How much screen does your child have?

[Everyonedoesitthesedays]

*Screen time, won’t let me edit the title

Per day, what age and what type?

Worried if my 7 almost 8 year old has too much or average

She doesn’t have an ipad, but likes to go on the family desktop computer and do a Minecraft type game. She occasionally plays maths or music games on my phone and watches Disney & Netflix

She usually watches some breakfast tv in the morning for a short while-Milkshake, Cbeebies (although is going off this)
After school and playing in the garden-trampoline, doing any homework and dinner, she watches some tv before stories and bedtime or sometimes the computer-not all days.
Weekends she can have a bit more computer time if it’s a slow weekend, often she doesn’t as plays with neighbours or we’re out

Curious to know about others a similar age, it’s something I worry about
We have constant back and forth about Youtube as I dislike it and she sees it at a friends house

It’s interesting that you describe a 4 year old who has an hour of screen time a day including games on a phone as “not a big screen time fan”, as for me that sounds like a lot for that age. When mine were 4 they had an hour a week!

But I guess it just depends on what you think of as normal and there’s obviously a big range.

We dont have screen time limits but it works out as...

Almost no screens during the week. The odd bit of TV every-so-often (less than weekly) on a weekday evening.

A couple of hours each day on a quiet weekend, usually a film as a family, some kids TV, Gladiators as a family, sometimes she plays on her Switch (on the TV) which other people join in with too.

On busier weekends, it's less.

DD9.

Screens exist…watching a bit of TV is not the Devils work. There are worse things to worry about!

No screens before school, 45 minutes after school. Weekends, TV in the morning if nothing else (all summer is 8am starting cricket matches, often both mornings), about an hour on the Switch after any homework is done and family TV time as a when. DS1 is 13 (and has less than this because he’s at a no devices school where he can be on site until 8pm doing activities so essentially has no non-lesson screen time in the week), DS2 is nearly 10.

Holidays are a million times more relaxed.

They have pretty much free access to the TV and Switch which weekdays usually ends up being about 30 mins in the morning and the same again in the evening. Sometimes more on weekends if we’re not that busy. We do own ipads but they’re only for travelling because they turn them into zombies which is ideal for long haul flights but not really desirable otherwise!

Almost exactly the same here, even down to the ages! Both fairly good at self regulating. No consoles / tablets / phones here though. Just TV (or TT Rockstars on my laptop if needed for homework)

6 and 3yo watch about an hour of TV on a Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. We do family movie night on a Friday. They don't go on our phones except to sometimes take photos and videos. 6yo occasionally plays a sort of pre-coding game on the laptop - maybe once a fortnight although we don't have a strict routine around that as he doesn't ask for it often so I tend to just say yes when he does.
I don't know whether we're doing the right thing by limiting the TV tbh. I do know families that have no limits but the kids aren't that fussed about watching it, and I wonder if we're making it into a big novelty by restricting it. But previously they used to ask for it all the time and we would just arbitrarily say yes or no, without any real reasoning for it. So we introduced set times so that there was some predictability. But time will tell whether that was the right decision I guess. At least they no longer ask for it outside of those times though!

I dunno I guess it depends on how you read things I suppose.

Sh has access to screens for around that amount of time, she's rarely actually on them is my point. Given the opportunity she plays with toys physically. Always has. So she has about an hour a day over the day she could use a screen. She doesn't really do it most days.

Also it's like when people say their kids are very active. Most people I know who say that is consider their kids very sedentary. My 2 walk to and from school, do an hour after school of a sport or trampolining and then a cycle or a dog walk after dinner. Thats the thing. The amount of time they have access to screens is because if we're not busy I've no issue with some screentime. Especially given how much they enjoy and spend time on other things. And how much time they spend with us too. Reading, drawing etc.

Judge away though. You seem keen to. I'd probably judge a myriad of things in your parenting too.

This i don't get, neither of mine become zombies with screens at all. I know people whose kids do, my son plays a game on his switch he wanders about discussing strategy with his dad or with me. My daughter only wants to watch a cartoon when cuddling movies they only want to watch at the cinema, never at home, neither of them want to sit still for an hour and a half no matter what we're doing. Even on long car journeys where I'm wanting to concentrate on driving they don't zone out on a screen they dip in and out and play I sput, and draw pictures and talk to each other. Maybe if they zombied at any point our rules would be different

Nearly four year old boy. The usual rule is no TV in the morning and an hour in the evening on weekdays (sometimes less or none if we’re out/busy, but occasionally can be slightly more).

At the weekend and during pre-school holidays he’s allowed up to an hour in the morning and 90 minutes in the evening (we quite often watch a Disney film together on a weekend afternoon/evening).

I’ve just had a baby so whilst DH is still on pat leave DS is getting his weekend morning TV allowance in the week as well, but that’ll stop once DH is back at work and dropping DS at pre-school en route.

No other screens or devices - we just use iPlayer and Disney. Occasionally he will ask to see a picture or video on one of our phones; e.g. the other day he wanted to see what a scorpion’s stinger looks like, and he likes looking at superhero costumes. But no access to a tablet or YouTube or anything like that, and we will hold that line for as long as we can.

IDK watching stuff an ipad just really seems to zombify them in the sense that they’re less aware of what else is going on around them. No issues whatsoever with the TV or the Switch (used on the TV). I think it’s the small hand held screen is more immersive. And the fact that you can do other stuff like play with toys whilst also watching TV, which is harder to do with the ipad. And they do 2 player games on the switch and talk to each other whereas the ipads are individual. Also the blue light isn’t ideal for sleep.

I’d just rather they watch the TV when that’s an option so we keep the ipads for travel. Your kids may be different but it works for us!

