my boys to reduce the amount screen time and couch wrestling. They are 11 and 8, both like arts and craft. The older likes everything aviation, the younger one not so much, but he is into science. Ideas are welcome! Can't break the bank, but don't mind spending a bit of cash. submitted by /u/Aye_Yer_Ma [link] [comments]”

“So the question is in the title. I work part time (6hrs) my husband works 9-10hrs/day. Both of us have 2 Home office days per week. We live in another country so no help from grandparents. Son has 0 screen time and he is super needy. He plays individually for apprx 5-10 mins and afterwards require our attention otherwise he cries. He started daycare 3 months ago but I am already afraid how will we solve sicknesses. We both have 15 day/person sick lrave for the toddlee until end of the year which”

“Basically the title. The last 2 weeks of summer my wife was working more (she does gig work) and I was just burned out on the full summer we had (I'm a HS teacher). I let my son play a LOT more N64 than normal; now, unless I'm my main (Samus), he kicks the crap out of me, though I can occasionally beat him if I use Yoshi. So proud of the kid. 😂 submitted by /u/daskaputtfenster [link] [comments]”

“Hey, As an avid gamer I'd like to get my kids into gaming as its something they are both curious about. Unfortunately they are both quite young (3 and 4 y/o) and still developing hand eye co-ordination, therefore there will be quite a skill discrepancy and they will likely get frustrated if they keep failing which I don't want to keep happening and then being asked to do it for them. Any recommendations for Co-Op games which are either very low stakes or are of a level where 1 player can”

“We have essentially exhausted all of our ideas for our 1 and 2 year old when it’s crummy outside. We either have rain or it’s too hot to be outside lately and we’ve done everything our minds can think up. Now, I’d love some suggestions from the awesome dads on here that have some creative games or activities for boys! Thanks in advance gents! submitted by /u/zachisonreddittt [link] [comments]”

“Also, parents who didn’t shy away from tech, how is it going? I’m conflicted because while I worry about their attention span, I also see the value in educational games and apps. Anyone have any insight? submitted by /u/rsgivy [link] [comments]”

“My 23 month old doesn’t watch a lot of TV, only really when he’s sick and I need him to relax more than normal or if my husband is out and I’m exhausted (almost 8 months pregnant). He maybe gets on average 30 minutes 3/4 days a week. Very conscious I don’t want him to develop any sort of addiction we only let him watch slow pace shows (he loves puffin rock and bear in the blue house). I am however super excited to have family movie nights with him. Coming up to autumn now and I feel this viscera”

“I feel like it’s buried. Right now it’s settings > family > child’s name > screen time> and either downtime or app limits. I wish there was a faster way to get there. Any tips? submitted by /u/TheCarzilla [link] [comments]”

“I hate that removing the TV is the ultimate "grounding" for my kid. And I hate doing countdowns all the time. So, my 4-soon-to-be-5-year-old son is great; sometimes I think I'm complaining from a place of privilege. But damn, I hate that one of the few things that work with the kid is taking out the TV. We let him watch 2 hours at most per day. One in the morning and one at night, with selected cartoons. It's clocked; the TV turns off after 1 hour. Last week, at the beginning o”

“Okay, i want to ask how yall navigate screens around infants. We have a very observant 7mo and football season is coming up. We havent had the TV on for her whole life outside of watching the winter olympics in milan shortly after her birth. We arent talking about sitting the baby in front of the tv all day, but even if we face her away from the tv, she will turn around and watch. Is having sporting events on the tv with low volume even in the same category as letting her zone out on a baby show”

“What TV shows keep your LOs attention? We have been a no screens household for the most part but I'm about to be single parenting for a few months while my husband is away for work and I know I'm going to need the occasional TV baby sitter break. Issue being my 15 month old has no interest in any show we've tried in the last few weeks. I'd prefer it to still be slightly educational or not just complete brain rot for him if possible but so far we've tried sesame Street, bear i”

“There’s a lot of research out there that screens are bad for babies/toddlers and that me looking at my phone all day is bad too. So what am ~ I ~ supposed to do while 16 month old plays for hours over the weekend? 😩 I want her to play independently and not be entertained by me 24/7. We meal prep and clean the house on the weekends, we go outside and work on the garden, we read books, etc but she is very good at playing independently and there is still soooo much downtime for me. I can’t read a”

“There’s a lot of research out there that screens are bad for babies/toddlers and that me looking at my phone all day is bad too. So like, what am I supposed to do while 16 month old plays for like 18 hours over the weekend? 😩 I want her to play independently and not be entertained by me 24/7. I meal prep and clean the house on the weekends, we go outside and work on the garden, etc but there is still soooo much downtime. I can’t read a book because I still have to look over at her every 30 seco”

“I'm curious about what has actually made the biggest difference when it's time for your child's tablet or screen time to end. I've seen lots of advice about warnings, timers, routines, choices, and having another activity ready. But what actually worked in your house? What did you try, and what happened? submitted by /u/Fantastic-Ad-9100 [link] [comments]”

“I am working on a few ideas to help my kids learn at home. I am curious if you have built anything for your kids to learn something?”

