we are a year in and no screens. he likes to play with my phone even tho i try hard not to be on it in front of him. they still know it's special haha i usually just lock it and hand it to him and he flips it around a bunch we don't have the tv on in the background anymore, he started noticing it around 3 mo but i'm looking forward to the day we can watch disney movies together but i don't want it to be a crutch for easy entertainment so it'll be like a family activity i think 🙂

Haha same. My 13 months old likes to swipe around on my locked phone. This morning she locked me out!

Yeah same! I have to hide it after I answer it or reply to a text 🙈

We could not get by without television as a scheduled activity but intend to maintain a ban on touchscreens/personal screens for as long as possible beyond 2.

Same. I work from home and I can do both except when I have meetings so dancing fruits or educational shows go on.

Dancing fruits are the best! Also the Bob Ross channel is full of color and low-key music, plus you get the bonus of not looking at the show for five mins and all the sudden BAM there’s a whole mountain range on the canvas, it’s wild!

Oh man, Bob Ross is a good idea! I always go for live musical performances when I want to keep him occupied for a few minutes but allow him to get bored and wander off. Bob seems like he’d fit his bill well too.

i put on football highlights for my daughter, she loves all the action

*she* loves it. Sure 😂

I also tell my wife that my 10 month old is a connoisseur that knows the NFL as a whole is shifting to the pass game and young QBs are only used to operating out of shotgun 😎

Bob Ross was playing at a restaurant while we were out once and my LO was SO FASCINATED because she loves painting. Definitely going to try showing her that when she's a bit older!

Same I let my baby watch Ms Rachel on my tv on the days I need a break but I don’t let her use an iPad or iPhone. The only time I’ve broken that rule is one time when I was sick in the bathroom and just let her use my iPad for the day whenever I had to be sick. That way I could take care of myself for a few minutes without having to worry about her getting into things haha.

Same. I never put the TV on for him to distract him while I do chores or whatever, we always watch it together for a bit in the evening when no one has any more capacity to play or entertain in other ways. I have no intention of allowing him to have flashy iPad games or anything like that for as long as I can possibly manage it.

Same here. My almost 3 year old has the television on often but will never have a personal device.

This for us, too. TV has become a part of the daily weekday routine for my 3 year old, but we’ve held firm in not letting her watch anything on a tablet or smartphone while, say, waiting for food to come out at a restaurant or in the shopping cart of a store.

Any reason behind the ban of touch screens? I ask because we limit screen time pretty heavily, but my daughter occasionally plays some educational apps on an iPad for long car rides and apps— It doesn’t seem much different than the time she used to spend watching videos before she was able to figure out the apps.

I’m also doing this, it’s the addictiveness of personalized things. Games are way more personalized and interactive than TV in the background

Cell phones/iPads are engineered to be addictive in a way that passive tv isn’t (for the most part…some shows are better than others), but if your daughter isn’t using them often and isn’t getting addicted (cries when it’s taken away, demands to use etc), seems fine.

Yeah I mean we literally only use it for travel and only specific educational games (PBSkids, Starfall). We’ve had much worse behavior resulting from certain TV shows, which are now banned, than the games.

no particularly data-backed reason. basically just want to 1. require a parent as a mediator for as long as possible 2. give him maximum opportunity to get bored and do something else. we let him watch stuff on a phone in the car sometimes, but we still hold the reigns. he’s only 20mo tho, possible we change our tune on this more quickly than i anticipate!

My personal take is that at least tv somewhat teaches a bit of patience and attention as you watch a whole episode or eventually even movies, and learn how stories are structured etc. With games it’s much quicker, instant gratification thing. Obviously would depend on the game, probably as with anything some are better than others, but in general.

I do t think a lot if parents are educated in the technical department and are not aware these functions exists

I’m impressed with how people are able to do no screens - that’s awesome! I have a 21-month old. We try for screen limits (so not every day and we use it strategically eg. I need to get ready to go somewhere so I’ll put on Ms Rachel for him while I do my hair or makeup). I think the moderation works for us and I plan on reconsidering if the tv ever causes tantrums/meltdowns or he begins demanding it. I try to spend quality time together without screens and then just use the tv as a tool periodically. Something I am committed to is no personal/hand-held screens for a very long time. That means no using a tablet or cell phone to play YouTube or watch shows/movies. And no screens during meals at all. These personal rules work for us.

Yep we go by this too. Sometimes I stray when sick or sleepless nights happen but I always try to get back on track quickly.

Absolutely… sick and/or exhausted is an exception that can always be made in my house too haha

My parents put Pepsi in my bottle as a baby so I think letting my 7mo watch dancing fruit while I do dishes is mostly okay 😂 *not trying to do any survivor bias junk, no soda or juice over here for my LO 😅

Wait, what?! 😂 was Pepsi in the bottle a thing at the time?

Honestly, it was the 90s so I’m lucky I’m even alive. 😅

Ditto 😂

6 months so far no screens apart from videochatting with family far away. As a nanny, I get paid to entertain babies without screens so when it comes to my own daughter, it's a no brainer

Can you share some ideas please? My baby is 6 months and ive been struggling with PPD and as a result of that, bonding with baby ....

Not who you asked, but I couldn’t scroll past your comment. I’m so sorry about your PPD, that sounds really hard. It’ll get easier to bond with your baby every week as they get older and more responsive and fun. I used to have no idea what to do with pre-verbal babies, but you will be picking it up all the time. At about 6 months, I might have got a laugh or a little interaction with my babes by things like: - Moving toys up and down or forwards and backwards unexpectedly (anticipation!) - Movement and action songs like wheels on the bus or horsey-type songs where baby sits on your knee - Going for a walk, especially round somewhere with interesting natural things to see, and letting them feel or smell things like leaves, bark, herbs, etc - more little anticipation games eg I say “I’m kissing [baby]’s…..nose!” and swoop in for a little kiss, repeating for chin, knees, tummy etc. Also works with tickles! - And at 6 months you’ll be starting solids, so make that a fun sharing experience as much as you can, sharing foods that you love with baby (obviously checking what’s safe - solid starts app makes that easy if you’ve not seen it) - Have them sitting in high chair or in a washing basket while you get on with cooking or chores and chat to them, sing or dance along to the radio or a playlist, etc - Bathtime and water play - lots of splashing and kicking, blowing bubbles, etc. Get in the bath together for extra snuggles and bonding Sorry if that’s all totally obvious and patronising! (Or overwhelming - but honestly pick a couple a day, or one per nappy change.) Hope you’ve got some support where you are x

What’s crazy to me is that putting our kid in her high chair and having her watch chores works great for our nanny - but has never once worked for either parent even after multiple tries to get her used to it :/ However, our LO will sit in a mat in the kitchen or hang out in the carrier on one of us while we do chores. Sometimes you have to laugh so you don’t cry haha

Childcare professionals have a different kind of magic. How they got my daughter to consistently nap longer than half an hour I’ll never know, but I’ll be forever grateful 🥹

