Did anyone make it to no TV or screens until 2?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What answer means I "win" as a parent and get to lord it over the rest of you slobs? That answer.

+1,000,000

The right answer is that you followed the AAP guidelines and didn’t let your baby/ toddler watch tv until after two. You’re a super parent if you got to 3.

[Anonymous]

Nope.

My 3 year old is a pro at the iPad. He can find his favorite apps, find his favorite netflix shows, skip ads on youtube, and figure out how to play new games by himself.

He gets unlimited screen time. I'm only a little worried. When he's not on the iPad he has so much energy that he's basically jumping off the walls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were screen free until schools started computers in second grade. It was no big deal. If kids has asked for screens, we might have considered, but they just weren't around so it never came up. they did watch shows or movies when visiting friends and relatives but sometimes snuck off to read, particularly if a cousin was watching part of a series and not a stand alone movie.

Honestly now with youngest in fourth grade, we'd probably still be low screen except for this pandemic. Everyone is pretty fried at the end of a screen intense week.

I could have written this.

Our kid had use of no screens at all for a long time... Yes, we did (rarely) do FaceTime/etc., and of course she saw us (rarely) at the computer/phone and caught a --GASP-- glimpse of a random screen at a restaurant or whatever. By 3 or so, I didn't care if she interacted with a screen at a museum or whatever. She's 7.5 now and did start using a computer during school hours, for school, when the pandemic hit (and had used a computer a bit at school before then). Oh, and she's seen 5-10 movies by now (once each). Mostly at a friend's house or in theaters.

That's about it, though?

No TV or TV-equivalent or tablet or gaming system or whatever around here. I don't think it makes us superior in any way, but it does seem easier to me in the long run, and seems to work for us. I've never dealt with a tantrum or negotiations around screen time, never had to "manage" it. Kid can entertain herself even though she's a high-energy extrovert and an only child. And I do understand that much of that is inborn, but DH and I both have ADHD dx, which is part of why we tried not-so-much using screens with our kid.

I totally believe screens are great tools! Or can be. But I think 80-90% of their use in very young kids (<5) is for the parents' benefit, or their perceived benefit. Which is fine, but it is what it is. Almost anything kids learn from screens before that age can be learned from other sources. The 57 dinosaur facts a 4-year-old learned from some program... that's nice, genuinely. But it's not generally *why* parents use or allow screens IME.

[Anonymous]

You know what? I can’t remember. I think we made it until two because I remember telling someone when she was just over 2 that something she was doing couldn’t be from tv because she’d never watched tv. But I honestly don’t remember. Because it hasn’t really mattered. It’s like when she potty trained or at what age she learned to count. It seemed sooooo important at the time but it just doesn’t matter later.

[Anonymous]

I think we started with an episode or two of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse a bit before age 3, and maybe some Winnie the Pooh. Honestly, not much before then. Incidental football or golf with Dad on a Sunday afternoon would be about it.

We made a real effort not to bring out screens to prevent her from being bored, or to ensure good behavior in public. For several years we kept it to regular times, like while I was cooking dinner, or Saturday morning in bed with us.

We also tried not to use screen time as a reward, and very rarely took it away as punishment. We only took it away as punishment for not turning off the tv or game when we told her to—the idea being that this probably meant she’d had too much, and her brain was due for a reset. Natural consequences, if you will. This seemed to work pretty well, and eventually she started to recognize on her own when she was getting too sucked in and needed a break.

FWIW, she’s now 13 and does a very good job of self-regulating with her iPhone, TV, and video games. I’ve had no complaints, even during the pandemic. How much of this is due to parenting and how much is just her practical personality, though, I can’t say. I have to admit that neither of her parents is exactly a stellar example of electronic restraint!

[Anonymous]

I mean there was definitely a day when my spouse was on a work trip and I came down with the flu. Couldn't take kiddo to daycare or have anyone over because flu, but also had to save all my energy for.diaper changes and meals, otherwise I was lying on thr couch. So yeah, we may have used way more screen time between tv and a tablet than I'd ever allow normally as a survival method until his dad could get home. Given my other options were "expose another person to the flu" or "potentially pass out alone with kid from pushing too hard", I think I made a reasonable choice.

Sometimes you just have to do what you have to in order to get through the day.