Do you let your 5 year old watch YouTube?

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During lockdown, mh struggles and other things my 5 year old ended up having a lot more screen time than I'd have liked,he plies his older brother and always wants to watch "games" videos, I only let him watch the ones that are appropriate but I'm sure it's affecting ring his concentration/ability to focus.
he does like playing with his toys but he also whinges for YouTube constantly.
I really want to get in a better routine and limit screen time (at least, limit the YouTube drivel!)
Should I just ban YouTube out right? It's like it's addictive
how much screen time do your 5 year olds have?

When my children previously had exposure to YouTube/Youtube Kids, they would get really addicted to the screen and flit between lots of videos. If we tried enforce that they need to stop watching, tantrums were inevitable no matter how many timers/warnings are given so we completely banned it. They have never had regular access to a tablet so it wasn't too difficult to just remove it and not let them use my phone

If they want to watch something, it on the TV and mostly live TV. I find this affects their temperament much less and they find a point where they've had enough and walk away.

I don't let my five year old watch YouTube. Unless we look something up together and watch it together. We generally only allow 'live tv' in the morning once teeth brushed and dressed and family films together at the weekend.

Exactly the same as above, except with my much younger child! At just over 2 we realised that she wasn't really watching the videos just going into a trace and constantly requesting different ones, then turning off was extremely difficult so we have gone cold turkey. It wasnt as difficult as I thought it would be and is never requested any more a month or so in. I do occasionally miss plonking her on the sofa with the tv on and getting on with dinner etc but fewer tantrums and more playing make up for it

We’ve banned unsupervised YouTube for my 4 and 6yo- totally relaxed about all other screentime. So they can use their iPads whenever (they turn off automatically at 6pm though) for games that I’ve bought (again try to avoid free ones as they’re rubbish- the pazu subscription works out v cost effective for more than one dc) or for Netflix/iPlayer/Disney plus.
Very occasionally we’ll let them watch a YouTube video on the tv with us supervising but they definitely then want more and more and it mostly feels like rubbish so we try to avoid and direct them elsewhere!

Yes but my kids have refused to watch things like CBeebies etc

Not a chance. My kids watch (probably too much) stuff but it's TV shows on IPlayer or Netflix or whatever that I'm happy for them to watch. No way am I trusting algorithms that throw up god only knows what to decide what my kids see.

Like PP, TV is a weekend early morning treat, and evenings in the gap between dinner and bath time. Or the occasional family weekend movie night.

Mine have a kindle (the kids one, one between them) but I've banned YouTube. Dd1 had a fair amount of time on it during lockdown and although I'm sure it wasn't completely to blame, I felt her whole attitude changed. She argued with us more, answered back, became very cheeky.

They can use Netflix, bbc I player or Disney, but no you tube. The kindle is there when ever they want to use it but I'd say they are on it for less than a hour a day combined. Dd2 is only 3 and usually watches her sister playing games so we'll see how it goes as she gets older!

My 5-year old has zero unsupervised YouTube time (DH or I sit beside him). He gets about half an hour on the weekend, after finishing his homework for the week and after tidying up his toys.

He never whines/asks for it.

It's not about anyone else, you can see when it's becoming an issue for your child.

Mine has screen time but if I see her zoning out or repeating the traits of the people on channels I've been known to cut screen time off or ban channels. Things like 'pranking' got into her play routine and I banned all the channels where children "prank" their parents (who are obviously in on it) I find it vacuous and cannot see any possible benefit to her via watching these.

If my child ever begins to throw a tantrum I tell her it's fine to be upset and we will speak once she's finished crying etc.

It's all about being in tune with your child and tracking their development and tweaking routines in line with the values and habits you want them to develop. And it's all down to you and it all depends on your own child.

Yes my 5 year old watches you tube. I occasionally tell her a certain channel is banned (heard her watching one the other day talking about how 'hot' a boy was 🙉) but generally she watches the same couple 'young' series that I am happy with. We don't monitor screen time, we are a massively active family and in between that she can do as she wishes and makes sensible choices.