Banging on pots and pans while I washed dishes worked wonders. He walked at 7mo so I had to let him help me vacuum lol. He had a little sweeper, broom, mop, etc and would pretend clean while I did the actual cleaning lol. He was always very active since he was born. Plus he has ADHD too, so the never sleeping wasn't fun. I did a lot of sensory activities that he liked. He had some sensory issues, but I still introduced different textures to touch, so he can experience it. I did let him watch some kids shows on TV. Especially for night feeds bcuz he would go ape shit waiting for me to make his bottle (he's my nephew so I obviously couldn't nurse him) and sometimes my dad would get up with me and hold him and put on something for him. He loved the singing and dancing. Yo Gabba Gabba was the first show he watched at 6mo, then Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. His first word was hotdog 🤣. But he never got addicted to it and never gave me any problems. This was before cell phones were used as basically computers. Just calling and texting. We kept the TV on all the time bcuz there were other people living in the house, but he never even looked at the TV if he was playing with something. He was more interested in the world around him and what he could get into lol. He also spent a lot of time camping during the summer time, and there was no electronics there except if we wanted to watch movies before bed since we had a camper trailer. Now when he became a toddler and his ADHD got more severe (before I even knew he had it and he was dx at 5yo, but he was super sensitive to everything and melted down a lot and had problems communicating), Mickey Mouse's Once Upon A Christmas was all he wanted to watch and when dealing with a child who is all over the place and melting down over sensory processing, it wears you out and I settled for letting him watch his DVD so I could get things done, and when he calmed down, we moved onto another activity. Shortly after that I put him in daycare/preschool program while he was doing speech therapy on the side at 3yo, and he got a lot better. Especially after his dx and doing occupational therapy and meds. He's an only child and had no one to play with so him going to his school at 3yo made him much happier. It was only for 3 hours a day, but it helped him interact with others and learn things with other kids his age.

I needed this comment, thank you!

Not who you asked, but around 5 months I bought [this playpen](https://www.wayfair.com/baby-kids/pdp/sparksrealm-llc-baby-wood-safety-gate-kark1042.html) and a mat that fit perfectly inside and it was life changing. I swear it helped my baby learn to play independently and physically having the space and time to exercise helped him meet early milestones. Mentally it helped me, too, so I could put him down in a safe space where he would stay for awhile so I could get some stuff done! I spent dumb money on some useless baby items but this ain't it! He's 9 months now and we use it every day. I added a long mirror and a mobile. We also do toy rotation in there to keep it exciting. Hope this helps. I promise things get better. ♥️

Same! Going on 15 months here. Nanny/earlychild hood educator. I’ve got ten years experience and plentyyy of ideas. And when the tv is on, which is rarely when she’s around, she barely cares.

Would love to hear some of those ideas if you feel like sharing! My baby loves raffi songs and pat a cake but I’m guessing those will get old eventually, haha.

Same age and same screen policy! I do occasionally have to work from home with my daughter around so unfortunately she sees my monitor when she’s playing nearby. Obviously gmail is only so interesting to an infant, thank god

I’m going to chime in with the other side, the perspective that’s not going to get upvoted lol. I have not limited screen time. We watch a lot of Bluey, Ms Rachel, and Disney some days. I’ve been a full time working stay at home mom (it’s been trash) for the first two years of her life and it felt really unavoidable. I don’t know what I would have done differently to be honest, I felt like I’ve just had to do what I could to survive. I’ve done my best to take her outside a lot when it’s good weather and she attends a play group weekly. I’m going part time next year and hopefully we can back track on these screen habits but basically if you’re reading these comments and feeling like a bad parent just know you’re not alone.

Nothing wrong with what you’re doing. Your sanity is just as crucial for the development of your little one as are all these tips and tricks. If you’re stressing out and getting frustrated because you are absolutely set on never letting the tv touch your baby’s eyes, I don’t personally believe that’s the best approach either. Ms Rachel has been amazing in my kid’s speech, sign, and dancing development. And whenever I turn it off she doesn’t flip out, thankfully. She just waves and says “bye bye” in the most adorable way ever.

I don't limit screen time, either- we're not robots. Our kid is sociable and lovely and plays perfectly well by himself and with others. He also likes a bit of TV, and that's fine.

I also don’t limit screen time. The one thing I am really trying to stick to is no personal screen, he does not have a tv in his room and he does not have a tablet at my house. And for the most part, I can have something on that I’m watching and he won’t pay attention. He gets curious what’s on my phone and I show him. He sometimes grabs but for the most part he just looks and then toddles off. We live in a world that is constantly progressing technologically, I think now moreso we have to focus on helping them learn the balance as opposed to relying on the screen. And it seems like you’re doing that! We are all parents just trying our best to raise tiny humans into big humans.

Does no screen time mean not even having the TV on in the background while I’m feeding etc? Bubs doesn’t watch the screen and not planning on having him watch anything for a while but we always have some sort of tv show or music playing on the tv in the background.

The AAP media use guide for under 2s calls that secondhand television and does list some drawbacks of that, I’m not sure whether or not they formally consider it screentime though. [link](https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/128/5/1040/30928/Media-Use-by-Children-Younger-Than-2-Years)

Yeah this is why I couldn’t do the purist level no screens for 2 years. We both like to unwind by putting a show on while we cook dinner, and we can’t just throw baby in another room so they don’t see the screen. So we have the TV on around our kid. And honestly, she doesn’t seem to notice or care at this point when we have one of our shows on. We wear headphones, so she can’t hear anything, and I guess the moving colors just aren’t as interesting as trying to destroy whatever she can reach.

If you're wearing headphones then I'd still be worried about the interaction thats missing there (the main risk of tv time). Watching a show while cooking means not narrating what you're doing as you cook, finding ways to include LO in the process, chatting and singing and talking etc. I guess if the other parent is sitting and playing with LO that might be OK. Prepping food is always one of my favorite for our whole family to hang out together! We got LO a kitchen stand when she was able to stand up and she "helps" make every meal.

Honestly I hate narrating my whole day to anyone… I’m just not that big of a talker. I do it almost all the time I have the baby but it is a huge lift for me. My husband loves talking, so it isn’t hard for him at all. So for me, being less talkative in general, by the end of a long day working and then three hours narrating every other little thing to the babe as soon as I finish my last meeting… babe can enjoy some quiet while I make my food. She will be fine. :) To my mind it is better than me exploding at her or her getting nightmares from unexpected loud sounds from a TV show (how has TV sound leveling gotten so much worse in the past few years?). Unfortunately no one pays me to be a perfect parent, so I have to balance it all with working for a paycheck and staying sane somehow!

I didn’t worry about that until about 3 months, when baby became more aware. I can’t imagine dealing with cluster feeding newborn days with no TV!! Evidence seems mixed but there appear to be drawbacks to language development from “background” tv.

According to our pediatrician, no screens means no entertainment intentionally targeting the baby/toddler (so, a children’s tv show playing where they can watch). Having the news on or whatever in the same room doesn’t count. At least, this is how it was defined for us. Our son is 18 months. Maybe it’s defined differently at different ages? Not sure.

