Children's access to tablets/youtube

[cjt110]

I'll admit we've fallen into the trap of wanting some P&Q and given our son his tablet.

I don't mind so much when he wakes in the morning - it gives him 30 mins downtime whilst we wake up and get showered etc but his beheaviour - mostly his snapping and being glued to the fucking thing - is getting worse.

He's had it in his room for about 2 months with no screen lock on so he can put it on when he wakes at 6.30ish and watch in bed.

Husband had to get up to him 3 times last night (I didn't hear a sound!) - the latest at 5am as he was watching it ather than sleeping.

So I want to take this opportunity to reign it right back with him.

What/when/how do your children have their tablets?

I considered giving him a few jobs to do such as make his bed, tidy his room and with each job, he earns 10 mins of tablet time. But Am also unsure when we should let him have that....

Any helpful advice welcomed.

A fellow mum said her son has his only at weekends.

How old is he?

I wouldn’t let him have access to it all the time, especially over night. You should control when and how long he has it for.

I usually let my daughter 6 have it for half an hour once homework/etc are done.

@Tannerfamily He's 6 in August. He gets 1 piece of homework a week which is done at weekends.

DS6 knows that if he stays in his bedroom until 6:30am and comes through to my room fully dressed, he can play on the tablet (kindle fire kids) for 30-45mins before school. I know that if it was in his room he wouldn't sleep, they're really addictive.

Oh and we don't limit time at weekends, but screen time is the first thing to be banned if he's naughty.

@goldeline That's a good incentive. We have trouble in the mornings (before we put the tablet in his room) and perhaps the incentive to be dressed and fed to get the tablet would help with the difficulties in the morning.

Why would you let a not even 6 year old have an unlocked tablet in his room overnight - you realise they can get into all sorts without meaning to on YouTube especially? And why on Earth didn’t his Dad take it off him the very first time he went though rather then let it go on to 5am . So have a 7yr old and don’t think anything wrong with them having a bit of tablet use especially if you early and you need a little while to wake yourself etc but to have it in their room seems madness.

I have also noticed my 7yr old gets very obsessed with it so am interested to see how others curb that and teach them moderation etc.

Sorry excuse my terrible typing I’m also bf and distracted. What I was trying to say is that I do think children get very obsessed with tablets etc. It’s worrying. I worry about my son. But I also let him use it and would like to have more rules in place. I also do think that at that age they need supervision. There is some fucking dodgy stuff out there even if they are watching something harmless on YouTube it can change easily or an advert come in that would upset them etc. No way should he have unrestricted access overnight.

Mine are 5 and 8 and they can have their tablets any day. However, they are kept in our rooms overnight. And they have to ask if they can have it. Like for the older one, she'll have to finish her homework before getting the tablet. The younger can have hers after she's got ready for school in the morning.

DS was a nightmare in the mornings before we said no tablet until he was dressed and ready for school. It's made our mornings a lot easier!

My DS is 6 and my DD is 3. They have an ipad but only Friday- Sunday. I dont have a strict time limit but after an hour or so I say they have to have a break and might let them have another go a bit later on.

My son also gets quite angry, snappy and agitated when playing so I dont really like him playing at all!

Currently I don’t allow my little boy on my iPad. He will be 4 in March. I used to let him go on there a year or so ago whilst I got showered etc but even though we had parent controls on YouTube, the stuff he used to find to watch was really not what I would have wanted. And he started getting more and more obsessed with it. So I told him a year ago it was broken and he’s not had it since. I know this won’t last forever but I would be very strict about how long and when. I wouldn’t have it in the bedroom for early mornings either as temptation is clearly too much!

I have a 7 and 5 year old.

They are allowed to use the CBeebies/CBBC app on my iPad. It will always be mine so I decide what happens to it. They will not have one of their own whilst in Primary school.

Generally they each get 30 minutes after school except Friday as we are out swimming and at the library.

They watch CBeebies and DVDs on the TV (not smart) at the weekend if we are in.

They use a library computer on a Friday for 30 minutes and access the CBeebies website. They obviously use technology at school.

We have no other consoles or computers at home. They have yet to ask for anything like that.

They each have their own MP3 player with audio stories on.

No screens before breakfast or after dinner as a strong rule.

Since Dd started school in Sept I've been really surprised to learn how many kids her age have access to a tablet. We don't have one. The school has them and Dd is 'behind' in not knowing how to use it. Next year, homework will be set on a tablet so I guess I'll have to get one. She will be using it for homework, and then any additional use would be instead of TV time which is 30 min in the morning, and 30 min later on the day if at all. Don't get me wrong, if we're having one of 'those' days then the TV may be on more, but generally I do not want my kids on screens and using them as emotional props to regulate being tired or hungry, they make them stroppy, the more they have it the more they want it, I know from my phone use that they're addictive. Our TV time has really spiralled but it's been surprisingly not an issue to really reign it in, some days the kids don't have any telly at all and don't even ask.

We've just bought these for our just over 6 year old to reign in the iPad time.

Time Tokens. Award Winning Screentime Manager - the fun and easy system to monitor, track and limit your Child's Time on Screens (TimeTokens Wallet, Orange) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BJWCYJ2/ref=cmswwrcppapiii_SyepEbSF2EHXR

Google Family app. You can set times he's allowed to be on it, limit the amount of time on it, he won't be able to install anything without permission from you, and it blocks YouTube for under 13s. (he can have YouTube kids).

It's excellent, and very easy.

Oh, and it's free

I have a 6 year old and an 2 year old.

They both have their own kindle fires for kids because I'm not willing to let them use our iPad or phones and break them or fill with crap. They have a 2 year kids warranty which gives you a replacement or repair during that time.

They both only have access to age appropriate content which is set by me on the adult profile and can't be changed by them.

I'm very relaxed about 'screen time' and as long as they are behaving and everything that needs doing is done.

They can generally use them whenever they want apart from bedtime because neither of them are obsessed or glued to them and will use other toys and games and books equally as much.

They definitely have their place in our lives but they are taken away if needed.

I'd also like to add my 6 year old plays a lot of educational games and puzzles, and has access to active learn which is where some of her homework needs to be accessed.