6yo completely loses the plot after TV/tablet use, what do I do?

I'd just ditch the screens.

And yes they do use screens at school or for homework but it’s literally just for that task and they are loosely supervised, I.e they are at the kitchen table doing it where we can see the screen

Mine have to set a timer to use the family iPad (they don’t have their own), at 6 they got 15 mins and not everyday. They knew if they kicked off when the timer went off that the next time they asked to use it (be that 1 day or 10 days later) the answer would be no.

Also, check what she’s watching on the tv, like a PP Horrid Henry isn’t allowed in this house, nor anything Tracey beaker nor any American trash - Sam and cat and the like. My daughter is 11 now and I still see a deterioration in her behaviour if we lift the ban on these sorts of programmes.

Also, YouTube is a flat no

In my house we had a firm screen start time, and I would just enforce a 5 minute wait at the start of the next screen time, for the kicking off. It can of course become ten minutes if they want to kick off about waiting, or they can choose no screen at all.

It’s a very effective sanction, because of the optimal timing. 5 minutes is short enough that I can hold my resolve and I won’t hesitate to sanction again, if it’s needed (I might hesitate to try and have an all day, or all week ban because that hurts me as much as them)

with TV make sure it’s CBeebies / cbbc. These tend to be a bit more sedate than some of the junk on the streaming channels. I’d limit it to no more than one or two episodes.

Definitely take the tablet away, there’s no need for a six year old to be on a tablet

Do 6 year olds actually have screen time every day? I know 8 year old DGC is only allowed it at weekends

She’s not mature enough for the technology, take it away. Having to use it in school or for school is different.

No, there are no additional needs. This needs to stop being the default response! If there are, then YouTube is okay???!!

Talk about low bar for additional needs kids!

It is as easy as taking it away. You don’t want to but you haven’t tried it. Yes she’ll scream and shout but she’s already doing that and you know it’s the best thing so just crack on with it. It’s for her own good.

Do it. I had to with my son .. it ended up being around 6 months until I thought he was ready. Some kids are just too young

Just stop giving it. I went through this with my kids. I just stopped giving the tablet or switching on the tv on school days. They grew up fine doing other things. Gaming was only for weekends too. Don’t care what their friends are doing.
its saved me a lot of stress and they’re calm fun social teenagers.

Not rocket science this one

I agree with pp that "using screens at school" is a very weak argument for allowing a 6yo ok a tablet.

Well down! Too many parents refuse to take accountability with this and don’t want to admit that any of their choices have caused the issue their DC faces so they double down and just keep making the problem worse.

Jesus Christ. Of course banning it outright is the answer.

I would say the opposite and there’s a correlation of ADHD behaviour in children who have been raised by tablets since babyhood.

‘What do I do? Whenever I eat tomatoes I vomit copiously on the floor. It’s making my daily tomato eating hard - what do I do?’ Stop eating fucking tomatoes.

I removed YouTube and all hand held screens/gaming from my 8 year old 4 weeks ago due to poor behaviour. He has completely transformed. TV is allowed but no YouTube. He’s sleeping so much better, no arguments at bedtime etc. Best thing I’ve ever done.

6 is too young for a tablet so that needs to end immediately.
Now take a look at what they’re watching, too many parents allow their children to be fed absolute garbage by a screen for long periods of time and then wonder why it impacts behaviour.

Now I know people may say just get rid of all screens but is that really realistic in this day and age?
Yes, it is, certainly the Ipad is not at all necessary and very easy to get rid of.

She's going to be using screens at school and as she grows up, I just don't know if banning it outright is the answer.
It is, they use screens in school for short periods of time under the supervision of teachers and TA’s. They’re playing building games, learning to type etc not turning into a zombie watching utter brain rot.

I’d restrict screens to TV in shared family space only. I found having a countdown on a timer, e.g. on my phone was more effective than me just telling the DC was time was up. They respected the timer more than they respected me 😁

Take the tablet away FFS.

What is she watching? Not all TV is created equal... some of it is of better "quality" in terms of encouraging attention span and avoiding lots of bright colours and quickly moving images.

This goes for adult TV too!

Take away the tablet completely until older, that part is simple and correlates strongly with behaviour - they really are damaging. Regarding tv, if she plays up it gets turned off and she loses it for a day, longer if she repeats again.

No tablet. If shes watching the TV - make sure the content isnt whats making her an arse.

Horrid Henry is banned in our house for that exact reason.