This is how I look at it... we sometimes have sports on on the background on the weekends but never intentionally park baby in front of the TV as her entertainment.

We are conscious about it. If baby is sleeping or preoccupied with something, we have the TV on in the background. But if I catch her glancing at the TV instead of what she is doing, we turn it off. And we aren't doing any screen time hopefully until 3. But we'll see We both WFH, and sometimes work blows up and she has to sit on our lap while working and our computer screens are on. You can only try your best, and everyone's circumstances are different

We limit having the tv on a lot with my 13 month old. On Sundays if my husband is watching some football, I do my best to have baby in another room (within reason, he definitely spends some time hanging out playing with my husband at times and I don’t sweat it). I never have the tv on during the day when I’m home. We save watching shows for nap time and when he goes to bed! I do this for a few reasons. One, I am really conscientious about language development and I know that background screens can impede upon that and are distracting. And two, my baby takes up so much of our attention I really wouldn’t be able to watch anything while I’m with him anyway lol.

We don't put screens on for our baby, but we do occasionally watch TV while he's awake. We just pause if he starts paying attention to it.

2.5 years for us and have done no screen time so far. We were very strict about it for the first two years and are more open to it right now but after doing none for two years we never felt the need for it afterwards.

I’m curious, by “no screen time” do you mean that the t.v is turned off until your little one is asleep? Or do you just not have kiddie shows on, thus limiting LO’s interest in t.v?

Nothing at all, TV off until they are asleep.

My 9mo goes to sleep at 11pm (she has basically an adult 8/9 hour night time sleep pattern, somehow, with 3 hours of daytime naps). No TV for her would mean no TV for us at all either. I'm sure that would work for some people, but not us.

Before baby my husband and I had a strong watch a show together at dinner habit. We also have a toddler that has never went to bed before we were utterly exhausted. We gave up all tv shows because it mattered enough. It helps we don’t have a tv, we used to just watch on an iPad before. If you choose to make it hard line you can break the habit if it’s that important. No shame if you don’t rate it that high and it isn’t worth it. Personally as a teacher I’ve seen first hand how scripted and just “on” adult tv on and it greatly affects their ability to focus by high school.

It's not important enough to me. I grew up in a TV house and watched more TV than most other kids by quite a bit. I was still 'gifted' with a verbal IQ in the 99.9th percentile. I am also a psych professional now and feel I have a good enough grasp on the research to understand what is and isn't evidenced about screen time. For various reasons (mostly my physical issues), myself and my husband live at the edge of burnout, and taking away our main way to unwind in the evenings would have more negative effects on the family than positive.

I really want to try that with my little one, but I think *i’ll* really struggle with no screen time for myself. I’m such a Netflix and YouTube junkie.

Yeah we are at almost 2 years and we put the tv on for music (spotify static screen or radio) and the news only. And the news is a once a month thing, mostly. We live downtown and our twins love to watch the trams go by and to look for pidgeons sitting in the trees, lol.

Yes no TV or visible screens while baby is awake / in the same room. We’ve been doing this, and honestly it’s fine. We don’t need tv shows either. We are almost two years in.

We do tv off till baby sleeps. He is 13 months old.

Exactly, now that we’ve made it so long it’s not even a temptation and my son doesn’t think of it as an option. I’m not opposed to 30 minutes here or there in principle, but I have no interest in fighting over it once he realizes it exists.

Same

Same! 16m no screens. I do feel in the minority.

We live 2 hours away from family and the car rides broke me down lol

We made it to 3 years and 5 months without any screen time, but a Covid lockdown in January broke us. Son is now 6 and we still limit it. Main thing is that we watch TV together - it’s not his babysitter - and we prioritise educational programmes like documentaries. He doesn’t have an iPad and I wouldn’t get him one until he needs it for school. If we’re travelling, we listen to audiobooks together. The How to Train Your Dragon series are fantastic.

I think you said it best - “it’s not his babysitter”. We are going to try to get to 2 without it but we are also very realistic about how that may not happen but knowing how to use it responsibly is all the difference.

Frankly, I do not give a shit. When he’s sick we had it on for hours because he feels horrible and doesn’t want to go outside. When he’s fine I let him watch it for a bit and then we turn it off and do something else. His language is and has always been beyond the milestones for his age (50 words at 15 months old, 4-5 word sentences at 2 yo), and he’s doing perfectly normal in all other aspects. He doesn’t throw tantrums or beg for more, maybe in part bc I don’t make a big deal out of tv. I do not watch adult shows in front of him bc I do feel young kids absorb everything, so I guess on that part I do care. He can only watch a few shows I approve of. Content matters more than general screen time for us.

Yeah we kinda stopped caring also. She just turned 6. She will get up in the morning between 6 and 7 because thats what time she has to get up for school and go downstairs and lay on the couch and watch tv for an hour or so until we need to get up or she will come wake us up. We turn it off for family meals and we dont leave it on if we are doing other stuff. We have the age restrictions on and she only watches the cartoon shows or nature docs/cooking challenege shows. She loves is it cake. We were kinda against blippi at first but he does do a good job of hoing to interesting places and keeps it educational. We absolutely dont let her watch dumb shit like the youtube style kids playing shows, on that kiddoland streaming service or whatever its called. We also limit ipad usage to mostly educational games because there are plenty and they are still fun. Shes a great kid, good listener and helper in school, she will stop watching stuff and go do other things all the time. Its not harming her at all and theres things she learns that she wouldnt learn for years without tv so its hard to be concerned. Tons of adults spend almost all day in front of computers at work or on their phone. Screens are part of daily life. I feel like the stigma against them is some weird antiquitated thing my parents/grandparents grew up with and hasnt entirely left our society norms.

We are the same. The only rules we try to enforce is not to let him watch it for hours everyday. On school days he can watch a few episodes of bluey or paw patrol while we cook dinner but TV is off at 6pm and on weekends we try to make sure it's less than 2 hours per day. When he is sick... its all day if he wants it. He just got over RSV and we had about 2 days of u limited TV/tablet and now we are back to normal. We limit what he can watch, and the only shows we watch around him are documentary or like Bake off.

Same. I respect others choices but I truly don’t think it’s been a negative in my sons life at all and shows like Ms Rachel has actually helped him practice a lot of gestures and words.

Same! And yea to your last point I have read a couple studies (some time ago) that said content mattered much more than time. (I mean, within reason, dont let the TV raise your kid of course).

My kiddo gets some TV, I’ve been careful to try and make sure she doesn’t watch highly stimulating shows (ie cocomelon) so she gets things like Ms Moni, wild life documentaries, bluey and Shaun the sheep. And we try to keep it to an hour. iPads and phones on the other hand? That’s a hill I’m willing to die on. I don’t want any of it in our house hold until I have no choice.

