I know that screen time is a hot button topic and that every family handles it in a way that works for them. On the flip side, I know that many families are looking to minimize the amount of time their children spend staring at screens and interacting with devices.

In the Hopscotch household we go back and forth on how much screen time Miss H has access to, with “screen time” for us meaning watching a show on the tv, iPad or iPhone or playing a game on the iPhone or iPad.

screen timeA sick Miss H watching the iPad.

When she was going through a period recently of waking up incredibly early in the morning (2-3 hours before we could take her to daycare), Miss H was given the chance to watch a short (30 minute) show while eating breakfast in the morning. In the first couple of months after the twins were born we downloaded some new iPad games to give Miss H something new to keep her occupied with in the midst of our sleep deprivation. And the few times Miss H has been sick enough for her energy level to be pretty sluggish, we have been much more liberal with resting and watching some tv shows.

What I have noticed, especially recently, is that when Miss H has access to a little bit of screen time on a regular basis, she straight up demands it. All the time. She throws tantrums. She is absolutely relentless in her mission to “watch a show.” And that’s when I know we need to cut her off completely. Taking away screen time is also full of tantrums, tears, and begging…for about 1 day. For how demanding and upset Miss H can be about wanting screen time, she forgets about it pretty quickly after we put our foot down and just tell her “no.”

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When it comes to parenting, this is one area when I feel 100% fine about saying “no” as much as is deemed necessary. For as long as possible I want my kids to choose playing and running around over staring at a screen, because I know that to a certain degree it’s a battle I’m going to eventually lose with each of my kids.

Now, do I think that kids who are allowed screen time every day don’t run/play/use their imagination on a regular basis? Of course not! But I’ve personally seen how regular access to devices changes Miss H, so if we don’t absolutely need it at this age, I don’t want it to be a regular part of our routine.

To keep in control of screen time around our house, Mr. H and I have done the following:

  • We only have one tv and it’s located in our finished basement, making it relatively inconvenient for all of us to go down and watch it on a regular basis. We also do not have cable.
  • The iPad that Miss H is allowed to watch on occasion has a BubCap over the home button. This means that even if Miss H picks up the iPad and wants to watch something, she cannot actually get into anything because she cannot push hard enough to activate the home button.
  • Mr. H’s and my iPhones do not have any games on them so they are of little interest to Miss H with the exception of two things: she knows that we can watch little clips of tv shows on them so she will demand to watch a show on our phones sometimes, and she knows how to “swipe up” and get to the calculator, which she calls the “clock fairy.” She’ll punch numbers into the calculator for a few minutes before she tires of it.
  • Our iPhones also are protected with 4-digit codes so that even if she wanted to, Miss H cannot fire up any apps.
  • With the exception of the scenarios I laid out earlier where we’ve gotten a bit off course, Miss H knows that screen time is a special occasion and something that we will offer from time to time, not something she asks for or should expect.
  • We watch shows and movies with Miss H as well as play iPad games with her. Together we can talk about what she’s watching and playing – what lessons we can learn from the Daniel Tiger episode or what letter that is on “Endless Alphabet.” Otherwise she we just completely zone out, a little too transfixed with the screen.

Without really sitting down and talking it through, Mr. H and I have set some pretty good ground rules in our home for screen time. And yes, just like most everyone else out there we get a little off track from time to time but having some guidelines in place has helped us get things back under control with Miss H’s interest in a screen outweighs her interesting in building with blocks, playing outside, or wildly dancing around the house.

Do you have screen time rules/guidelines for your home?