How did you do it? More specifically, how did you handle the tantrums that went along with turning it off? How long did you ban TV?
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@mediagirl: When we do a screentime detox, we usually just go cold turkey and do it for about a week or so. That's usually long enough to break the addiction and establish new habits!
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LO is 3.5yo and we did a week recently. She was also told that if she even asked for the tv, phone, tablet, computer that I would extend by another day for each time asking. She got half way through the question, once.
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@MamaG: HA - halfway through the question once.
@mrbee: thanks! I remember you talking about yours and was curious how long it went for! Did it include tablet/phones, too? -
I have also found that if I let him watch something first thing in the morning it is an all day battle, but if we do other things in the morning he doesn't seem to care as much. We have been watching a LOT of tv this winter, so I am trying to limit it now to just 30 minutes before dinner a couple days a week, and it seems to be going pretty well. I just can't turn it on, at all, earlier in the day unless I want to fight the battle all day long.
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We have cut out electronics for a few days here and there - usually when I notice attitude problems.
The 1st day is usually the worst and then its like they forgot about it - now that's it nice outside its even easier because we just go outside all day.
In the evenings when they were use to watching TV we pull out play-doh or paint or just play in the playroom.
Oh and if they fuss about it I tell them if they want to fuss they have to go to their room
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@mediagirl: Yah, it's all tablets and phones... our current apartment is smaller than our last one, so we had to get rid of the tv during the move.
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@mediagirl: I feel like our one week "grounding" was beneficial. She still gets it. She had a particularly bad day at daycare yesterday and Dad let me pick her home punishment. I said no electronics for the night and no night time book. She got it. She played with toys and never asked again until this morning. I again said no. We have found that morning tv before school is a disaster in our house. And I told her she could earn a show tonight by having better behavior than yesterday. She said okay and got a book to read while I braided her hair.
Electronics are a huge impact on her behavior.
We've also recently traded night-time activities. DH now puts our little to bed and I take the older. DH used to let her have the tablet and bedtime took forever and she just didn't wind down well. I don't allow it. We read two books of her choosing and she usually falls asleep quickly after I leave.
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E's had to adjust to the fact that in the afternoons, Mickey isn't the first choice; sometimes, we watch baseball. She tantrummed for a week or so, then accepted it. The problem before was that if there wasn't anything on tv, we just left it off. So if we were turning it on, it was Mickey time. Now we have baseball on in the background....she's gotten to the point where she asks, we say no, and she goes about her business relatively unphased now.
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@blackbird: We have this problem in our house too. During the week I keep the TV off when LO is in the room, unless it's tv for him. But DH loves having the TV on in the mornings and evenings, and especially on weekends. It is really confusing for him. But he will just have to deal. Being 2 is hard.
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@MamaG: how old is your daughter? That sounds like it works really well.
I struggle with this too - while I think taking about screen time is a very effective discipline method - I have a hard time with it because I use it to prep dinner, do homework, etc. So it hurts me too
But I think this summer we'll be cutting down a lot on screen time.
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I helped a nanny family so this. We literally unplugged the TV and put the remotes out of reach on another room. I put a big toy in front of it (dollhouse for a few days then swapped it for the play kitchen) so they might go to the TV but not only could two not turn it on, there was a fun distraction. We also made sure to schedule a few more trips to the park and play dates during peak TV hours.
Once they were ready to reintroduce the TV in limited doses they told the kids the plan about when and how much they could watch and stuck to it. If they misbehaved tv was first lost privilege.
Thankfully we side stepped most of the grumpiness by going over board in offering alternative entertainment. I really just ignored any of it and pretended I was fascinated by the marble run our something and waited for them to join me. The kids were preschool age if that helps.
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@Mrs. Pen: She's 3.5 yo. And the TV has been a crutch for us with a new baby in the house. It's easier to let her watch Paw Patrol while I'm feeding the baby than to continuously tell her I can't play with her while I'm feeding the other. That week that we took electronics away was equally hard on us!
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We just took it and put it in the garage. Out of sight out of mind. I'm not sure that M even remembers life with it...
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We told her it was broken for about a week. It was much easier than I thought and helped scale back her asking for the tv for a little while at least.
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@blackbird: I think you'e raised a really interesting point. I've always noticed that with my sister's children (who are now teens/tweens), her super strict rules about never having the TV on lead to them being absolutely mesmerized by television, no matter what was on. If Grandpa was watching golf, they'd stare and stare simply b/c "oooohhh, ahhhh, TV!" I think that being able to tune things out is important, and it sounds like baseball works for you. I've got to find what works in my house, because my nearly 3 year old is perfectly content to cozy right up on the couch and watch GMA or Kelly & Michael. EEK!
I got myself into a bad situation by rewarding a poop in the potty with an episode of Dora (and boy do I hate Dora at this point)...I had to slowly disassociate going to the bathroom with being allowed to watch TV RIGHT THIS VERY INSTANT BC I JUST WENT POOPOO..and let me tell you that hasn't been fun or easy. We still get very whiny about wanting TV time. I've managed no TV for two days or so at a time but would love to go longer just to get the habit out of her head.
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