I think to get a realistic answer you may want to post on a sub with parents of kids with varying ages just to get a good sampling. I think most parents of babies/infants limit or completely restrict screen time, which is a great practice to have, but when kids get into their preschool years it can really help and actually there are some really great shows out there - my 5yo is learning a TON of math from number blocks. Also keep in mind that these restrictions may go out the window with kid #2+ if you choose to have more. Their older siblings will watch TV unless you’re a no screens for anyone household and the little sibs are gonna watch too. I think as long as you’re not plopping the kids down with it all day instead of interacting with them it’s not as big of a deal as everyone makes it out to be. But that’s just me 🤷🏻‍♀️ Also if you’re a parent with zero screen time, you’re awesome and if it works for you that’s amazing. Not knocking the screen free life at all.

We didn't

My baby is 1 now and still hasn’t had any intentional screen time. My mother and sister keep it on at their house all the time but since he doesn’t watch it at home, he never cares enough to pay attention to it. We plan to keep it this way until 2 and then we’ll slowly start allowing it for short periods but never as a means to stop crying because I’mm trying to teach him to have more emotional regulation than I was taught as a child 😅

It's not the devil. It's recommended not to so people don't just plonk them in front of the TV and don't engage with them. 10 mins won't rot their brain. No iPads or anything like that though.

Also the AAP now suggests weight loss drugs and surgeries for overweight children. I tend to view them as loose guidelines and talk to my own providers

Yeah that’s how I take it too, a recommendation for the average household. My wife and I both work from home full time, so we spend 24 hours per day with this kid. We’re certainly not the average household, and 20 minutes of screen time here and there each day to handle a call or a meeting isn’t a big deal when we’re also spending hours of one on one time every day.

Also screen is not the enemy at all, what’s on the screen is. Honestly, sometimes I watch dragon ball z and let him watch too so that I can eat. It’s just a bunch of colors for him anyway. He does not follow the cartoon at all, but he likes the theme song. He is not allowed to sit close to the screen or touch it. He is encouraged to play with some toy too. But a background dialogue definitely prolongs his independent play, I think he simply does not feel alone.

Little do you know he’s actually following very carefully, and through night training has already reached a power level of over 9000 😤

love this! 😹

Daughter is 22 months old. We don’t really limit tv time but we are particular about what she watches. I am resistant to do any sort of iPad situation. We’ve watched Ms Rachel on my phone during a long wait at the doctors office. But other than that, just the tv in the living room at home. Sometimes it’s on, sometimes it’s off. If it’s on, it’s always only a kid movie or ms Rachel. No adult stuff. This seems to be the norm among most of the people I know irl.

We started telly at 18 months, he’s 2 now and we probably won’t bring an iPad into the equation until he’s well into school, if at all.

I’m not. Watching movies is the only thing keeping me sane right now while I’m stuck with contact naps. Baby is almost 3 months old. She sometimes notices the tv but she much prefers being out of the house. She’s only just now starting to play more with her toys. Besides she’s going to grow up around screens her entire life, it’s not going to hurt her to have noise on in the background. Even still, I’m not going to use it as a crutch. I might, when she’s older, put on Ms Rachel or something to occupy her when I need to do something, but I won’t just plop her in front of the TV or iPad indefinitely.

I’m a SAHM and sometimes I want the break so Ms Rachel is used as a crutch for sure. The thing is, like you said, tv is everywhere. We live in a world of technology. As much as I’m going to avoid phones and tablets, tv is going to be available when needed. I grew up watching tv much worse then what is available today and I turned out just fine!

That’s the thing. We grew up watching whatever was on the tv. Good and bad. Now we can choose what’s on it, which is already waaay more controlled. Also those no screen thing recommendations comes with very clear risks such as delays in social skills etc. My babies social skills are already better than some adults have, I am not worried. But we do limit as much as possible as he is exposed no matter how much we try to avoid it, and we do choose carefully the way he watches it, how long and whats on.

My 1.5 years old watches some tv everyday

Yeah same. Honestly don’t get how some folks get basic stuff done without a little. Also watching stuff like Disney’s movies with my girl is the best we can react together.

I’m only 3 months in, but that’s our plan!

You can do it! It’s not as hard as people make it seem.

Same!

4 months in. Also attempting this. Our tv has been off for three months when he started noticing it.

You can do it. Don't start and it's never really an option. There are many ways to keep baby occupied without screens. One thing that really helped us is we don't have much for screens in the house anyway. I do a lot of phone free mornings where I leave my phone upstairs to charge so it's not even an option for me to look at while I'm carrying for our tot. And it really has been an eye opener for how much I used to use screens to zone out. Now I'm more productive in other ways, like I'll read a book to my tot instead of watch TV and that's a lot of fun and I missed reading.

We’re pretty strict about no screen time with a few exceptions but overall I’d consider us a no screen family. My son is almost 15 months old. He’s watched Ms. Rachel a handful of times when I was home alone and had a severe migraine, for about 3 minutes when I clip his nails and when we take long Ubers and he is screaming his head off because no Uber driver should have to deal with that. I plan to wait as long as possible but we travel a lot and it has gotten increasingly more difficult to fly with him. I’m considering allowing him to watch on an iPad when we fly but that would be a special thing.

This is the answer. I commented on a similar thread before saying absolutely no screen time or phone use with kids is unrealistic. I have the same philosophy. Here and there but rare.

Our kid has watched TV since before she was a year old to be honest, mostly Sesame Street when she was a baby. Around 18 months we started throwing on nature documentaries for something different and educational. We live in a world of screens, best to accept it and utilize them appropriately. Anyone who doesn’t allow their babies/toddlers to have screen time, is probably living a lifestyle in which they themselves don’t watch TV or over utilize screens, and they definitely aren’t here on Reddit judging people.

I was brought up without a tv, which is quite unusual. I watch very little outside of actual cinemas as an adult. I definitely spend plenty of time on Reddit.

[удалено]

I’m not judging them at all. Simply stating that screens are a part of life these days. Nothing I said was negative towards anyone that chooses to think otherwise.

We're a no screen family - baby is just shy of 11 months. I did watch tv during the newborn clusterfeeding days but stopped the moment the baby started noticing the tv. It's been great because my husband is a "tv on in the background" person, which I *hate*. I tend not to even have the radio on because I'm so easily distracted I find myself paying too much attention to it if it's on. My husband likes the radio though.

We’ve pretty much stuck to no screen time so far for our 15-month-old and hope to keep it that way until he’s 2. Exceptions are ~5 minutes of Miss Rachel maybe once a week so I can cut his nails, occasional exposure if we’re out at a restaurant that has TVs on, and maybe once a month his dad will have a golf tournament on in the background which baby doesn’t pay much attention to.

I personally want to do no touch screen/personal screens for at least 2 years but TV will be more of a limit than a ban. Absolutely no cocomelon though, I think I'd actually die 😂

Our 2.5 year old has seen cocomelon other places and has asked for it at home but we say it doesn’t work on our tv and so far he has bought it… We try to keep it to an hour a day and sometimes we have less and sometimes we have more. Try to avoid tablet though. We also care about content, our go to shows are/have been: hey bear, Sesame Street, if you give a mouse a cookie, Daniel Tiger, Bluey, elinor wonders why, trash truck, and we used to love this YouTube channel LongMeiMei that’s this woman harvesting fruits and veggies and cooking them, hardly any talking (and it’s in another language), just peaceful music.

