Best Amazon Prime Day deals: Mumsnet favourites

Best Amazon Prime Day deals:
Mumsnet favourites

Shop now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How much screen does your child have?

53 replies

Everyonedoesitthesedays · 09/03/2026 20:04

*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

OP posts:
lxn889121 · 10/03/2026 04:33

Personally, I am not a fan of screen time rules, mainly because I think that for most children (who aren't ND, and don't have naturally addictive personalities) content type restrictions work better.

I feel terribly sorry for young kids. I personally think what many parents do (with good intentions) is actually really unfair.

What we say is:

"Here go on these addictive apps, games, platforms. Oh no - you are addicted! Right, now you can only play these addictive things for 1 hour a day. so you won't get addicted"


For me, the root of the problem is the type of content, the time spent on it is a secondary effect. What I mean by that is that I believe it is the change in content + delivery that has created screen addiction problems, not the screens themselves.

For example:

20 years ago, video games were frustrating and hard, lower quality, lower graphics, less exciting, and multiplayer was only local. So "most" kids would play a bit, get frustrated and stop for a while. They would play when their friends were round, but then be more likely to stop when they left etc. A simple low-res 2d game wasn't overwhelmingly better than toys...

Today, video games are designed from the ground up to target young children, be easy and accessible. Full of highly addictive mechanics that keep you always wanting more, reward hours of play rather than strategy, and are online so social play is endless and always.

20 years ago, TV shows were one once a day or once a week, and then a different show came on, so kids would naturally finish their show and move on. Families had 1 TV, so parents would change to something they wanted and the child would go off to do other things. Kids shows were mostly shown at specific times of the day.

Today, Netflix and the like have endless shows that autoplay through massive series and playlists. There is always exactly what your kid wants, all the time. And the next episode will start loading straight away, making it hard for them to switch off.

etc. etc.

I could go on about smart phones, social media, short videos and more, but I think the point is made: it is the addictive and endless nature of technology that causes the problems, not really the technology itself.

So for me, I think most screen for (younger) children can be solved by avoiding these addictive dynamics.

1, Only normal live TV, no streaming apps.
2, If you want video games, single player, and perhaps older/simpler games without addictive mechanics
3, No personal device/tablet, only family TV, family computer etc.
4, No online connectivity
etc.

Remove the addictive components from their lives, and in many cases, you won't need to worry about the time.

JaneAustensbonnet · 10/03/2026 14:43

Mine are 8 and 11. We have no handheld devices in the week but they do watch a bit of TV after school (naturally limited by the fact that they are in wraparound care a few days and have various other activities in the evening). They both get some Switch time at the weekend- sometimes it will be up to 2 hours if we're in the house a lot or the weather's bad, otherwise it can be less. It feels like an ok balance but the youngest is definitely more into screens and does try to push the boundaries.

Sezived56 · 20/03/2026 14:18

Ours are 11 year old twins, a girl and a boy, both high functioning autistic. They do have a tablet each and we have rules about screentime- max. one and a half hours a day (after homework) using their tablets or the TV, no Roblox, Fortnite etc., but both enjoy Minecraft which has to be played within strict rules, with an adult in the room. Neither are allowed YouTube unsupervised, but we do let them watch certain Minecraft channels where they can learn about it (but, again, only with an adult in the room). The 'only with adults in the room' rule sometimes creates a little friction - who else does this? We also try to make sure screens are turned off an hour before bedtime. Having said all that, they have plenty of other activities to get on with both indoors and out, other than stuff with screens.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread