r/lowscreenparenting

I have a seven month old baby, and I have been trying my best to keep her away from screens, tv and anything over stimulating. I am a SAHM and have been feeling pretty lonely around the house, but we try to get out and go walking or to the library or the store as much as possible. But sometimes I’m still left feeling lonely without a lot of adult communication. I want to start watching podcasts again, or watch the news they used to give me comfort. Has anyone experienced raising kids without screen addictions but also had the tv on in the house? Sorry I hope this isn’t a dumb question I don’t really have anyone else to ask. I’m just trying to do right by my baby but also keep myself sane! Hahaha

My baby is just about to turn 6 months and for the past few months has developed a preference for being outside. It sounds great until it gets dark or the weather gets too cold or wet to be out. Currently we’re able to keep him inside the house for about 15ish minutes until he starts crying for us to go out. Same thing for car rides. And it has to be outside outside (we tried taking him to stores and he also gets bored unless there’s a lot of people/noises). The weather is still good here but we are mentally preparing for what to do when we can’t be outside all day and some days me and dad just need to rest (my feet have grown a half size from walking so much and I’m losing too much weight 🙃). Wondering if you have a similar baby or suggestions for what to do to keep baby entertained indoors.

We’ve tried: reading (he lasts about 1 book before getting bored 😭) and various toys (stacking, o balls, piano, toys he can pull things out of, teethers) as well as tons of floor and mirror time and music/dancing with him when we have the energy, putting him in a diaper box or giving him random things to play with like empty bottles.

It went better than I thought it was going to go for my 4 and 3 year old. They asked for screens throughout the day, but I told them they were all broken and that it would take a while to get them fixed.

They played harder all day and were more creative, interactive, and more physical. They were exhausted at bedtime.

It was a great thing to see. I want to keep this or something close to it. It feels like any screen time becomes a slippery slope.

Still, it went well!

In the midst of trying to sleep train a 3 and 7 year old who room share. There have been nights where myself or Dad would play a podcast for them on our phones while falling asleep because this is a habit we ourselves have and there are such amazing podcasts for kids. But I obviously don’t want to leave a screen/phone in the room with them when I’ve left. Any ideas? I’d be happy to invest in some device that just allowed playing stories or podcasts. Those Tony boxes seem very expensive and you’ve to pay for each story right?

Hi everyone!

I recently created a coloring book for kids that combines fun animal illustrations with a creative and enjoyable coloring activity—perfect for sparking curiosity and creativity!

The book has 50 wild animal coloring pages, with a variety of safari animals for kids to color. I also added a certificate at the end to celebrate finishing the coloring adventure.

I designed it with my younger cousins in mind, but it’s turning out to be a hit with teachers and parents too! If you’re looking for a screen-free activity or something fun to do with your kids, I’d be happy to share a sample page or more info.

Has anyone here tried safari-themed coloring activities like this before? Would love to hear your thoughts or suggestions!

If anyone would like a ready-to-print PDF version, feel free to DM me and I’ll send you a copy.

I’m severely addicted and even more since the last years I spent 6-8 hours every day nursing meaning also on the phone most of the time. My kids are fully screen free but they see me staring at this sh!t all day.

I started to think whether I can manage life without a smart phone just with a smart watch that has SIM card and headphones and obviously computer at home. Anybody did that? I would like to be able to read messages and send voice notes and use maps but I don’t want to be able to scroll.

We can NEVER finish an episode of a show in one sitting. We have to pause it a million times for a million different reasons.

Looking for advice, would you consider the tonie box as screen time? We are currently screen free for our 17 month old and 2 month old except for FaceTime calls with grandparents and such. Our 17 month old is obsessed with the tonie box and pretty much wants her animals or music playing from it 24/7. Most of the time she puts it on as essentially her background noise and plays with other things while the music plays so it acts more like the soundtrack to her playtime, which I don’t mind, but does this cause the same addiction that screens do? What do we think? Should we be limiting time with that as well?

I asked her what she was passionate about. The answer is essentially: nothing.

I myself am a passionate person and always have been. I had a huge number or hobbies and clubs as a child and teenager, and still do.

