I care deeply about the mental and physical development of my children. I know that too much screen time will hinder growth. There are studies and studies about it.
So decided to limit the amount of screen time they get. Each child is only allowed 2 hours per day max. This is total – includes games on the iPad, movies, computer games, etc.
But that rule is actually pretty difficult to enforce. With my children all being so close in age (6, 4 and 3 years old) I am finding it very difficult to keep track of how much time each child spends.
Some ideas I have tried (and why they didn’t work)
1. Only allowing electronic screen time at certain times each day. This didn’t work because it takes a lot of monitoring of each child and I end up only policing the children instead of accomplishing anything else (like house work or playing with my kids). And while I love giving 100% attention to all of my children every single second they are awake, I’ll be honest – it doesn’t happen. Inevitably I’ll get distracted with dishes while another child sneaks off with the iPad and I’m thinking “that’s ok, at least I have a chance to catch up over here.”
2. No DVDs in the van. There is a DVD player in the Toyota Sienna. For the next few months I am reviewing a Toyota Sienna and it has this awesome DVD player! YAY! Except… I can’t keep track of whether it was 30 minutes in the van they watched or 40 and when we get home, I just forget. I’m terrible, I know. So I’ve tried to not allow DVDs in the van, but what is the fun in that?
3. Timing every child. I tried using an egg timer. But then another child would run off with a phone or iPad and I just lost track.
I guess my next idea is to say “no electronics during the week.” But they would feel like I was punishing them, wouldn’t they?
So do you have children this close in age? How do you keep track of their screen time?
It really is difficult.
When I had the Acadia, we bought a ($5) DVD JUST to watch while we ran errands.
Since my boys got tablets for Christmas, monitoring tablet time has become my biggest aggravation. I NEED to find a timer app that lets me set the time (using a password to get in) and then gives the kids 5 and 10 minute warnings before it turns locks them out for the day.
If you find an app like that please let me know! That is perfect! Yes apps and phones are my biggest enemy. I mean, they are “educational” games and seem harmless and I can get SO MUCH DONE……but too much screen time is too much 🙁
We keep the tablets up out of reach and they dont really use computers. so that leaves tv. being pregnant and having heinous symptoms and syndromes and whatnot, plus giving my older one homeschooling, meant that my now middle kid got stuck with tv all morning. my older one has been watching tv (educational like pbs) since she was about 18 months old. they never pay FULL attention to it and in fact pick up books and pretend read or read read all the time, and play with toys, etc. My 5 year old (never been in school, but I teach her some stuff at home) is reading 5th grade level books. yes. 5th. I dont think tv hurts all kids all the time. it can even be helpful in teaching sounds, letters, shapes, etc. its like a moving book is all. that doesn’t mean the kids should be watching tv all the time with no other interaction, and of course my middle kid wasn’t completely abandoned, I checked on her, got her snacks, and monitored her and talked to her about the shows and such she was watching while I let my 5 year old color, read, or puzzle some worksheets out, but I’m not a firm believer that screen time is completely negative. my 2 cents.
also when I want my kids to only watch tv for a certain period of time, then I tell them you can watch this show and one other (we record stuff so they have the 30 minute increments of anything they want basically) or whatever, or one kid gets a choice and then the other gets one and then I turn the tv off and they need to do other things. sometime i even split the kids up. the older one goes upstairs to read or play and the other one plays downstairs. also if i notice they are really not paying attention at all, i turn it off completely.
Thanks for sharing Jill 🙂 So I sounds like having portable devices like an old phone and iPad and access to their own computer is what my problem is. My kids don’t really watch much television either. It is the electronics that are the problem. But I get so much accomplished LOL