Big difference between YouTube and general screentime.

DS probably has a fair amount of screen time - probably 1-2 hours a day (he does an afterschool activity every day and is tired when he gets home, so likes to watch TV between teatime and bathtime). But it is programs like Dino Dana, Dinosaur Train, etc (loves dinosaurs).

YouTube is only for things I can’t find on Prime, like Octonauts or Peppa Pig, and we make sure somebody is overseeing what he watches, not letting him click about himself.

Yes, DS has supervised access to YouTube, he is 5. He does various other exercise videos, Miss Linky and Cosmic Yoga. It varies day to day, sometimes none, sometimes 45 minutes.
It’s all part of his grand plan to be a ninja when he’s older.

It is so addictive.

It starts as a break for you but ends up creating more problems. 🙈

I banned youtube around age 4/5 to stop all the arguments. Stuck with second hand dvds, easier to control and v cheap on eBay

Yep mine is 5 and watches a lot of drivel on YouTube. It’s not great but we don’t have tv channels for live tv so no CBeebies, and she hasn’t changed her behaviour when watching it. She currently likes A for Adley which is an overexcited dad making each day the Best Day ever. It’s… tolerable 😁

My 5YO is allowed to watch during set times like in the morning once she’s ready for school but it’s not time to leave yet and in the evening post clubs, dinner and homework but before bath time. More is allowed on long flights are car journeys! We’ve genuinely never had issues with tantrums or concentration and I quite like that you can cut it off with a 2 minute warning, unlike TV which I find always rolls into the next episode at the wrong time! That said, if it were causing problems, I wouldn’t hesitate to stop it, like anything else really.

Yes my 5 year old DD does but its never unsupervised.

She watches the videos of dolls being played with. Mental.

Not really with 2 DC aged 10 and 8. On the odd occasion during lockdown in order to participate in Guiding or Scouting online 'camps' but that's really been all.

No for 8, 6 or 3 year olds unless we are specifically looking something up, and then I sit watching with them. Once something really horrific came up when we had searched for something totally innocuous - I wouldn't have let them look at it unsupervised anyway but that was a good reminder why!
No doubt I'm missing something, but there are such good TV shows for younger kids that I don't really know why anyone would put YouTube on for their child?

I completely relate to this struggle! In the past, I have been very strict with my youngest (age 6) about screens- but as he often feels jealous of my two eldest (who both own their own mobile) we have encountered many a screen time tantrum! My best advice is- use it to your advantage. Make screen time a reward you have to work very hard for! Aswell, I have banned YouTube on all devices- i would recommend edutime- a more educational video network. Good luck mama bear!

It is addictive, it is designed to be addictive. There is no benefit to a child of watching it. I would say that just saying 'we don't watch that in our home' would be the easiest policy.

We let my almost 5 year old watch the kids YouTube on an iPad (the one on TV has really annoying adverts). She has barely any screen time, no behaviour issues and we are an extremely active family so I think a bit of kids YouTube isn’t an issue. She mainly watches Elsia and Annia.

I only let DD watch YouTube if we're showing her a specific thing. She's doesn't have unsupervised access. She watches cbeebies or stuff like Paw Patrol on Netflix where she knows she has a set limit of episodes before it's turned off.

The biggest issue I'm having with banning it, is that his older brother watches a lot of YouTube (he is autistic and has pretty limited interests so he likes watching videos of people building things in minecraft
and people designing bridges and things like that- I'm not going to stop him from doing that because it seems cruel!)
but then I get the 5 year old kicking off that it's "unfair"
i know I'm going to have to just bite the bullet and ban YouTube and have stricter screen time limits in general just unsure of the best way to implement that without it causing a months worth of tantrums!

Give an age limit then.

DS(8) has never watched YouTube, unless we've watched things together. Far too uncontrolled and easily abused.