Wow day 1 of 3 kids on my own and exhausted ... how do you do it without tv?!!

[Cloud9889]

So it’s school holidays and I had 3 boys on my own today aged 5,3 and a newborn. The 3 year old was crazy nutter most of the day throwing things and I was on edge never knowing what was coming my way inches above my head next! My newborn is obviously very demanding , I am breastfeeding and he feeds a lot! My 5 year old is off school and is fighting with his brother a lot of the time. I’ve been worried about how much TV / screen time they have been having and thought I would try today without having tv on much but OM FRICKING G - It was harrrrrd and I mean awful hard. We were out for some of the day and that helped but when at home they just wrecked havoc when tv on. I’m feeding the baby a lot so I can’t physically play that much . My 3 year old jumps on me a lot when I’m feeding. I’ve tried distracting him eg. Where is that giraffe or can you do a forward roll on the carpet but he doesn’t care. I’m not used to having all 3 at once which is stressing me out. Anyone struggling this holidays. Luckily 3 year old is at nursery on Thursday otherwise I would actually go insane (even more than I feel now!)

Wrecked havoc when tv NOT on that should say .

I feel like a bit of a rubbish mum that I feel I have to rely so much on tablets / TV to get me through a day

Look, I have three boys, this bit is the hardest There's going to be an adjustment period that will take as long as it takes to either lower your standards or jettison the guilt, preferably both. You can wait for exhaustion to dictate which goes first or you can cut yourself some slack now.

You don’t. Honestly, give yourself a break.

I’ve got 3 boys; they’re 7, 4 and 2. It’s been bonkers here today!

You've done a great job just getting through the day alone with the kids,with or without tv and tablets! Newborns take a lot of time ( I can remember spending 13 hours a day just feeding one of mine!)
Most people have some sort of help at this stage, either a partner at home or family visiting to help at least some of the time. Have you got any mum friends who might be able to take the older 2 off your hands for a few hours? Or maybe you can buy in a bit of help - a local teen for a few hours here and there?
You might just need to lower your standards until the boys are back at school ; really you shouldn't have to be struggling by yourself, you do need rest to recover.

Oh my goodness, cut yourself some slack woman!!
You've got a newborn and 2 older, but still young, children too. I'd consider it a sucess if you all survived and were mostly fed and clothed!
Just let the kids watch tv this Easter break, do what you have to. Reduce the tv time after they're all back in their usual routines again.

I think changing from being at school and using a lot of tv to home all day and no TV is too much. Holidays are a change of routine anyway. Make it a slower change. Try to get outside and get them running round. Look for ways to slowly reduce TV and screen time.

Mine are 5, 3 and 12 weeks. To be honest we just have to get out the house! Much easier to manage. They’re not fussed about TV or tablets and if we’re home they want me to do crafts/drawing etc with them which is a struggle with the baby (who only naps on me if we’re at home) so I find it easier to just take them somewhere and let them run around. We went to a country park today, all i cost was £3 to park (to a picnic) and killed most of the day.

My older ones are both off school/pre school for the whole 2 weeks so we’ve got a lot of days to fill!

I have a 7yr old, a 5yr old and a 5 week old and we’ve had a very up and down first week of holidays!! We’ve had some lovely times but I’ve also been doing ALOT of snapping and shouting - esp at the 7yo. I’m just so tired and irritable!!

When my 3rd was a newborn we had the TV on A LOT.

Plus we had lunch at the Asda cafe half the time so I did no cooking or cleaning up and it got us out of the house!

For the first three months you just do the minimum to keep everyone alive til bedtime.

It's seriously hard work when they are at those ages, peppa pig is your friend!

I have 3 kids -2 boys (same age as yours) and a baby . We don't have screen time every day. It's usually once a week after swimming, one movie. However in the holidays we do lax a bit but that would be a couple of go jetter episodes a couple of times in the week (if that). This week mine have had about an hour of Octonauts and Go Jetters as a reward for cleaning - but no movie as swimming isn't on in the holidays.

I think it's a routine thing. We've never had the TV on a lot so they don't miss it or ask. Because of that they play for hours with Lego together and other games they randomly make up. We go out every day. Rain / snow / sun. We have ski suits, puddle suits, suncream in the car as standard. I think being outside is the key. We don't have time for TV, we're too busy at the park or similar. We picnic out most days.

My advice would be cut it out for a few weeks then reintroduce it on the terms you want. You may want some every day, in the mornings or whatever. Just make it work for you. Don't feel bad about how much TV they have, do what's right for you and your family. Good luck.

You don't. That is what cbeebies is for.