“I’m looking at a car that has a built in rear entertainment screen package. I have two kids 5 and under still in rear facing seats, although the oldest will likely go front facing next year. I’ll likely have this car for the next 7-8 years. Seems great for road trips, which we do often in the summer going to the cabin about 3 hours away. I’m a little concerned that they will “always want” tv when in the car though, like even on trips to school and it would be simplistic if we could just pull out”

“Our daughter is 16 months old. We want to avoid screen time for at least 2 years. However, we do sometimes put a phone in front of her with Ms. Rachel playing is during some diaper changes, sunscreen applications or if we need to put cream on her (she has eczema). We don't use screens every time, but we will if she is being particularly difficult. She is getting SO hard with diaper changes (we tried standing diaper changes but even that is hard plus it doesn't work for poop). They always”

“Not sure if anyone here has had this happen. My boy asked me to watch him play his game. I sat down and before I started getting dizzy from the screen, I asked him what he was trying to do? How do you win? He said, "I just play with my friends." I was expecting "win the race", "shoot everything before it shoots me", "complete the level", etc... like the games I used to play, Excite Bike, Joust, Galaga, Super Mario Bros. I played in a room with a couple fri”

“I’m looking to find a self hosted solution for gaming on an iPad for kids between 4-6. I tried some quick online searching but most of what I find is building a game server for classic games. I’m looking more for kids games that you might find on a kids app that’s very simple to play. Any suggestions are much appreciated! submitted by /u/plantsforhiretcg [link] [comments]”

“I don’t mean this to sound dumb, it’s more of a rant. I read online and in books all the time that babies under 18 months or so should not have any TV exposure at all. I understand, but that’s so much easier said than done. Being at home with my 10 week old, there just has to be a time when my husband and I relax and watch TV. He works all day and when he comes home, he loves to cuddle her and watch TV. I’m now concerned because apparently she shouldn’t be watching at all. Everything online says”

“i'm among the lucky few parents whose kids actually don't beg for television all day long. when they're using the screen at all, they like to get creative. they've enjoyed building block style apps, tetris, and other stuff like that but i'm trying to find other outlets for this urge of theirs. anyone have recommendations for creating on the ipad with kids? submitted by /u/Different_Pain5781 [link] [comments]”

“Someone call CHS. Maybe screen time isn’t all that horrible? Everything in moderation? submitted by /u/partiallypoopypants [link] [comments]”

“Our daughter (4, not pictured) was getting a bit too into the iPad for our liking. She was demanding to watch during meals and refusing to eat without it, and was mainly watching AI generated shorts on YouTube. Obviously not ideal. My mother recently got into trampoline based exercise at home. She visited recently and ordered one for us. My daughter immediately loved it. My mom showed her some YouTube channels where she could exercise along, and they feature things like fighting monsters. It ins”

“We tease our twin 14 year olds all the time about being iPad kids and the ridiculous shit they watch on YouTube. Today I made the mistake of asking what one was watching. He responded with the worst sentence I’ve heard come out of his mouth, “I’m watching Capybara mukbang ASMR”. I quit. 💀 submitted by /u/Lesh_Philling [link] [comments]”

“We are considering buying Chromebooks for our 2 kids, but don't want to spend a lot of money (under $200 per kid). I welcome your advice! Our kids have had Amazon Fire tablets for a few years. We just ordered new ones, and the storage space filled up almost immediately, so we are returning them and looking for something else, but don't want to make the leap to smartphones just yet. Please share your thoughts, good/bad experiences, etc. Thanks! submitted by /u/pyth33 [link] &#”

“If anyone has some recommendations I would appreciate it. We removed Roblox, something we probably should have not installed in the first place. Thanks in advance. Edit: sorry - game recommendations please Edit 2: I appreciate the mentions of sports, hobbies, reading as an alternative. He does all that, but I’m not trying to eliminate gaming completely. Just trying to steer back towards things like Minecraft, and away from things like Roblox. Thanks! Edit 3: thank you guys so much. I feel like I”

“My child has a cousin who is under 10 years old playing video games like COD (Call of Duty). He’s been playing since he was six years old or so. I picked him up for school and the other morning he started talking about acid rain melting skin off and asked me if it could melt bones. Then the next day started yelling about something having radiation and that we were all going to die. He wants to be in the military. He has watched both mortal kombat movies in theaters (2021, and the newest one). He”

“Hi all, Parent of two boys 5 & 3. Currently trying to figure out how to navigate our way in to the world of technology for them! Until now, we have taken an almost zero screen time approach with our boys. They don't watch shows, they don't have tablets, they don't go on our phones. Almost nothing. With our older boy now in school, and being a keen learner who is quite aware of the things his peers get to do/watch, we're trying to figure out how to integrate technology in to h”