Screen time

So we allow screen time - usually 15mins in morning when he wakes and 15 mins before bath (more on weekends) but never at meal time - even though meal times are challenging and he is fussy - I just personally don’t agree with tv at meal time so not something I want to start but it’s whatever works for you xx

We became a bit too relaxed (imo) with the tv and I felt it was really not helping my daughter, especially when she struggles with concentration (as do I!) so we got her the Tonie box for her birthday and honestly it has made a world of difference (would probs work with an Alexa type thing instead tbh). Weekdays she has the tonie on while we eat breakfast (she used to watch tv) and then we don’t have the tv on at all normally until around 5 when we will have adult tv on while we eat (we eat at a table from our sofa) which she does not have any interest in, and then she has around 30 minutes of a calm tv show (kipper, night garden, tractor ted etc) before we do bedtime routine. Of course there are days when I pop it on for 10 minutes here and there when I need to shower or something and then the weekend is different because we have football on and watch films together.

No, at first it was a conscious choice, and then we just never introduced it as we didn’t feel the need. I barely watch tv myself and we only ever have the tv on after her bedtime. She is in nursery full time so I want to make the most of the time I have with her (and I also get a break when she is at nursery/I’m at work). For mealtimes, we just follow her lead. Sometimes she eats loads, sometimes she barely eats, sometimes she grazes/gets up to do something/comes back for more. We usually eat together so if she is finished and we aren’t she has to wait for us to finish before we will come play with her which usually results in her sitting on my knee and eating some more from my plate. If she doesn’t want to eat then we just let her not eat and try again for the next meal. (Again it is easier not to stress as she eats well at nursery so I know she is getting good food during the week). If she was at home full time I think we would do more screen time but prob not at meals.

Yes, we allow it, with some sort of control of course. I use screen time as my 'spanish ally' as I'm raising him bilingual (I only speak spanish to him) and my partner doesn't speak any spanish, so screen time is always in Spanish and helps a lot with his bilingual speech, songs, etc. Also, he is nursery full time so during the week is very limited time and a bit more during the weekends, but overall I'm not too obsessed with it.

We have a very active and outdoorsy little boy who also loves playing inside and reading books. He is obsessed with tractors and farm machines - he loves Tractor Ted and it’s actually quite educational and he loves to talk about tractors with anyone who’ll listen. I was adamant about having no / very limited screen time but it’s actually quite helpful for us in at times to get him to sit still while we cook dinner etc after a busy work day - but we try to avoid while eating as much as possible. We have a Yoto mini player that he sometimes likes to have playing with music while he eats.

We don’t have any iPad phones etc we stopped that last year ( have a 3yo aswell ) was hard to stick to but they do watch a film before bed on the tv or throughout the day educational tv on x