My daughter draws, but usually only as a method of boredom reduction when she isn’t on Roblox. Which - we are extremely strict on screen time. 2 hours or less a day, one week a month none at all. Rare occasions like work events without childcare and sick days she (and her brother. Same problem - no passions or hobbies in life) can splurge on the Roblox.

I’ve tried forcing them into activities. I’ve tried following fleeting passions and trying to turn them into hobbies. They really truly seem to be just sitting around waiting until the next time they get to play Roblox and care about nothing else. It’s actually literally what they do most of the day between their hour post-chore post-homework screen time and their pre-reading and bedtime routine hour of screen time: wait dutifully until they can have screen time again.

I am so very sad.

Edit: wow. I considered taking this down because most of the responses were so unhelpful, but I decided to leave it up so you can see yourselves. Someone comes in here saying they’re struggling and seeking help, and you all attack? Do you talk to your children and spouses this way when they’re trying to problem solve, or just strangers on the internet because that’s easier? You are the people you’re trying to protect your own kids from, smh.

Thanks to the few responses that were kind and helpful. I’m taking away screens for the indefinite future and replacing it with daily trips to the library, as I absolutely love reading and want to focus on getting them into it, too. BTW, the AAP daily limit is 2 hours a day, which was the guidelines we were following. Doesn’t mean it “works”, which it clearly wasn’t, but man, seriously the way you’ve collectively approached this is not the way. Please take an honest look at your soul and what’s causing that meanness in you. Thanks.

Is it just me or have children’s attention spans declined in the past few years? I work in school age childcare and have noticed that every school we get more and more children with a lower attention span and ones that have trouble following the directions the first time given. Like I will have to tell some kids 4-5 times to stop participating in certain behaviors until they listen or give some response. It’s like when I’m telling them they mute me out and act deaf towards me until they feel like paying attention.

If anyone else has had a similar experience what are some strategies that I could use? Also, what are the main factors and contributors to this type of behavior? I have done a lot of research on IPads and how they can delay a child’s development, lead to increased amount of anger issues, and lower thier attention span as well. Is this possibly a factor?

I’m trying to get better about not turning the TV on the second my kid says she’s bored. Not because I’m some super strict no-screen dad. I’m not. Some days it is doing important work in this house lol.
But I noticed once it goes on, it’s harder to turn off. Then bedtime gets annoying, she wants “one more,” and somehow this tiny person still has more energy than I do.
So lately I’ve been trying to stall a little before the TV comes on. Just something easy enough that I’ll actually say yes to it.
I gave her some coloring books and a few crayons, and she’s actually been really into it. She still calls me over to look at every page like she’s opening an art gallery, but I don’t have to sit there the whole time or clean paint off the table after.
It doesn’t replace TV completely. Let’s not get crazy. But it does buy me a little quiet time before the screen comes out, and honestly that’s good enough.
Anyone else find a random no-screen activity their kid actually stuck with?

Looking to crowd source recommendations for reputable studies addressing issues and effects of ed tech and 1:1 devices in elementary education (especially younger years - e.g. Kindergarten & 1st). I’m prepping a slide deck for my local school board in an attempt to start moving the needle in our local public schools where 1:1 devices start in Kindergarten. Your help would be appreciated!

How can I convince my coparent that our 2 year old doesnt need an ipad? He only sees child for a few hours a week (his choice) and I found out hes been giving him an jpad (I dont do any screentime but wouldn't mind him watching a small amount of tv with him if he must). Hes such a chill kid and so good at entertaining himself im worried thats all going to change.

Thank you all for your responses before. I ended up deleting the post because I needed to take a break from reading them and have already been struggling with my mental health and severe mom-guilt since returning to work.

I had a long talk with my partner and we will now be limiting screen time to one TV episode per day.

Just to clear up some misconceptions:

* My child IS being read to (by me) at least an hour or two per day. This has been the case since birth. Prior to going back to work, I was also spending my entire day with the baby doing enrichment activities and nothing else.

* My partner DOES do house work (in fact has been doing all of it since I returned to work.)

* I also believe I gave the impression excessive screen time had been an ongoing problem the baby's whole life, but it has only been an issue since I returned full time to work (about a month.) Prior to that, the baby was not getting significant screen time (just in evenings while falling asleep--which still isn't great, I know. But baby was not conscious for most of it.)

