Those that are screen free how do you do it?

[JosieB68]

Just that really and tips to cut down, I know my toddler watches too much TV especially in the afternoons.

We’ve started a no screen time in the (school) week approach - DD is 4.5. To some extent it’s easy enough as she’s obviously at school the bulk of the day (we also did it around school nursery too).

She wakes up really early but knows there’s no tv/ tablet - we’ve never really done that apart from at the weekends so she has never expected it really. She likes to listen to her Yoto player sometimes in the morning, or there’s a few options in her bedroom if she wants to play for a bit; but by the time she’s eaten breakfast, we’ve done last minute reading book or tricky words or whatever it is, we’ve done teeth, got dressed etc there isn’t usually that much time leftover to kill no matter how early the start is!

After school it’s snack/ drink and either a chat or have a go at her reading book. I’m thinking this bit will be a lot easier as the weather improves as we can spend more time outdoors but even now if it’s dry we do go out for a scoot or borrow the neighbour’s dog for a quick walk. Otherwise she has a drawer full of pens, paper, stickers, tape, pritt-stick, kids scissors etc so she gets busy with that or sometimes one of us will sit and draw and colour with her. I get her to help with dinner, we eat, then we’ll do a board game or magnetic tiles or something. She still has quite an early bath and then bed time so again that helps.

I don’t set limits on tv time at the weekend/ in school holidays the same - it can creep up and I need to work on that too. We are usually out and about quite a bit too though, and will do more crafty things, cooking etc so it’s still a balance.

It starts at 10. I'd start limiting it now.
Or the teen years will be hard.

@Flyhigher I think you've misunderstood my post. I said that I was relaxed about screens at an early age and now DD doesn't care about them or spend much time/ any time on them. I suppose it's possible she will suddenly develop a huge addiction but it doesn't seem likely. Ditto sweets.

Thank you everyone.
I know I’ve over used the TV to get ‘stuff’ done. The age between 1-2 I have found hard at keeping them entertained all day especially when we have a stint of 5am wake ups the days felt so long.
We have a Tonies but doesn’t hold her attention long.
We don’t use IPad or phone it is really just the TV is on a lot usually just cbeebies.

Never started so no need to stop, maths mad DS plays TTRS for one hour per day.

We have more limits on what my daughter can watch rather than how much she can watch.
At 2 she was only really allowed Sarah and duck or JoJo and gran gran from the kids section but she used to love the masked singer.
She's 4 now and watches the glimpses into real life shows on BBC iPlayer. My babys first that sort of thing. Otherwise it's the masked singer, junior bake off, the sewing bee, great pottery show down. We find most shows aimed at children are two intense and high octane where as these keep her occupied for 20 minutes then she goes and plays for a bit before coming back to it for another 20 minutes.

She only gets 20 minutes total on week days after her swimming lesson. She might have 1-2h over the course of a weekend

Yoto player! 3yr old used to regularly wake super early so tv would go on until 1yr old woke. Sometimes from 5.30-7.30am. Same for her nap etc

Now, zero tv in the morning. Today she woke 5am, wanted downstairs but I took her duvet and dozed in the dark on sofa, whilst she ate crackers and listened to peppa on her yoto for 2hrs.

She has around 45 mins after lunch during younger sisters nap. Then I get some work done on laptop and/or have a breather.

Sometimes a bit of tv late afternoon, after a day of playgroups, park/softplay playdates etc. No tv at all on their 2 nursery days. Sometimes we'll watch half a film like Frozen on a Sat, half on a Sun

There are Peppa Pig books and toys so you can totally cover Peppa Pig without the need for screens, so he can still be part of the Peppa conversation at nursery. You can even get the books with sound buttons so he can keep up with the catchphrases if need be!

We are a Peppa pig free house yet my daughter still picked up all the characters and catchphrases through nursery!
I got totally peppaed out with my niece!

We are minimal screen time, they aren't allowed personal screens at all, don't even let them look at my phone unless it's facetiming family.

They watch cbeebies 4-5pm so I can cook dinner ( and breathe) and that's it!

Very much agree with pp poster about only watching a TV channel and not using the streaming apps to watch a specific show.

We do screen free but both my husband and I spend a lot of time with the kids. It's knackering. Evening meals take up a lot of the time. But mostly it's books, books, books and some puzzles and games. We have a yoto but it's doesn't get used much. Only screen time is for video calls to relatives or to look at nursery updates and talk about the kids days with them...or to look up a specific thing, using a phone like an encyclopedia.

The book 'the big turn off' is helpful to read about a screen free childhood. Also, hunter gatherer parenting book talks about how to get your kid working alongside you for things like chores and meal prep.

Honestly, never started, never gave it to myself as an option. No matter how much he drove me mad. I only cooked after 7pm.

