TonieBox

[Anonymous]

My mom got my four year old a TonieBox and a bunch of the characters for Christmas. She thinks he can listen to it in the car but honestly he is kind of an iPad/TV addict and I don’t think he is going to go for this. Any suggestions for how to convince him it is cool? I would LOVE for him to listen to stories or music on this instead of tv or iPad. Our tv time has escalated out of control over course of the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Prep him that at starting next week you won’t be using the iPad in the car anymore. Tell him that it’s important to you that you and him are able to talk and interact and listen to stories together in the car (so he knows the why). Empathize with his big feelings about this. Talk about it a little each day and what you will do instead. Remember on Monday we won’t use the iPad in the car anymore, but you will be in charge of your Toniebox! It’s up to you what stories you listen to, or if you don’t feel like listening we can play a game like I spy. Basically you prep for a few days, not making a big deal but making sure he knows the change is coming. And the you implement. And you don’t give in. You stick to it and you allow him to feel sad and disappointed the first time you remind him it’s now Monday and you’re not using the iPad in the car. Then you give him the toniebox and stick with it.

I promise you it will very likely go better than you think. My friend and I both did this recently for other screen time issues we felt had crept up during the pandemic (it just creeps and creeps and suddenly you’re like this isn’t working for us) - for her it was before dinner that had crept into everything, for us it was in the morning. Both of us took this approach with our 4 year olds and our kids adjusted great. They were upset the first time and asked for a couple days but with consistency it was seriously a non issue by day 3. It has been glorious. Not that we aren’t doing screens at all, but shifting our routine to be one that works better for our family was well worth it. And the kids are young enough now it’s easier to adjust.

A podcast I listened to on this said it’s harder to change these later so figure out some basic boundaries that just become commonplace in your home early. For us it’s no videos/screens in the bedroom or car for example.

[Anonymous]

Pp here and following up to say basically what I’m saying is, you aren’t going to convince him it’s cool because there is no way to convince him that it is less enticing then a tv show. You are going to decide on some boundaries as his parent and he will adjust. My son has the Yoto player which is very similar to the toniebox. It took him some time to “get into it” - it’s not as immediately enticing like a screen so you can’t expect that but we used it at routine times and now he’s grown to love it. He listens to it at quiet time and before bed. We don’t do it in the car but if your son is used to or prefers something to do in the car that’s a great time. At least for us, the making it a routine is what helps. Over time now he really loves listening to his stories. He would still choose a screen over it I’m sure but we do that at different times so it’s not really an issue or debate

[Anonymous]

My 4 yr old got one and is completely addicted to it. Her favorite ones are the ones from her favorite TV shows. It took no convincing. Show him how it works and see what happens.

[Anonymous]

May be missing something but just…limit the use of the iPad/TV? He’ll need to find something else to fill the time. I don’t understand parents who are afraid of their kids/potential tantrums.