Yeah my 6yo turns into a complete zombie if allowed on the tablet, she will literally stare at it not moving, barely blinking for the entire time she's on it. Then when she has to come off she turns in to a shouting, rude mess which is why I strictly limit it.

See if we had any of that my attitude to screens would be totally different. But even my eldest who loves gaming if I suggested a bike ride or whatever the screen is set aside. The hard cut off in the evening he turns it off himself and hands it to us then reminds US he needs all screens off and away (he has melatonin for sleep due his ADHD and screentime after he's taken it stops it working) the only time he might be upset at giving it over would be if he's about to complete something and then he'd say, can I just quickly complete this, it'll take 2 minutes. We wait the 2 minutes and take it.

That said neither child had any screentime at all as a baby or young toddler. Eldest got to game when I was very sick in pregnancy with youngest because sometimes I needed 10 minutes to throw up and he wouldn't watch tv but would play a game for 10 minutes.i don't know if not having when to y made a difference or if it's just how they are wired.

If they wanted screens more than they want interaction or activity I'd definitely be concerned. Ultimately they'd rather be physically doing things.

14 and 10, too much probably but they both do multiple activities and achieve well in school. Eldest is top set for everything and youngest is pretty much exceeding across the board. There’s a lot of hysteria around screen time in my view.

5 and 9. Tv 30-60mins/day of cbbc - higher end for elder one who watches football sometimes during youngest bedtime
only just got tablets (mainly for travel) and limiting to 10-30mins games a couple of times a week
9 year old also has about 40mins Xbox (fifa or forza) on weekends
no YouTube or phones
i sometimes worry it’s too much tv but I watched a lot of tv and also did high level sport and really well in school etc, so I focus more on avoiding fast pace videos / watching absolute rubbish

My kid is just turned 8. Does lots of activities/clubs, also does lots of imaginary/small world play, reads when feels like it so as they’re busy doing lots off screen and seem to self manage I don’t really worry too much. Roblox is not allowed (yet - older one has it) and has kids you tube plus Netflix etc on their tablet. Loves toca boca world. Does a bit of Minecraft / gaming but prefers to play with someone.
no screens in bedroom. Has audio books/reads after stories if isn’t ready to sleep yet.
Maybe with hindsight I’d have reduced both my kids screens a bit more but they’re both pretty balanced and if I say no screens for a bit if I feel they’ve had to much they’re both ok about it.

Mine are 11 and 8 and last week I massively reduced their screen time. It wasn’t unlimited before, but now they have to earn it with good behaviour. No screens before school. They get an hour at approx 5pm as long as they have done some homework, chores and behaved well. Weekends I’m a bit more flexible but it depends what else we are doing. It’s only been a few days but it’s hugely improved their behaviour already. I don’t allow GTA, Fortnite, Roblox or any other games that are unsuitable or not age appropriate despite them claiming all their friends are allowed. Unfortunately their dad lets them on screens til late on his nights (4 nights a fortnight) so part of me feels like I’m fighting a losing battle, but I’ve got to try.

Mine is six and a half.
No set limit on tv in the evening but it doesn't go on before school. He often sits and watches for half hour is so after school and then gets a second wind and pretty much ignores it and plays, he just doesn't seem to like it quiet as much as I do 😂. Once I'm done with cooking and cleaning up most evenings the tv will go off and we will play or read together. He does swimming and Beavers, and once a week is picked up by a family member and often doesn't watch it there, so it probably averages about 1.5 hours a day. Weekends completely vary.

Tablet wise maybe 20-30 mins a day average - that's jumped up from him often going weeks without touching it but he mostly googles (supervised) cast lists of shows he watches for some reason 😂 and then plays maths games or does duo lingo. We use the finch app as a chores list because he loves dressing up avatars in things so he might spend 5-10 minutes fiddling with that.

I have an 11 year old who uses a surface for school work, but thats all it's used for. Also have a 9 year old, allowed a couple of hours in the afternoon on a sat and the same on a sunday. No tv Mon - Fri they're in school and have after school sports and fixtures etc anyway. Sometimes they do an admin event on roblox but thats as and when. Both listen to audio books before bed as well.

There was nothing judgy about my post -yours just stood out to me as I obviously have a completely different perception of what is and isn’t a lot of screen time. As you say, you’ve got a different idea of what being an active kid means compared to other people you know - does that mean you are judging them, or just noticing a different approach?

Sure

My 5yo would watch TV all day if she could. When she started reception I bought her a Yoto and implemented a "no TV in the mornings" rule* which has really helped. She does watch TV after school if there's time after clubs etc, and if we're at home on a weekend afternoon then will watch several hours.

We have a tablet but it lives in the cupboard and comes out maybe once a week to play Khan academy kids or suchlike.

*I feel I should confess: she can't tell the time and I have been known to bring midday forwards if it's a rainy day and we're stuck inside and I need a break

Interesting point. I suppose I view the family movie as more akin to going to the cinema. We choose it a couple of days in advance and dim the lights and eat popcorn! Usually it’s a film we remember from our own childhoods (Annie, Oliver, The Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) so not really fast action (if that makes any difference). It’s screen time I suppose but feels more intentional.

My 7 year old probably has about an hour a day. We don't have any tablets and she doesn't use our phones but she's got an old laptop for making playlists on Spotify and watches TV whenever she wants. She's a busy kid, has stuff on most days after school and when we're home she spends a lot of time reading/drawing so the "1 hour a day" thing isn't policed, it's sometimes nothing but it's often more. She probably spent about 10 hours watching crufts this weekend, and as a result has given me an itemised list of massive fluffy dogs she thinks we should get.

This sounds like my child. Age 3. No tv/screens of any kind day to day. Very occasionally gets peppa pig eg recently had chicken pox. Total screen time maybe 1hr per month average over the year?