Parents Grappling with Child Screen Time

“First time poster, but in need of serious some help for my 12 year old son and creating limits for screen + playing the switch time. The context is that over the past 18 months there has been a steady decline interest in anything other than gaming. He mainly plays Fortnite with friends online - chatting via messenger while playing. He does not have a phone, or any other gaming device but when not on his switch will often end up on youtube/ kids. Also not ideal. How can I turn this situation arou”

“I appreciate the evidence shows that screen time is bad. However I remember reading before that age appropriate video games for short periods have benefits. Is this true? If it is what age/how long is suggested? submitted by /u/Charleybarley123 [link] [comments]”

“I know—another screen time question. But very curious and a little different than what I’ve seen asked. It’s always quoted that children under 2 do not learn from screens. What is the reason that it seems like they can? For example, when parents say that their kids learned sign language that was not introduced to them outside of Ms. Rachel? I assume that songs that accompany screens are different because babies can very obviously pick up musical melodies. My own daughter learned all her letter s”

“Hi all! I have a one year old and I was adamant that I wouldn't give her screen time at all. Then she got sick so that became a few minutes a day as she cuddled up on the sofa. And now we stick on a low stim show if I need 5-10 mins to get something done. Now she is a fiend for the remote. If she spots one in anyone's house, it's just a tantrum trying to get it. She is easily distracted away from it again so at home myself or with the husband it's not so bad. But her grandparents”

“Hi dads, I did some research into previous suggestions by the community. However, here I am asking for a little more advice. As a background, we have so far been a zero TV household, and shown no more than an hour of videos a week. I am not a gamer, and I do not own a console. However, now I find that my Child's friends are talking about Floor is Lava, Paw Patrol, Spiderman, Superman, Pokemon - and my child appears to be left out. I also feel that he should develop his reaction skills, resil”

“Proud dad moment. Last night, my 6.5 YO son took down the king of evil and returned peace to Hyrule. We played Ocarina of Time together for the past 5 months and he stuck with it. He never would have been able to get through without me gently guiding him (frequent, but vague hints rather than "go here, do that"), but I only had to beat one boss for him (Bongo Bongo is way tougher than I remember)! He's hyped to try another, but I told him I'd be helping less with the next one -”

“How much screen time does your son have? [re: I do not know how to teach kids this low]”

“My wife wants to get a bark watch for our 6 year old. There's no internet, games, apps etc. Only calling, messaging and gps tracking. He's started to go on more playdates and such. She thinks it's a good way to keep in touch while we're not with him. Has anyone used one or something similar? Any advice? submitted by /u/T_Rex512 [link] [comments]”

“first time asking for advice on here daughter is 2.5 yo, and is throwing massive fits at bed time because she wants to watch tv. about 2 months ago bedtime became an absolute nightmare, my daughter just refused to sleep. the whole routine started taking up to 45 minutes to an hour longer than it ever had before (i know there are parents who deal with these sorts of things differently, but an extra hour at bedtime was a no go for us) partner and i started playing ambient background videos on a sm”

“So here is my situation: my son is 12 years old, and until now he has only had a smartwatch (for calls basically) and limited screen time (TV/video games, only a few hours a week). Now of course, as he grows, screen time keeps increasing (especially video games) and the smartphone question is starting to come up. I feel okay about video game and TV time, but the smartphone and social media interaction is what worries me the most. I know it is inevitable in our society and I don't want to iso”

“Is the TV running during the day going to negatively affect my child ? My baby is 5 1/2 months old. She has hit every milestone early and is in the 90th percentile . She loves independent play so much so she’ll get fussy if we hold her for too long because she wants to roll around and play with her toys . She doesn’t pay much mind to the TV the only screen she is interested in really is my phone when I hold hold her which I try to keep off when she is in my lap so the light doesn’t attract her a”

“I’m new to the sahm life, only 8 months in. My preschooler just started preschool a month ago and he goes 3 hours a day 3 days a week. On the days he goes, I pick him up at 12 and we go home and have lunch and then his baby brother (18months) has a nap. So from 12:30 until 3ish his brother is napping. I’ve been letting my preschooler watch Snoopy or Sesame Street for an hour, sometimes two hours, on these days. I feel guilty about it but he very obviously is emotionally zonked from the school da”

“I have an almost 12 yo. When he is home, he gets to watch a little tv, and has limits to playing on his switch. He doesn’t have a phone, but he uses our house phone to listen to music. He plays with Legos or will read in his room. If the weather cooperates we get him outside to ride bikes or something. But when we’ve exercised all those options…we hit the inevitable “I’m bored” wall. I will suggest some activities, including chores (I try!), to see if he’ll bite. Sometimes me or my spouse are ab”

