screen time help!!

[whereisit1]

Evening all, I fully accept this problem is of my own making. Kids are completely addicted to screens, oldest one is 8, youngest 4 (not as addicted). Both parents work full time and I've not been well recently and neither of us have an ounce of energy. They go on for 10 minutes most school mornings when everything is done - no problem there. Evenings they go on for a couple of hours each most evenings. I know it's crazy. Weekends I'd be ashamed to add it up. I'm sick of it, behaviour with the older one is horrible. How do we come back from here. We started this evening by saying homework had to be done before screens (10 minute homework) . Oldest cried for half an hour. I don't think I have the mental strength to go cold turkey. Please tell me how you manage screens in your house. Amazon kids ipads with all controls on them. Thank you for reading x

You just decide on the new rules, stick to them and ride it out their reaction.

I'd buy some fantastic new toy that distracts them from the screens.

My older one is 5 so not quite the same age but we've got this disco set with two microphones and it never fails to distract my two from screens.

Frame it being about all the amazing other things they can do instead, rather than limiting screens

I think I would cut down gradually over a few weeks. Try for half hour less each night. Then maybe set a limit for say an hour at the weekend - you can put a control on so when the hour has been used it can’t be accessed.

I actually think that cold turkey is much less emotionally draining that lots of constant negotiating and pleading and changing boundaries and confusing messages

No iPads until Christmas holidays is easy to remember then just keep repeating - you can have your iPad back when the holidays start. You can have it back in the holidays. I’ve said this already - the iPads are away until the holidays.

If they’re Amazon kids just set a screen time limit. Ours get a short amount after school and a bit more at weekends. The timer on the device takes out any ambiguity over “5 more minutes” and just does it.

The wobbles were short lived, even for the SEN child.