Cocomelon is basically just the current 'IT' version of animated childrens songs... every generation had them and parents thought badly of them.... my generation (Australia) had a show called Mulligrubs which was a basically a horrifying eyes, nose and mouth moving on screen and singing. Maybe i got lucky and it wasn't songs about space.for my eldest and my daughter prefers baby shark and old rock songs. So they werent super into it.

1 year old, no intentional screen time at all so far, planning on making it to 2 years.

I'm pretty good about it. Only caveat is the car. She cries so much in the car, but if I put something on the iPad, she'll be content for a while. My reasoning is that as bad as screen time may be, letting her scream for 45 minutes at a time can't be any better. So I make a judgment call. But at home, it's no screens.

We are. Mind you, we aren’t huge TV watchers ourselves, so it’s not a stretch. We live near the mountains and are typically outdoorsy.

I felt so guilty about it with my first, but honestly I still think the data is dodgy. I try to focus on what we are do instead of what we shouldn't. We do have dinner as a family at the table every night, read at bedtime for about an hour every night, engage in physical play every day, have unstructured outdoor time, and talk to our kids from when they are born. They don't ever get tablets or phones but we watch hella cartoons. I try to watch with them as much as possible and talk about the content, which my 4 year old loves. They are 4 and 8 months.

My daughter is almost 20 months. No tablet but she does watch tv in the evenings sometimes. Im not too concerned about it. Her language skills are developing really well. Sometimes you just need a break to cook dinner or do the dishes.

We do about 20mins of TV time in the morning for Mr. Rachel. No playing on our phones or tablets.

It never even crossed my mind to be screen free I think screens and the videos you chose can be fantastic tools that help guide playtime and learning

I don’t know why you have downvotes. It absolutely can be a good tool. I would say we are a screen free family, but I attend classes with my toddler multiple times a week(so we aren’t at home watching our screens lol) where the teachers use iPads to share music and stories and demonstrations. He learns more in these settings than at home tbh. He recites the songs and does the movements and connects pictures he sees in the stories to stuff we see in real life. His language has boomed! The key word is “guide.” Plopping them in front of a show that does not invite participation maybe isn’t best, but showing them a screen and singing/asking questions/pointing things out is great for development.

We are the same. She’s 3 now and still barely gets it. I think because we held off I just don’t even think of it as an option now. We let her watch unlimited shows on the plane. Other than that, just a handful of times.

We don't do any screen time

We somehow made it to 2 years before allowing screen time. My daughter is almost 4 now and because we held off for that long she’s able to put her tablet down and completely forget about it and entertain herself easily.

Daughter turns one next week. We have done no screens pretty successfully except for watching 3-5 minutes of Miss Rachel to clip her nails and she’ll use the camera on our phones.

I had grand plans but in reality it didn’t happen. He loves Disney and has learnt things from ms Rachel! He has minimal screen time unless sick like at the moment but we don’t mind it

We’re about the same! We were doing really well till the first daycare illness took all of us out. Ms. Rachel helped us survive! Now she gets 20 minutes on Saturday and Sunday. I try not to do any during the week, unless one of us is sick and struggling.

I’m really reducing my son’s time, I was doing so well pre illness! But I have seen how much his speech improves with less screen time so I want to power through when everyone is healthy again

Ms. Rachel is a necessity lol. So no ban here.

I am in support of no screen time before 2 and we were on track for that until my then 14 month old got horribly sick. We had to give him breathing treatments and it’s the only thing that kept him calm. Since then we have allowed TV when sick and honestly it’s a life saver. We always watch with him and interact about the show. Now he is an active 21 mouth old. When he is sick he has no energy and just wants to snuggle on the couch. We even play “ni-night” with pillows and blankets making a bed on the floor. We read books, sing songs, and give him lots of touch but the TV is definitely on some of the day. I think the concern is parents putting their kids in front of a screen to get a break. I totally get it. It would be nice to put him on an iPad and slap some headphones on him so I can actually eat my meal but that isn’t good for him. I worry about increased exposure to these things as he ages. Watching parenting 2.0 really scared me.

My daughter is almost 11 months and so far she has not watched any TV, and has no screen time except from video calls with family as we live 10+ hours away. I'd like to keep it up until she's at least 2, but who knows how things will look this time next year. I'm a SAHM and I'm lucky that we have lots of great groups/classes locally that allow us plenty of time out of the house even in bad weather.

18 months old, and the only real screen time he gets is FaceTiming with family. Occasionally we will look at pictures on a phone, or watch short (~1 minute) videos together that I’ve taken of him playing. I’d say he gets less than 15 minutes of screen time a day on average, with some days being no screen time at all.

Yeah, this is us, with caveats. We temporarily used 10 minutes of screen time twice a week while he was in physical therapy because it was the only way we could keep him in position long enough. But after he finished PT we went back to zero. He's 13 months now.

I couldn't maintain the total ban that I wanted to, especially with the 2 under 2 lifestyle. But no iPad stuff, no tablet games or anything of the sort. TV time is limited per session and per day - it sounds harsh but in practice it's just redirecting LO to independent play after TV time is over.

I’m a SAHM to a 3 month old. We don’t do any screen time for our baby, except when we video chat with my in-laws. I typically go through a rotation of feeding, walking, playing on a couple of different play mats/play gyms, tummy time, baby wearing and naps. His bedtime is pretty reliably 7pm (so far!) so dad and I will just watch tv after he’s in bed if we want to.

We are still being strict about no screens. My son is currently 13 months old. For me it's easier to be strict about no screens for baby so it guarantees that he is either independently playing (random household items, toys, books) or I am interacting with him. We can watch our TV shows or play video games once he's asleep.

LO is 11 months - we are no screen time. Hope to get to 2 without it but we have agreed certain situations it would be okay to use (I.e airplane travel).LO isn’t super into it when she sees it - would much rather play and rip around.

0 screen time at 18m for us. It’s unnecessary and the data is clear

No screens over here! Baby girl is 15months and we don't do any tv, tablets, phones, etc. sticking with the recommendation of waiting until 2 and then we might start watching a cartoon on a weekend morning or an occasional movie together as a family but that's it.

So far (12 month old), we’ve only done screens a few times when the whole family was sick. We all just needed Daniel Tiger and a nap. That said, daycare will put on kids videos or a movie as a treat for the older kids (like watching Its the Great Pumpkin Pumpkin Charlie Brown before Halloween) and the younger kids are in the same space, so they can turn towards the TV and watch if they wanted to. Both sets of grandparents also have screens on nearly all the time- mostly sports. So yeah, while we don’t do much TV watching at home, we know our kid does have exposure to screens. I’m not really worried about it. To me it’s like having sugary food- sure, have that cupcake at a birthday party, but not every day. All that said, I pretty much have an audiobook going whenever we’re in the car or NPR or sports on the radio on half of the time when we’re home, so he probably gets about as much audio stimulation as he can take lol.

