Anonymous wrote:As a pediatrician, my kids all watched TV for an hour or so a day starting around 18 months. Screen time of high quality programming doesn't hurt a child's development once they are running around. We started off with cowatching to help them understand what they are viewing and applying it to the world around them. As they got older we let them watch more without us, but always tried to keep it to high quality programming.

I know most pedatricions say 24 months, but I've found that to be impractical advice for most parents. Many times once the kids become mobile a parent needs a few minutes everyday to prepare dinner or whatever and need something to keep their child safe and entertained.

Really screentime only becomes a problem when it begins replacing parenting, which is a very high threshold.

Tell me more about your medical training on this issue.

As a pediatrician, my kids all watched TV for an hour or so a day starting around 18 months. Screen time of high quality programming doesn't hurt a child's development once they are running around. We started off with cowatching to help them understand what they are viewing and applying it to the world around them. As they got older we let them watch more without us, but always tried to keep it to high quality programming.

I know most pedatricions say 24 months, but I've found that to be impractical advice for most parents. Many times once the kids become mobile a parent needs a few minutes everyday to prepare dinner or whatever and need something to keep their child safe and entertained.

Really screentime only becomes a problem when it begins replacing parenting, which is a very high threshold.

Anonymous wrote:When you have a second

This

5

I have always been relaxed. TV is a great babysitter and distraction and often quite educational and always entertaining.

I think children who are anxious and rigid parenting end up far worse.

Follow your instincts. I think you’ll know.

My kids first learned princesses and characters from books and other kids, not from TV, so I wouldn't assume other kids who know these things have watched a bunch of tv.

That said, around age 2 my kids started watching things like blues clues or daniel tiger. I probably tried at a younger age but they just weren't interested in sitting and watching for more than 5 minutes at a time so it wasn't really worth it.

When it meets your needs.

When you have a second

When they started first grade, then we'd allow some movies when they were home from school sick or on long (longer than three hours) plane rides.

When they started 7th grade, they could pick one reality show and one fiction show to watch once a week, plus go to the movie theatre. Additionally they could watch the Olympics and presidential debates/state of the union.

When they got into their first college, they could watch whatever they wanted.

We started at 2 for our kids. That’s when my older ones showed interest and liked watching shows like Daniel Tiger or Sesame Street. My youngest who is 2.5 years old now couldn’t care less about TV or the iPad , he will not sit and watch any shows or even short videos. But he does know the characters names from Sesame Street and Paw Patrol just from books and toys that he’s received.

In a perfect world, I would wait and introduce videos when they become something that can benefit the kid, rather than something they stare at like a moth drawn to the flame. If it was up to me, I would wait until about 3 and introduce TV, and then choosing videos with intention that the characters model courage, kindness, etc. My reasoning here is that TV is a very powerful medium, and I'd like child to grow up a bit to be able to better understand the story rather than just being bombarded/influenced by the pictures. The flip side of the coin is that screens can be a very useful tool to teach them, show them the world. DD is 5.5 and I use videos to teach about what interests her. She enjoys watching instructional videos (how to cook, how stuff works), documentaries about how differently people live around the world (girl goddesses kumari in Nepal, top Japanese chef's amazing knife skills, footage of distant country where friend moved), and videos that answer her questions about the world "what are rainbows made of? how are kittens born?" She is also allowed to watch music videos for songs that she likes to sing and dance to.

So to your question "When to start relaxing about no screen time?" I'd say, start relaxing when your child's reasoning/understanding is developing enough about 3. Before then, I'd make sure that the images are really wholesome because the child is so very impressionable but not yet at the stage of asking why/how. You'd be surprised what kind of junk youtube's algorithms put in the suggested videos toddlers click on.

After 24 months, very gradually. There are so many toddler/preschool shows, no kid knows them all. It’s perfectly fine if yours knows 1-2 and only watches 30-60 minutes weekly.

Around that time a very occasional video, toddler songs, Sesame Street, etc. gradually a bit more over time.

I have a 16 month old who hasn’t been exposed to screens yet, aside from seeing our phones and the occasional glimpse of the tv. I don’t intend to keep screens away forever- and in the Disney princess thread someone mentioned preschoolers all knowing princesses and other characters. So, when do you start loosening up on the no screen time rule and start introducing shows/movies?