What does your dc's screen time look like?

[Herecomethehotstepper]

As in how long, what time of the day, what device, etc.

Dc are 3 and 5 and have had far too much over lockdown (and before if I'm honest). My idea of what's normal is probably way off so would like to know what others do.

I'm thinking cartoons in the morning with breakfast. They usually watch Netflix for about 10 - 20 minutes. I need this so I can have my coffee, get dressed and prepare lunches in peace! Then an hour on their tablets after school/nursery and 2 hours on weekends and holidays. They have the kids kindle tablets and play games, cbeebies apps, read books, letters and number games, as well as some crap stuff.

We never watch TV but will watch a film on Disney plus 2 or 3 times per week.

Right now they are just hopping between screens throughout the day with some breaks for playing

My kids are the same ages, we possibly end up in a similar place but don't use tablets really. TV in the morning 30 mins average while I wake up. Could be up to 1hr some days if they're up too early. TV goes off then until after lunch. Lunch slot again 30 min - 1hr. Then they normally end up with 30 min while I make tea. So that's what, 1hr 30 or up to 2hrs 30. At the weekend we've just started to put some family telly on in the early evening, thinks like ninja warrior. So try to keep the morning and lunch time viewing down in the knowledge we'll do that later.

I've found that giving them set times the TV can go on had reduced the amount they bug me for TV!

Mine are on them for most of the day for schoolwork then after dinner to watch some tv.

As little as possible, although we are lucky enough to have a decent sized garden, a playroom, plenty of board games and they both love to read. I am not under any illusion that this would not be as possible without the above.

They are 8 and 6.5. We watch one film as a family at weekends, most weeks no other TV watching (they don't ask for it).

They can do school work or independent research on the computer if needed (has been more since lockdown but still not much as we have encyclopaedias and a lot of non fiction books, I have printed out school work rather than do it online where possible). They sometimes do however do the odd ten mins of something like Dance Mat to improve their typing speed or word processing to write a newspaper article or similar.

They also get 45 minutes to do something like Minecraft at the weekends.

I would estimate it averages out at less than one hour per day on a screen - with at least two days a week with no screens at all.

I am comfortable with this level, they would never use a device out and about (although I sometimes think the autistic youngest would benefit from being able to...it just isn't something I want to start). I don't judge people who do use devices more though, it's just not what works best for our family. I sometimes wonder if I should let them use them more as once in the world of work they will be surrounded by technology and be expected to be able to use it all, with this in mind I have increased their usage over the years (they had nothing before 2.5) and will further over the years to come.

It's defo something that snowballs. The more screen they have the more screen they want. We had to put foot down and detox but have slipped again.

I'm pretty sure when my first two were that age, I was still struggling to cope with my second born being such a lark that I'd put something on for a while in the morning until my brain could function which could be a while. After that it would depend on what was going on and how well I'd slept.

At my kids current ages (8-15), they use computers a bit for their lessons. Once that's done (or on days they don't have them, they're all downstairs), they can all watch one show from netflix/youtube/whatever. In the afternoon, once their tidying is done, they get an hour of video game time. In the evenings we often watch or play something together.

Also, my teenagers both have phones - the 13 year old has a 1 hour daily limit that I can add to if she needs it to send images of her work to school or is using to actually talk to someone and the 15 year old has limits on certain apps but, if everything else is done, tends to have mostly free usage.

On top of that, it's agreed that on days without lessons, if they're not all down by 8:30, my larks can use the TV to listen to music while she waits. She also has a colourful speaker upstairs that she can use her headphones which she can use when her siblings are all awake.

No TV at all until 5. No devices or gaming in the week but two hours on Sat and Sunday.

DD is 2.5.

Two days a week (her non-nursery days) she has a couple of hours of TV in the morning while I have coffee, get ready and do the housework - she often potters about and plays rather than watches it, but it's on in the background. She'll then have 10 minutes between her lunch and nap, and maybe 10-20 minutes before we start her bedtime routine.

Nursery days she rarely watches any, but if she does it'll be one or two episodes of Duggee.

Weekends varies depending on the weather, our activities etc, but somewhere in between nursery days and non-nursery days!

I noticed an immediate downturn in her behaviour when I started letting her play CBeebies games on my phone so I'm going to hold off on that for as long as possible now! So no other screen time apart from TV.

Personally I don't think TV is an issue - she also gets outside every day, does craft every day, and plays both with me and independently every day (and before lockdown she was socialising every day). I think it's fine as part of a balance of activities.

Way too much. DD is 5 and simply causes havoc unless I put the TV on for her.

I have a baby too and it's impossible to feed, change and get him to sleep with her tripping over things, spilling stuff, breaking stuff and getting under my feet.

Roll on September and school reopening.

From what I've been reading online just now it seems like the message is more about quality, rather than quantity. So educational content, watching together with an adult, interacting, all good. There are still some lines saying 1hr for under 5's but apparently this isn't based on any real science and the most important thing is they're getting enough play, enough interaction, enough sleep.