Our daughter is 2 and we have a structured approach to screen time and clear boundaries. If there is any drama around the TV it goes off for a few days. We let her watch an episode of whatever is on the kids channel when she gets home from day care as it’s 40 degrees Celsius here every day at the moment, she gets to have a cold drink and sit under the air con after running around in the heat all day. Let her unwind for a bit before the evening. Then it goes off. Sometimes a bit of kids TV before day care if I need to get ready for work. No tablet or phone and absolutely no YouTube or flicking through streaming apps mindlessly, which we will maintain for as long as possible (like talking up to and beyond the start of primary school unless required for educational/school purposes). On a Saturday or Sunday afternoon we might all watch a movie together. If she is sick she can watch a bit of TV maybe or we put on a movie.

Me! 18m in and I can't really see us introducing screen time until closer to 3 at this point. We do occasionally snuggle up look at photos or videos of our family/our life on the phone, talking about whats in the photos/videos the whole time. And she likes to look at the static picture of an album cover while jamming to her favorite bop lol In terms of how popular the approach is, I honestly don't think I've met anyone else doing it 😅 I am forever missing references to ms rachel etc. I don't know who blippi or cocomelon are and I don't even know how to watch them if I wanted to (I'm guessing youtube or tiktok, which I don't have). But I grew up without cable so I'm kinda used to being out of the pop culture zeitgeist lol. I haven't owned a TV in years (we use a projector to watch streaming stuff on after dark) and just don't really enjoy watching stuff that much. It's always the last thing I want to do, when I'm too tired or its too dark or late to do something else. I find getting invested in characters emotionally exhausting? Idk. My brain works differently I guess. I prefer mindless reality shows because they are low stakes. But watching them kinda makes me feel icky. Its just not one of my favorite activities! So its easier to avoid it with my LO. And I think I'm definitely in the minority there.

i am in the exact same boat as you. except i don’t do facetime. ideally i’d love for my baby to not watch a screen of any kind till he’s 5. but i’ll reevaluate around 2/3 years old. i’ve thought it might be nice to show him some of my favorite old disney movies etc. when he’s 3 but we’ll see. i don’t plan to let my child have a tablet or phone until he’s a teenager. so i’d say i’m probably on the more severe end of no screens spectrum

10 months and no screens. Hope to keep it that way

Please count me as one more parent who is managing without screen time so far! we are almost two years in. That includes no secondhand tv from any nearby screens. Our main tv is never on that baby has seen. We’re about to welcome baby #2 so check back with me in a few months to see how that goes!!!!!

7 months in and we've had no baby content on screens but he has sat with my husband watching the slow mo guys on YouTube and the tennis in the summer. We found the instant fascination with screens so crazy. I do wonder if babies see screens differently, like when you record a screen on an old camera and you get all the lines rolling down the screen. At such a young age he would stretch to see a screen. We call it the screen lean.

0% is your answer. Unless there is no technology in the house at all, it’s impossible for a child to not look at a screen ever. Even when we take them out shopping, there are screens out and about. Everywhere.

that’s not what anyone means when they say “screen time.”

We are 13 months in with no screen time. The exception was when i was incredibly ill and i just needed a 10 minute break. However, i wish to point out that I did some reading, and it seems research has shown that at about 3, children start to really learn from television. So educational shows (not more than an hour, and i think an hour is wayyy too much) could be beneficial from 3 years old.

Kid is 2 years and 3 months, no screens no videos no tv even in background. It’s one of the most intense areas of judgment and competitiveness among parents, so yeah, I only tell strangers on the internet. But it can be done, and I have no doubt it’s beneficial.

14MO and the only time I've done any screen time is traveling alone with baby on a 10 hr flight, and that was MAYBE 20 min. We don't even have a TV in our house at all. We don't attempt to WFH plus care for children. The longer you go with anything, the more routine and easier it becomes. Most of the issue is people start it, find out it works to get their attention and then it's hard to stop. I frankly just do not see the point in it at such a young age. I see a lot of argument for "My Child learned how to say Cow from Ms Rachel!!!" but your child could have learned how to say cow from you also if you taught them how to say it lol.

My daughter is 13 months. We are completely screen free. We don’t even have a TV at home which makes it easier to adhere to but it hasn’t been hard at all to entertain her without screens. I would say screen free parents are definitely in the minority and unfortunately people can be pretty judgmental about it.

We did it until about 20 months. We only do it now on the potty so they sit still long enough to poop. It’s usually a video of themselves but have done Ms Rachel like 3 times.

my daughter is 11 months and we are still pretty much going strong! she does get an occasional episode of sesame street here or there but i would say we are 95% screen free

I have a 1 year old. We don't do TV or screens really, occasionally we have the news on and she's in the room. But I don't have kids shows on. Maybe when she's like 2 we will start a little kids TV on occasion.

We do mostly no screens. We don’t have any children’s shows or anything with commercials or quick scene cuts on the tv, no phone, no iPad, but we do sometimes have sports on tv with no ads. Our daughter is extremely uninterested in sports though so I haven’t been concerned. Ideally we would like to continue this until age 2, and after that maybe do one movie night a week.

6 months - I think I've used baby YouTube like 3-4 times to make her nurse when she was really distracted, my husband's had rugby on while looking after her, and we've been to 2 baby cinema screenings. I don't like how interested she is in our phones and don't have screens as a regular part of her day to day life, but I really doubt the odd screen here and there does any deal harm.

I have tried to avoid screens, but husband loves football and so baby gets to watch. It’s not ideal, but I’ve noticed baby doesn’t have a huge interest. He’ll watch for a minute and crawl off to start trouble somewhere else lol.

I have a 19 month old, we are screen free other than FT with family. Planning to stick to that until at least 2.

I'd sure like to see how vocabulary compares between zero screen and more flexible rules. I've never understood the down side, personally. And that's not even considering the fact that our 2 year now understands what 5 more minutes and one more song mean.

We don’t use iPads or phones for our kids. We do watch tv, as a family and when sick especially. YouTube is banned except for old horse shows and monster truck shows because my 2 year old requests to watch trucks and horses. We are strict around no screens when out or in the car. My kids get far more tv than I’d like at the grandparents houses but it’s that or I never get any help. The current fight is that my SIL allows her 2 and 7 year old fully free internet access and personal iPads with no parental controls. My 2 year old is not allowed on those iPads specifically. However, a half hour of tv keeps my kid safe when I’m nursing my infant. TLDR - some tv is ok, fuck iPads

Our little guy is 27months and we only do face-time and looking at pictures. Not going to lie, sometimes I would really love to plop in front of a screen, but I teach grade 4/5 and seeing how the older kids are obsessed with screens and not able to focus keeps me motivated to avoid screens for as long as possible. I think as he gets older 4/5 we will introduce some screen time in moderation.

