Hellobee Boards Topic: If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?

Hellobee Boards Topic: If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits? https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:39:42 +0000 looch on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2114351 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 11:39:38 +0000 looch 2114351@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Yes, we have rules and I impose limits. The main issue we have is that my son is stubborn and it's a war when we have to transition to another activity. So, if he's asking for it, I'll redirect him to something else, but sometimes, I need him to sit in one place for a minute and I'll bend my own rules. hotchildinthecity on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2114181 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 10:05:25 +0000 hotchildinthecity 2114181@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We watch Sesame Street in the morning and then maybe 1 or 2 shows at night while im making dinner. On the weekends, we're definitely more lax. He has this favorite Korean show that we pull out on YouTube as a special treat/reward/meltdown deterrent. I feel fine about the amount we let him watch. We love TV so not letting him watch any would be a little hypocritical. megjay18 on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2114141 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 09:39:45 +0000 megjay18 2114141@https://boards.hellobee.com/ we do two things: 1. if he's watching it on the tv (we have a smart tv with the pbs kids app), we let him watch one or two episodes and he knows that when it's over, we turn it off. 2. if he's watching on the ipad, we set an alarm on our phone and tell him that when the alarm goes off, he has to push the button to turn the ipad off. after a few times doing this, he knew that when the alarm went off, he was done. he still kind of cries sometimes, but he still turns it off! Pirouette on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2114094 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 09:04:07 +0000 Pirouette 2114094@https://boards.hellobee.com/ oh another thing that often helps when she's asking for tv is to play music on my phone. she will grab the phone and start dancing around the room and forget about the tv. sure, it's trading one electronic for another, but at least she's getting exercise :) irene on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2114092 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 09:03:28 +0000 irene 2114092@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Our screentime is more like "youtube time on mommy's phone". He gets 3 short videos in the morning and 3 short 3 minute videos in the evening when he brushes his teeth. That started when he refused to brush his teeth and I somehow needed to transition out of that.... with that said... Nowadays he seem to want to demand more videos, I am standing my ground for 3 videos each session. In the evening, now he really has to earn it. If he has one time-out that day, he loses one video. Two time-outs then he loses two videos and so forth. And I stuck to my word and if he loses all videos that night, he doesn't get any regardless of how he cries. it seems to work well and it motivates him to stay on his good behavior! I wonder if you can set a limit to one show a day or two shows a day or xxx minutes of shows a day, and have your child earn it with good behavior / lose it with bad behavior? Does your tv have parental control where it shuts off and couldn't turn back on without the prompt of a password? Then you can set it to play for 20 minutes if she earned 20 minutes that day...etc. You have to explain to her officially one day that this is the new set of rules! Good luck! Pirouette on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2114087 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 09:02:07 +0000 Pirouette 2114087@https://boards.hellobee.com/ we have set times (not like 9am but "while breakfast is being made") and after 15 minutes we say "time to eat/play downstairs/go for a walk") and drag her to a room where there's no tv. occasionally she'll protest but once she's in the other room, she's distracted. she'll beg for us to put it on sometimes, but we can usually distract her with other activities. also, we're more likely to put it on when she brings us the remote and says please than when she screams and points at the tv, and she seems to be learning that! mrsjyw on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2114077 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 08:58:32 +0000 mrsjyw 2114077@https://boards.hellobee.com/ On weekdays when we're working, DS usually gets an episode of MM at 630 while I'm cooking dinner. On wknds, it's on the fly. Sometimes in the AM he'll get 30 minutes while DH and I get ready for the day, sometimes it's none, sometimes it's both in the AM and PM. mediagirl on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2114061 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 08:51:01 +0000 mediagirl 2114061@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I do a set time on weekdays (we both work outside the home) that goes like this: -If she wakes up while I'm still getting ready, she can watch it in our bed while I'm getting ready. She can finish an episode before we go downstairs if it's not over when I'm ready to go. -No TV after school if she watched it in the morning. -If she didn't watch it in the morning, she can watch one episode of a PBS show in the afternoon but only if she asks nicely (we don't just put it on). Weekends we typically let her watch a movie on one of the weekend days. She has gotten into movies recently and it's fun to watch them together. We try not to go over 1 hour of TV a day (other than the movie thing). Mrs squirreld on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2114059 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 08:47:37 +0000 Mrs squirreld 2114059@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Yikes... E