Screen Time When Sick

[Anonymous]

The stomach flu has been circulating through my house, and ours 2YO has basically been watching TV all day every day since Saturday. I feel a possibly irrational amount of guilt about this, and I’m worried about all the tantrums we will definitely face when we start setting screen time limits again. What do you do regarding screen time when either you or your kids are sick?

[Anonymous]

What would happen if you take away the screens immediately? Tantrum? The misery of trying to entertain a toddler while you or he is sick? Yes? Then let him keep the screens and delay the misery until you're all feeling better.

[Anonymous]

I get it but seriously don’t worry. It’s ok! It will be a day of whining for more tv, then back to normal playing.

[Anonymous]

Only tv, and 5 hour max, which still feels like too much to me. We then read/do quiet activities and he's usually ok for some low key independent play. But, mine has never been sick for more than a day at a time.

I think if I allowed hours of tablet time, I'd have a much harder time getting him to move on.

[Anonymous]

Eh. A few years ago, my daughter and I had the flu at the same time. We were vaccinated, but we still were both really tired and feeling crummy for about a week. We basically sat on the couch and watched Sesame Street all day. I did not feel bad about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The stomach flu has been circulating through my house, and ours 2YO has basically been watching TV all day every day since Saturday. I feel a possibly irrational amount of guilt about this, and I’m worried about all the tantrums we will definitely face when we start setting screen time limits again. What do you do regarding screen time when either you or your kids are sick?

The 2 year old doesn't have that long a memory. It's relatively easy to reset things--you may have a day or two of hassle.

[Anonymous]

Do whatever you need to when you're in a difficult situation. No judgment.

[Anonymous]

You'll probably get some tantrums when this is all over, but you'll be able to handle it when you have more energy.

Hang in there and hope you all feel better soon.

[Anonymous]

Hang in there. In our house, toddlers on airplanes and toddlers that are vomiting get unlimited tv time no judgement. Same goes when Mom is sick for that matter. Do what you need to do to rest and recuperate and deal with tomorrow tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Unlimited on sick days, but it should be mostly restful (i.e. laying on the couch vs. sitting at the laptop/video games). It's temporary - this too shall pass - you do what you have to in order to get through it.

[Anonymous]

Unlimited screen time when sick. For parents, it's a survival strategy and also helps to keep them safe when you can't keep up with them. As a child, laying on the couch all day watching cartoons was the only bright spot of being sick.

Seriously, don't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

We didn't do screens at all until age six, but in your situation what I would do is to start dialing it back now. We gave a lot of audio books, and they would snuggle on the couch playing with stuffed animals while listening, and we'd put on music. In your case maybe start dialing back the number of hours today by one or two, and less each day.

[Anonymous]

I'm sick, you can have all the screen time you want.

[Anonymous]

I'd limit IF it's the kind of illness you need to sleep a lot to get over. I could tell when my kids were that sick because they would not leave their beds and it didn't occur to them that the couch would be an option. Mine get really energized by tv.

[Anonymous]

It's ok - give yourself some forgiveness! Especially with stomach bugs, those really knock the wind out of you. Rest is key, and if screen time lets him rest that's fine. I wouldn't worry too much about tantrums once you go back to normal amounts of screen time, when we've done this in the past DS (2.5) has been so happy to be able to play when he feels better that he doesn't seem to notice the lack of screen time.