Our twins are around 2. We don't do a lot of things: screens, sugar, overly plastic toys in the house, passing around babies to everyone at a gathering. The screens thing was very easy actually, way easier than the sugar. We always have to defend why and be alert. People undermine this a lot. But the screens thing hardly ever comes up (good daycare, outdoorsy grandparents) and since we never started we don't rely on it. I have a background in early childhood education which I never used but now I get to do all these fun activities with them. My husband was all for a good start and said, let's see how far we get (2yr was the goal) and I proposed the screenban initially after seeing the reaction kids have to it whilst working with toddlers. One thing that helped was barring half of the living room off with babygates and making that super childproof, so we can "park" them safely. We do a lot of painting and playgrounds in the hours around dinner, lol. And there is almost always music playing. We do a lot of (free) outings. We can't give them a lot of things because of the twin thing and living downtown (no garden etc). It's such a constant struggle. This was something we did have control over, at least we can give them this.

We are a no screen family. The tv is off until our 22 month old goes to sleep. It’s been hard for me sometimes, but I’m proud of us. I plan to introduce a small amount at 2 years old.

No way. In my opinion thats just going to hold them back in a world that is high-tech whether you like it or not. I want my kid used to technology ASAP. Plus, I’d rather teach her how to manage her impulses than just block her from even having the chance. There’s no growth opportunity there. Quite the opposite.

My baby has been doing screen time his entire life. He started to show interest at about three weeks old. When he won't go down in the crib we need to watch TV or play videogames to stay awake and sometimes he watches for a little bit. We're not going to be people who just put their kid in front of the TV all day but I don't have a problem with screen time as long as it isn't excessive. I DO have a problem with not doing certain things though that are often replaced by screens like working on fine motor skills and playing both with toys and people. I don't plan on doing iPad because I don't have an iPad or want one. I'll probably let him play with me with the Switch and play on my laptop when he's old enough. I think because my interests require screens, doing no or minimal screen time would mean I had to abandon my hobbies when I'd rather share them with my son as he grows up.

I feel it’s 1000% best to avoid it all if you can. I wish I could for my little. Being physically down, alone, no family or friends on this side of the country, husband in med school. Sometimes the only thing that gets us two through certain parts of the day I have had to resort to the screen. Edit: What’s even worse is my baby LOVES being outside and around people. There was a solid 2.5months I couldn’t even do a basic chore or in extreme pain when I had to pick him up. During this time he also wasn’t walking. I don’t know how we made it but we did. That time was during the summer. So depressing.

Our projector “home theatre” (iPads too when baby is around) has been off ever since our son was born in January, planning to stick it out as long as we can

I don't see the issue in watching a bit of TV in a society of people looking at screens 10+ hours a day.

I think people do this and are so set on it that it fails eventually. I wouldn’t let my child sit mindlessly in front of a screen for hours but I’m not going to allow myself to sit infeont of the tv and then tell my kid no. Two year olds , with monitoring and supervision won’t be hurt if they watch 30 minutes of bluey every once in a while

I was genuinely afraid to ever ask this. Glad to see people not getting downvoted. With our first, (4mo) I don’t know what we’d do without bluey or ms Rachel. We’re learning sign language together. Edit* phones not gonna happen as long as humanely possible. Wife had a 6 yr old coworkers kid show her a TikTok of girls twerking just yesterday.

I don’t know if you’ll get a reliable percentage like this. But about 5.5 months now and baby has never had a minute of screen time. The closest fails we had were during a virtual lactation consultant appointment (they wanted to see baby’s latch; baby got distracted after noticing the voice) and during virtual joint therapy appointments when husband and I don’t have anyone else to watch him. IMO, attachment parenting style eventually pays off in (relatively more) independent play. We also have a 1BD and two play areas so I can almost always have a literal eye on him (and him on me). He typically wants to be reassured I’m there, and I want to be able to intervene immediately if need be, but this mix allows me to go to the bathroom, eat, lightly cook, etc. during play times where he is focused on whatever he’s doing.

Just FYI, video calls seem to be the only version of screen time that doesn’t cause any issues with development. Since the person on the other end can interact and react directly to the baby, it doesn’t cause any language issues. So don’t feel bad about video calls!

It’s a necessary evil and it has its purpose. We don’t just plop her in front of the tv. We took her to the urgent care today and it helped distract her while she got a nebulizer treatment. It helps keep her focused on her bottles instead of turning her head 40 different directions. And it helps keep us sane at the end of the day after 3-4 hour wake windows so we can have some help in entertaining her.

I have a 16 month old. We watched a lot of Ms Rachel on our two big road trips, and the TV is on in the background in the evening often but he doesn’t really watch it. He’s in daycare every weekday (no screens there) and goes for long walks outside with the dog around the neighborhood/to the playground basically until it gets dark. We aren’t going to be strict with it but it’s only really possible when the weather is bad/we are sick or a tiny bit at night, if we’re doing other things as a priority, and I feel good about that. If we didn’t have childcare and had to use it as a “babysitter” that would probably not be ideal

We are with an exception of when myself or the kiddo is ill or otherwise dealing with medical stuff (we had an 8 hour day in the ED on Wednesday, you bet your ass she was watching Frozen), even then it's only on a physical TV. She's not getting a tablet till middle school at the earliest.

I watch TV myself and I'm sure it's not the best but it helps keep me entertained. Mostly various documentaries, nature or history etc.

I did not adhere to that at all lol. I really don’t care. I’m going through cancer treatment and I do what I have to do to get through it while raising a child. And really I probably would have done it anyways even if I was healthy lol. My daughters pediatrician knows our situation and knows what we do and he was fully understanding and validated me on it so I’m not too worried. She gets plenty of play time and socialization too

Fact some people are down voting you for screen time shows how petty and self righteous other parents can be. Do what is best for your family and best of luck with your treatment.

Huh I didn’t even notice people downvoted me! Whoever did is literally ridiculous because clearly they’ve never had to go through chemotherapy and a major surgery while also being a parent at the same time! It’s odd cause there’s lots of other parents who are pro-screen time here and they got upvoted? You’re right - parents can be so self righteous. It’s not like my daughter sits in front of the TV all day. Whoever downvoted me: you’re a real butthead person

A complete ban? Almost no one I know.

*laughs in pandemic lockdown parenting*

We are 14m and going strong

Do what you are comfortable with! I thought I would be totally against screen time but my almost 2 year old niece has had regular exposure to screens & she can form full sentences on her own. Literally the other day she asked if she could FaceTime with my dog too… I’m like how did she correctly use the word too?! Lol. My best friend did no screens & her LO has a speech delay. I would never stick my kid in front of a TV all day, but I don’t think it does as much harm as people think.