* I think I gave the impression that the baby was also getting screen time when watched by me. The baby has NEVER gotten ANY screen time while being watched by me solo.

I talked it over with my partner, and it turns out that the excessive screen time was the result of a combo of overwhelm and bad pain days, not simply how they wanted to parent. We are working on ways to reduce overwhelm and reallocate chores to be more equitable.

My partner has now also agreed to read to the baby for at least 15 minutes per day, regardless of whether the baby seems "into it."

We also have agreed to have at least one outing per week with baby (starting small, hopefully we will have the capacity for more in the future).

If anyone has anymore constructive advice, that is much appreciated. As I said in my previous post, I do not need to be told that I'm a terrible mom, because I already feel that way and have struggled with debilitating guilt since returning to work. Sadly, I have no choice but to work 50-60 hour weeks right now and our family cannot afford daycare.

I'd really appreciate any screen free activities that you can think of that someone with chronic pain who is unable to get down on the floor could participate in. Thanks again!

So obviously my three year old has noticed that phones can be used to take photos, and has wanted to take photos of us, which I've let her a couple times. But it's the first time I've ever handed her my phone and it just felt weird. Like I'm opening up her using my phone, which I do not want. So I thought about getting her a digital camera for Christmas so she can take photos, and then we could print them out and make albums.

Has anyone done this or something similar? A mum friend who is very anti screen said it was a slippery slope of allowing personal devices so I wasn't sure

I am incredibly guilty that we watch so much TV when we have a 13 month old. I really thought we'd be completely screen free parents, but my partner and I are both extremely addicted to TV, my partner especially. My partner does not believe that TV is harmful and no amount of studies will change their mind, but I understand how harmful it is and want to reduce our child's screen exposure. Short of breaking the TV covertly, I'm not sure how to reduce screen time.

I would appreciate any advice from other people who have managed to find balance for their family with a partner who does not support screen limits.

Please don't just link me studies to show my partner. My partner does not care about studies, will not read them, and will only become less cooperative. And I already know how damaging it is and already feel incredibly guilty about it. No, divorce is not on the table. They are an otherwise great partner and stay at home parent.

I need encouragement right now. I'm in a very bad place, just crippled with guilt about our screen time. We literally watched TV all weekend. I feel like a complete failure as a parent.

Our issue is not using the TV as a babysitter, but literally just us (my partner especially) watching TV for every free moment of the day. My partner has a chronic illness and doesn't have energy for much else in the way of entertainment on top of everything else.

We don't own tablets and I read to the baby for at least an hour per day, but I know that isn't enough to undo the damage of HOURS of TV per day.

I know that I need to be the driver of change here. Any advice and encouragement is much appreciated.

My son is 4yo and am a stahm. Lately I’ve been feeling really guilty about how often we use the TV. Well we usually have a pretty busy morning. We’ll go outside for a bit, run an errand, play with his cars, have lunch etc but after lunch is where I struggle. He’ll ask to watch something and honestly sometimes I’m more than happy to let him cause most times am so tired and just want to take a nap.

He doesn’t have a tablet or anything and I try not to just leave the TV running all day but there are definitely days where it ends up being on for a couple hours throughout the afternoon.
The weird thing is I don't actually feel guilty about him watching something educational or even just having some downtime. I feel guilty because I feel like I should be doing something with him instead.
I see all these posts about parents doing crafts, baking, going on nature walks, reading together and I’m like... where are you people getting the energy?
I also feel like I’ve forgotten how to just let him be bored. If he’s playing by himself, I feel like I should be interacting with him more.
Honestly not sure how to get myself out of this

Hello lovely people of this sub!

First I wanted to thank you all the proactive members who report posts and comments that violate one or more rules of this sub. The sub is becoming more and more active and only one mod is active, so it is very helpful. Please continue doing so.

I wanted to check what is the stance of members on helping with research about screen effect. On one hand I want to leave this rule untouched, on the other I feel like if we are able to help with LEGITIMATE research, we should. Of course I would not approve a post without getting the proper documents submitted for review.

Please share your views.

View Poll

Should Duolingo Spanish be restricted in the same way as other forms of screen time?

In general how do you handle educational screentime activities for your little one? Please include child’s age group!

I have a toddler and am trying to explore low screen options for days I barely have any energy, would love to get some suggestions for shows that are good too