Going cold turkey - quitting screen time

Please be nice even if you don’t agree. Anyone done this? I never meant for it to get this bad but the last year has dealt us a series of curveballs and we had to rely on distractions like kids’ shows to help us through. We are at the peak of it now with me being 39 weeks pregnant tomorrow with no energy to do much else. Although if I had known this is where we’d be, I’d have tried to power through the hardships last year a different way. For context I have a 2 and 3 year old and giving birth to my 3rd any day now. They are to the point of tantruming when I shut it off which tells me it’s a huge problem. They are generally well-behaved except for this, both very smart speaking in complete sentences. I really wouldn’t mind up to an hour everyday of a simple kids’ show like to give a mouse a cookie, miss Rachel, or something, but unfortunately we are way passed that point, they aren’t interested in any of that, one wants to ONLY watch this channel of a lineup of monster trucks driving down a ramp and crashing…. The other wants to watch videos of unboxing Thomas the train toys…. I HATE IT. And of course screaming and crying ensues if I cater to one over the other and vice versa. I’m so over it and on top of all that, my newborn who will be here any day now does not need to be exposed to the brain rot first thing out of the womb. This may sound extra to some but I want to take the tv away completely so that it’s no longer even an option. Theyll just have to live in their boredom, re-discover their creativity with their MANY toys, and reset their brains from all the silly stuff shown on a screen. I of course have a bit of mom guilt because it does make them so happy in the moment but ultimately I know it would be best for them. I didn’t mean for this post to be so long, I guess this turned into a vent post but can anyone relate?

Show your support

Having young children is really hard and adding a new baby to the mix is going to even harder ! Both my two childrens behavior changed when I brought the new baby home and it took them a while to adjust so maybe implement it after you have the baby and they are used to having baby around or you might have a tough time. Maybe try a gradual shift to different education programs in the meantime like a show about trucks but with words in ect it's really tough but I wouldn't change anything just yet if I was you xx

@Chloe thanks for your suggestion! That is definitely something to consider. Can I ask in what way did your children’s behavior change when you brought your new baby home?

My 5 year old (4 at the time) became really needy and less independent she started wanting help with things she could do herself like washing her hands ect and sleep started to become an issue she would always go to bed well and then suddenly she was getting up to come in our room alot at night and my youngest was still a baby herself being 1 but she was also wanting a lot more attention than she previously would and she would get quite jealous if I was feeding the baby or holding him but it calmed down after a couple of weeks it's just a big change x

I would reduce your screen time and add in screen free days until you feel ready to eliminate it completely. A timer helps us to end screen time. When the timer dings screen goes off. Our kid figured that one out real fast. Using the timer helped minimize the melt down. Also screen free days. We do no screens on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Lots of outside play on those days. Lots of one on one attention from parents too. We limit screen time to two 30minute chunks on screen days. One before nap and one after nap. I also don't allow the kid to have tablets or have control of the screen. Something about her having the screen in her hands makes it way tougher to turn the thing off.

You are 100% in the right. Don't feel guilty. We feel a lot of pressure as moms to stimulate our kids and keep them constantly entertained, but that is not always good for their development. They NEED to find ways to deal with boredom. As young kids, their brains need the opportunity to wire themselves so that when they are bored, they know how to cope, and are not constantly in need of being stimulated. There's a reason it's said that "boredom sparks creativity," even in adults, creativity and problem-solving capabilities are suffering because of excess screen time. Your kids are young, nip it in the bud now while you can! Good for you for being an attentive parent and noticing the red flags when they happen. 💜

@Melissa thank you so much! This is very encouraging

Chaos with Cara has some simple activities ideas to do with the littles. We are weaning off screens and my youngest asks for TV but it's bwcause they're board.

@✨ Tea ✨ thanks for the rec! I’ll have to look into that

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