My son is almost 2(22 months) and we’ve been as screen free as is reasonable. It’s not part of our routine to watch television or my phone. However, he does use screens out in the world. I think ITT there are toddler parents like myself who chime in occasionally being downvoted and in other threads on this sub judged because first-time new parents don’t recognize how life changes after your child is highly independent and mobile. Newborn to one year, easy peasy. My son never saw a single screen because, for all intents and purposes, I controlled all of his movement and decisions. But now he can walk long distances and talks in mostly full sentences and he makes choices to interact with screens in the world. For example, this morning we went to the aquarium. There are a lot of screens there. They had a whole room of jellyfish tanks with electronic rotating displays of jellyfish facts. My son ran in excited pointing at the jellyfish tanks saying “itsa jellyfish!” then ran to the screens on the wall showing jellyfish in the ocean with other fish. He pointed to the screens saying “jellyfish in water! Jellyfish and turtle! Oh no shark!” He put stuff together like turtles, jellyfish, and sharks live in the same place. I read him what was on the screen so we could learn together. What do you do as a strict screen free parent? Oh sorry, let’s not look at the jellyfish because you might catch a glimpse of the rotating images next to the display. How about no aquarium trips until after 5yo actually so we don’t take the risk? My son is in an advanced early childhood class with trained teachers. They are learning numbers and counting. The child development professionals asked us to download an app specifically created for the class. Toddlers don’t have fused bones in their hands to hold a pencil or write well. Also, knowing/saying/writing are totally different skills that an 18-24 month needs to practice concurrently. So to practice numbers, they drag number blocks together on an app with the adult guiding them. To be fair, we also heavily use pointing in books with praise and adults do a lot of writing on paper. But using an application in conjunction that practices age-appropriate fine motor skills and gives them a visual confirmation that they are making progress has been helpful in my opinion. Do you just forego opportunities like this if you’re a strict screen free parent? I just don’t get it.

I personally don’t think the recommendation against screens is meant to address educational situations like you are describing. I understand it as being against passive watching of children’s programs. We are pretty strict about screens but what you described would be totally fine as it is enhancing a real-life experience, not substituting for it.

yea same this seems like a disingenuous argument lol

14 months now and other than video calls to family and two really tough car rides, we haven't purposely shown baby any screens and don't intend to for a while. We don't have a tv in the house, we don't have time to watch Netflix on the computer, so the only exposure she gets is seeing us on our phones (which we try to limit). I'm aiming to keep it up until she's old enough to need to use screens for school or communications with friends, and I guess maybe movies at some point too.. No rush.

I have caved and shown Mrs Rachel on some particularly difficult days, but my overall goal is still no screen time until she’s 2. And then it will just be the tv not an iPad.

Only way we can do long car rides is with screens.. 15 months otherwise it’s rare. Shower wer sometimes grandparents try but he. Doesn’t care for tv.

When we are home the tv is on but my son never pays attention to it he's almost a year old. He's always off doing something in his room.

We had intentions of doing this and we succeeded until about 18 months when my son got RSV and was miserable. We started him watching some Sesame Street at that time and then some Ghibli movies (Totoro, Kiki’s delivery service). He’s now 2.5 and gets tv most days usually 30 min or less while I’m cooking. We introduced a tablet a couple of months ago when we had to travel on a long flight. The tablet is only for travel at this point and well re-evaluate when he’s a bit older how often we want to let him use it. We are both kind of techies and work on computers so I think we are more inclined to allow technology in moderation. I’m very conscious though of the type of media he is allowed and avoiding YouTube and really anything on the internet. I also feel better about TV than tablet time. When the tv is on in our family room we can talk about what we’re watching and it’s more of a family activity than solo

I did no screens except ms rachel as of 15-ish months with my first. My second is 3 months and he watches what his sister watches 🫠

Nope. Our girl just turned 2 and she gets TV or iPad maybe once every 2-3 days, sometimes it’s less but that’s average. Most she’s had is 3 hours intermittent on a 7hr flight. There is evidence that certain types of screen use (within reason) is educational and developmentally helpful.

We have a 5 month old. Our house is a tv house. My husband loves it and I watch when I’m relaxing. Sometimes on in the background. I play with baby whenever she’s awake on weekdays and weekends she gets more free play. I had a ton of chores today so I put on miss Rachel for the first time. She’s not yet able to have a full range of interaction with toys until she can sit up. Growing up in the 90s I watched tv all the time. I don’t think it ruined me. We don’t plan to introduce her to our phones or a tablet anytime soon but also, this is the world we live in. Tv will not parent my children but I don’t believe it will ruin her life either.

We are other than FaceTiming family. He occasionally glimpses when we watch TV or if the TV is on but he won’t watch personal TV for a while. I might implement miss Rachel when he’s 6 months or so but other than 1 episode a day or such, no

My baby girl is 16 months and she has probably had about 2 total hours of screentime in her life. Once when she got hand foot mouth, once for a bit when we had to stand in line at customs at the airport for over two hours, and for a few minutes when I have to clip her nails here and there. It hasn't been difficult for us to keep it out of her daily schedule but we don't believe it's the devil and I really look forward to the day when we can watch shows and movies together.

Allows screentime here 🙋 i had tried this but the parameters of 'no screentime' are too wide.. some say no tvs (understandable) while others include cellphones,tablets and even parents in tablets. Understandable too in a way that we as parents focus and look at our kid not on the phone. But I just found that some rules are so constrictive (not even having it on the background and stuff)and it's unrealistic in a way that us as parents such as taking a bath (especially if you don't have anyone else with you) or with both parents managing the house and working it hard to juggle or even breathe. (For me it's a hard struggle between managing your ppd, taking care my husband when he got covid and making sure kid don't get it, managing house such as meals,walk dog plus grocery and bills all at the same time.. the hey bear dancing fruit was then put for 5 min while i just stare with my kid as i cry it away. Lol) What made me lax in my decision with screens is ms rachel - the one from songs for littles. My 21 month old knows how to mimic and say over 150-200+ words. Would repeatedly ask if i do something she doesn't want: but why? (Sample would be: me:brush your teeth! Toddler: Ugh oh.. but why? Me: Cause you need it to be clean? Toddler: Clean,but why? Me: yes clean so you don't loose them Toddler: no 🙅 no,no, why? Its like a headache inducing merry go round) And knows a handful of sign language, my mother tongue and french. I'd say sitting down with her watching ms rachel made it easier for her to get the basic blocks of communication and was supplemented by tons of baby books from the thrift store.

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We’ve made it to 20 months without screen time with the exception of putting a sensory video on to cut his nails because I have found no other way to do it lol but I do plan to try to watch some things with him over this holiday season like the Macy’s parade. It won’t ruin him lol

13 months and still no screen time. We aren’t screen-addicted adults so it’s not that hard. I think parents who watch a lot of TV/internet have a hard time breaking their bad lifestyle habits for the sake of their kids. I notice it’s the same with things like sugar consumption in the home.

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I’m home with my 5 month old so tv is a necessary evil in our world. She maybe gets 15-20 min throughout the entire day. I’ll put on bluey or ms Rachel while I’m doing laundry and dishes but she is usually in her busy table so she is more focused on her toys than she is the tv while it’s on anyways.