isn't interested in TV shows but I did make the mistake of letting him watch youtube clips of puppies on my phone. BIG mistake. Lol. I went cold turkey on him cause he was going nuts everytime he saw my phone.... oops. lesson learnt. bushelandapeck on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113945 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 07:55:00 +0000 bushelandapeck 2113945@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We allow him to watch a short show when he wakes up in the morning and after nap most days. We don't allow any within a few hours of bedtime and limit it even more if he starts demanding it. Andrea on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113944 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 07:52:57 +0000 Andrea 2113944@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We have set times during the day for tv so they know when to expect it and that it is not unlimited. Foodnerd81 on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113618 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 19:25:02 +0000 Foodnerd81 2113618@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Chuckles: good call- I dvr Daniel tiger so when the episode is over, it just stops and she knows it's over. I also agree with people that having it at set times of the day is helpful, though I don't always follow that advice. sarac on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113586 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:51:32 +0000 sarac 2113586@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We watch two shows in the morning before breakfast, and two shows after dinner. Those are the times I need quiet and rest, so it works well. And it's a good guideline, because if she asks during the day, I just say, 'when do we watch tv?', and she knows. When it's nicer out we'll do the evening one less, too, as we spend more and more time outside. I found that doing more than this made my daughter more prone to demanding it and throwing a fit when I told her no. During my recent first trimester, she was getting a lot of extra, and she started being really demanding about it. Reimposing the morning and evening limits was a good choice for everyone, because then she knows what to expect and what the limits are. hilsy85 on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113581 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:47:58 +0000 hilsy85 2113581@https://boards.hellobee.com/ It really helped us to have set times of day when he could watch. He gets 30 min when he wakes up while I get breakfast and have coffee in peace, and then another 30 min while I make dinner. Chuckles on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113563 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:28:11 +0000 Chuckles 2113563@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I think it helps to have TV only at a certain time of day. That makes it predictable for toddlers. My son (20 months) gets to watch for 30 minutes on most days and it's almost always right before dinner. He might ask at other times but he doesn't completely freak out when I say no (usually). A thing that's helped us is that he mostly watches DVDs (because my family lives in the stone age). With tv, there's always something on next but with the DVD it just goes back to the menu when it's done. Can you use a DVD or DVR a show so that it's more clear when one is all done? Torchwood on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113557 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:20:03 +0000 Torchwood 2113557@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Following, because this is an issue I really don't know where I stand on. I expect it'll be largely up to LO's temperament, but I overall want to find a way to teach her moderation without just forcing it. I have a tendency to binge on things. I play a video game for hours on end until I'm done, or marathon watch a show until I'm bored. But I also do it on other things. I'll bake 2-3 times a week for a month, then not turn on my oven for 3 months. It's just how I am. I HATED when I was really into something and my parents would try to limit my time on it. Especially now that I know myself well enough to know it won't last, I'd rather let myself enjoy it while I'm interested, as long as it doesn't interfere with my life in a negative away. So if LO is like me, I want to respect that to some degree. I think my main goal will be to make sure what she's watching is "good" tv, not junk, so I don't feel like I really need to limit as much? And to model not watching too much myself. Beyond that, we'll have to play it by ear I guess. Freckles on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113529 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:50:58 +0000 Freckles 2113529@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I do the same as mentioned above when she starts demanding it - go cold turkey for a week. It's easier for us, I guess because our tv is in the basement. She always knows before watching tv how many episodes/shows she gets to watch. We are always consistent, and rarely give in to "one more" pleas. This helps curb any tantrums! Foodnerd81 on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113499 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:26:16 +0000 Foodnerd81 2113499@https://boards.hellobee.com/ So far C has only really liked one show- Daniel tiger- so that's thenonly thing she asks for. Most days she only watched one episode while I get ready, but she asks for it more often (screaming Die! Adorable right?) I say we can't watch Daniel now and he is sleeping and she does the sign for sleep and seems to accept this. We did let her watch way more on an old iPod while we were on vacation, but I put it in a bright pink case so she seems to only associate it with that case, not all iPods. blackbird on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113495 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:23:15 +0000 blackbird 2113495@https://boards.hellobee.com/ If it was getting out of control, I would stop it all for a week and then reintroduce when you want. This worked great for is with food. We do TV-one episode before bed. Sometimes an episode while I finish making dinner. Weekends, we are more chill and totally depends on her mood. We'll play in a totally different room and I hide the remote. I look at it this way. She loses her shit because she isn't getting Her way. Oh well. She also wants to play in the street but I don't let her! Figure out what you want to allow and be firm because toddlers will take a mile when you give an inch :) Smurfette on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113494 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:22:12 +0000 Smurfette 2113494@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I just tell her no more and turn it off. Then direct her to a toy in the playroom. meredithNYC on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113483 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:10:05 +0000 meredithNYC 2113483@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Anagram: This is pretty much us. Things were fine before I got pregnant and then morning sickness hit, followed by the most heinous winter ever. We are actually doing better now that the weather is slightly better, but I have major work to do in dialing back the amount of television we watch. Anagram on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113480 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:08:13 +0000 Anagram 2113480@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We were doing no screen time until my morning sickness hit, then I started letting LO watch pretty much every night for anywhere from 45 min to 1.5 hours. Now that I'm slightly better, I've dialed it way back , but she will shout "show! Show!" I just redirect her and we take out the trash or go for a short walk (her fave things to do). fancyfunction on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113435 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 16:23:04 +0000 fancyfunction 2113435@https://boards.hellobee.com/ She basically knows that we watch Sesame Street after breakfast and then she'll get to watch a bit more with my husband when he comes home from work. When she asks for it at other times, I usually re-direct her to another activity. Cherrybee on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113429 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 16:12:21 +0000 Cherrybee 2113429@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @yoursilverlining: Last night, I told E that the TV had gone nan-nights but that didn't wash with her. She was bereft. :bummed: Mrs. Oatmeal on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113425 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 16:11:28 +0000 Mrs. Oatmeal 2113425@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We got into a bad habit of allowing it whenever when she was sick. But then she started the screaming and demanding, and I knew that needed to stop. So she watches one episode of something while I make breakfast/lunches in the morning, and sometimes she can watch a bit of a show before bed. Weekends are a little more frequent. Honestly, we stopped cold turkey for awhile, then reintroduced it only at certain points in the day. Hope you find a good solution for your family! mrbee on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113424 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 16:11:27 +0000 mrbee 2113424@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Cherrybee: When the kids demanded screen time, we would gave them a cold turkey media diet! We also switched to a model where they have to earn screen time rather than just getting it for no reason. Before, they would beg for it and also not appreciate it after they got it! Cherrybee on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113423 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 16:10:51 +0000 Cherrybee 2113423@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Thankyou to whoever moved this to the right board! I couldn't find the right category! yoursilverlining on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113421 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 16:10:21 +0000 yoursilverlining 2113421@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We allow screentime and LO is allowed to make her choice. She's given the parameters (like, "you can have 1 show" or "2 shows" etc.) and then I tell her what we have available and she picks what she wants. This has pretty much always been the rule, and every once in a while she fights it and melts down, but not often. I also sometimes tell her that it "isn't our turn for the show" anymore, and that it's something else's turn to watch whatever show she was watching. She mostly, begrudgingly, accepts that explanation. ETA: in the morning, if she is watching something and it's time to go but the show isn't over, one trick that has worked really well for LO is that we tell her "okay, time to say goodbye to X character and we'll see them later!" and then we actually wave goodbye to them, and tell them to wait for E because she has to go to school. She actually is always on board to do this!! :shocked: Cherrybee on "If you allow screentime, do you have rules/limits?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-allow-screentime-do-you-have-ruleslimits#post-2113415 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 16:06:14 +0000 Cherrybee 2113415@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We have fallen into the trap of allowing unlimited, on-demand screen time and its backfiring big time. My 20 month old is a telly addict. :sad: She demands TV the minute she gets up and screams for it at bedtime for 2 hours before passing out from sheer exhaustion. Its gotta stop! If you allow screen time, how do you manage it? Oh and how long before bedtime do you turn it off? If you imposed limits after initially allowing unlimited viewing, how did that go down? How did you manage that transition?