What's with all the Peppa hate 😂

Not putting it on is my best tactic.

Puzzles, dancing to music, stories (we use yoto where I would have had a tape player as a kid).

Train sets.

Can I just jump ion here? I'm a grandmother who's doing quite a lot of childcare for a 1 year old. I want the best for her but honestly putting h on some tv teletubbies or in the might garden in the afternoon is an absolute life saver for me.
Haven't really heard why peppa pig is a bad idea
I think my daughter and son in law are just happy I'm looking after her but I don't want to be doing anything detrimental.

@SlowSeasons can I ask why you're against picking a specific show on the apps? Curious if I've missed something important, I prefer to pick certain shows on iplayer as I find a lot of the shows on cbeebies too high input (frequent screen changes, loads of characters, constant sound effects). Whereas I can choose the slow, calm ones such as Jo Jo & Gran Gran or Kiri and Lou on the apps. Is it the auto play, or the repetitiveness that's possibly a problem? Thanks

Are you looking for ideas of what to do instead of screens, a plan for the day or something different?

Parent of a 4 year old here. If he remembers to ask, he can watch two episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine at some point over the weekend (recent development as I have deliberately relaxed the no screens rule a bit). Not an easy child by anyone’s definition!

We just do everything with him. Making dinner? He can help chop some cucumbers with his plastic knife or play in his toy kitchen. Changing the bedsheets? He gets to move all his teddies out of bed and put them back once I’m done. Lots of walks. Some crafts.

Most importantly, I don’t watch TV. DH watches football once in a blue moon but that’s about it.

Zero screen time until at least 3 years old is the current recommendation. TV is quite stimulating in a way nothing else is and you can set them up for a lifetime of ADHD / attention issues because you are getting them used to needing such high visual simulation. If you can't manage a 1 year old for a whole day, don't. That's what nurseries are for. 1 year olds are extremely high energy and needy. I wouldn't expect my mum to have been able to handle mine.

If A few things

The autoplay just totally locks them in - when I have cbeebies on there's a little pause between shows and if they don't like something they tend to just go off and do something else.

I used to use the apps and was really quite militant about the kind of content I picked but as soon as my kids realised I could choose, I noticed they were making requests for different shows or saying they wanted to watch something else half way through a show.

Since I stopped using the apps, if anyone says 'I don't like this one' or 'I don't want to watch this' i just say 'OK well that's what's on - you don't have to watch it' but they don't really anymore.

They only watch an hour in the early evening if I really need them out of the kitchen and the programming is quite sedate that time of day.

Rules go out the window when they are sick, that's when I use all the good stuff on the apps.

@SlowSeasons thanks for your reply, you make some good points. I only tend to put it on when I actually need it to captivate her (I.e. rarely, so I can get something done) but it's definitely something to bear in mind.

Not all screen time is equal. The slower pace of things like Teletubbies is meant to be better than some of the faster paced stuff where the picture keeps changing.

I personally think small bits of reasonable quality TV alongside lots of other time for play and interaction is fine. Plus your DGC gets 1:1 time, which they wouldn't get in a nursery. As a grandparent, I would discuss with your DC first and I wouldn't panic about what you are doing, provided it's not for too long.

Your house layout is a huge factor here. My third child is a bit of a hurricane. Our kitchen was a small galley style away from the living room and cooking with him around was the most stressful experience. I’d be running out the room to stir, running back. Whilst I was chopping he would be smashing and banging. It was horrendous.
We introduced some screen time here to save my sanity (and so I could actually cook something half decent).
Now we’ve moved it’s an open plan kitchen area, so much easier (he’s 6 now but still a nightmare!).
I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself if you need a little screen time to get by.

It's not so much about screen time and more about what they are watching I would say...wholesome shows that are developed with toddler benefits like motor skills and speech skills are fabulous for your kids development. So i wouldn't be worried if you put them in front of the right shows. (Avoid fast paced animation like cocomelon, and prioritise live action shows...like Treehouse on milkshake (channel 5).

Depends 100% on the child, but in our case we literally don't have a TV so the kids have to find something else to do. We also have a bit of a one parent per child situation so it's easier to keep them out of trouble.
I get that TV is a free babysitter and we're missing out on it, but we are lucky to be able to put the time in.
CBBC is not the enemy, it's YouTube and that ilk that are of variable quality.
My eldest isn't screen free at 5 years, but I only show him specific things on YouTube, or do specific activities eg coding with him.

Actually I read that paedetricians do not recommend any type of screens until at least the age of 3 and any educational benefits are not enough to make up for the damage done by the stimulation toddlers get from a screen. My toddler hasn't watched any TV, ever. Ocasionally, the news will be on in the background at other people's houses but we steer him away from it.