“We got a desktop Windows "family computer" to share, and I want to get my 5 year old acclimated to computers (instead of tablets), and was hoping to also find some educational games. Maybe have him do a few exercises prior to letting him boot up Bluey game, or racing stuff, etc while being supervised in a common family area. I found a couple typing teaching things that ran in a browser, but they needed the player to be able to read. Anything else out there that is more basic? sub”

“I’ve gotten my 4yo into Power Wash Simulator 2 submitted by /u/enigma_0Z [link] [comments]”

“My LO is 13mo and I have seen the general things about limiting screen time as they develop, etc. And I agree. My question is, is there any research that takes into account the content or device that children are watching/using and does that change the positive/negative affects on them? I’ve seen things that say touch-screens are worse, which is a non issue for me since my child is way too young anyways to do anything with a phone/ipad other than Facetime her dad. But I’m concerned about non-tou”

“I feel really old right now. Kid will be 7. We have an Xbox and switch.. she says the amoeba gives you extra stuff in the games.. I don't want to ask more because I don't want to give away her present. Her birthday is in 4 days and I am hoping it is something I can have delivered or get at the store within that time. I tried an internet search but became more confused. She plays Mario kart, Mario games and a lot of Zelda. submitted by /u/Sea-Muffin-7257 [link] [comments”

“I'm not a fan of my 3 year old being on a tablet much. Too much junk out there, and I don't always know what she's going to come across. I work in IT, so i live on a screen. Hard to be the "screens are bad" guy. I still try to keep hers short. I'd rather she be playing or outside. Faith is a big part of our house. I want her growing up around Jesus, not whatever a kids video dumps on her. I made her a small offline faith app for those minutes when I need to catch up on”

“Parents have age ratings, Common Sense Media is helping a lot, but nothing says whether a title actually helps a kid grow. My son is turning 6. Though I played GTA on the back of my parents as a kid, I keep wondering what kind of entertainment will actually help him grow. Now that I know GTA is rated +18 and with AI showing up everywhere, I want my son 1- gets entertained 2- by content that make him grow in a safe way. Core questions would be: does this respect his attention? Does it grow his cr”

“Today I realized something that I think every parent should challenge themselves on. Some background, before my son was born my wife and I agreed that we do not want to be the type of parents that just sticks their baby in front of a tv or a mobile device. I am not a huge tv watcher besides sporting events. It was usually normal to get home from work and put something on in the background, watch a game while eating dinner, or watch something random with my wife. This idea came because of various”

“My son is 11 and has ADHD. He's medicated, but impulsivity is still one of his biggest struggles, especially when it comes to electronics.His school district provides every student with a Chromebook, and he also has a phone with multiple parental control apps installed.Until recently, our rule was one hour of screen time per day. We've since loosened that restriction. Now, as long as his homework and chores are done and he's showing a healthy balance instead of spending endless hours”

“Me (37F) and my husband (38M) generally align really well on parenting values, but lately I've realized he's consistently offering our daughter (2yr 4m) TV shows in the morning. We live a pretty low-tech life in general and don't actually have a TV in the house. Neither of us had one for years before we met. As a couple we occasionally stream shows together on a laptop a couple times/week. Early on we agreed that we did not want to introduce screens to our daughter especially while s”

“I’m a first-time mom to an 11-month-old and have been quite strict about screen time so far. Our goal has been to keep it as close to zero as reasonably possible, ideally until around age 3. Before having my baby, I used to be quite sporty and exercised regularly. Since having him, however, I haven’t really exercised at all. One of the reasons is that I genuinely don’t enjoy making up my own home workouts and doing them without any guidance. I would much rather follow a 30–60 minute YouTube work”

“How do we get children to spend less time on screens? submitted by /u/Academic-Property739 [link] [comments]”

“Is there any research about effects of parental use of screens around babies? I feel like background tv comes up a bit but even beyond that. My daughter is 9 months and I am thinking about things like ordering groceries, doing crosswords, or scrolling Reddit while she is nearby. I am not completely ignoring her. Is scrolling on my phone different from if I were reading a physical book? Or painting or something? Also curious about auditory input like if I have podcasts or audiobooks on speaker. D”

“Winter is coming and I'm looking for good games to play coop with my 5yo daughter. She's pretty good with the controller but can't read obviously, so complexer text heavy games with inventories or quests won't be possible yet. Also looking for good singleplayer games she might enjoy. I got a PS5, Switch 1 and the possibility to play old games via emulator on my laptop(Nintendo Systems up to N64) She finished Astro Bot and we finished: - Bluey Game - Sackboy - Untitled Goose Game”

“They are everywhere? Is it impossible? What exactly do they mean by no screens before 3? Example if the TV is on and hubby is watching some while playing with baby, and baby watches some too for a bit does that count?? submitted by /u/Excellent_Area_2381 [link] [comments]”

“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]”