regulating screen time

[sanguine_speed]

[MJB]

My boys are allowed 30 minutes a day. They choose how to use it (usually pick Wii). They can either agree on something, or use their screen time separately-- if they are in the room while their sibling is watching TV, that counts as their screen time; they almost always agree on something (and it's often "let's play X today and then we can play/watch Y tomorrow").
We don't include computer time in their screen time allotment; they use it occasionally to google things but it's never been much of an issue.

[Dukey25]

I am not sure how well this will work but here is my summer plan:

(I have a 6 yr old, 4 yr old and 2yr old)

I am setting the TV onto a timer (like one that you can hook up to your lights to make them turn on and off at certain times)
I am going to set it so that the TV will turn on from 430 pm to 7 pm.
I like this idea because I won't have to worry about policing the tv and making sure they are not on it when they are not suppose to be and I don't have to deal with them constantly asking and me having to decide if it is a good time etc...
Also that time slot would allow them to watch tv while I am making supper which is a bonus for me.
Another added bonus is that my 2 yr old like to turn the tv on and this way he will not be able to.

[ecoteat]

Dukey25, that is a great idea. If I had a TV I would steal it! (Your idea, not my TV.) Are you planning on having it on that whole time or just making it so that if the kids were going to watch TV, it could only be during that window?

[annethcz]

This summer we are having screen-free mornings. In the afternoons and evenings we will have screens on if kids are willing to share and be fair with their siblings. They generally get 30 min/day on the computer (my computer), and are pretty decent about sharing the TV/video games. If there are fights, the TV goes off.

[sanguine_speed]

[LynnS6]

Last summer we tried an 60 minutes/day screen time and that failed miserably because we couldn't ever remember who'd done what.

This year I'm trying something different: TV/Wii/Computer is OK before 10 am and after 5:30. I'm not a morning person, and none of the neighborhood kids are out before 10 anyway. At 5:30 their absolute favorite show, Fetch, is on. After dinner (usually 6:15) we don't generally watch TV, and they're usually outside with their friends.

So while that's more than the 'recommended' amount, it's an amount that I can live with. Furthermore, the boundaries are crystal clear: Is it after 10? No TV. Is it before 5:30? No computer. I'm going to see if I can recruit the rest of the neighborhood into the same plan so that everyone is out and playing between 10 and 5:30.

[sanguine_speed]

[Grace and Granola]

My kids are younger, but we used to have a huge screen time problem. My kids are just a year apart, so they are always together and still agree on programming. We don't have any other screen time besides tv. My kids like to wake up and watch tv. I don't like that they start their day with tv, but I am also not a morning person, so it works right now. I tell them they get two shows (which are usually 1/2 hour at their age), then the tv goes off for the day. Sometimes for my own sanity I will declare a family movie night or a special treat of a show while I fix lunch or dinner, but that is totally out of the blue and they almost never ask outside of that usual morning tv time.

In your case, I think it would help to define what your limits are. How much tv in a day is reasonable for you? How much additional video/computer time is reasonable? With older kids I think I would do something like tickets. Each kid gets one ticket for 1/2 hour tv, one ticket for 1/2 hour video. Or generic two tickets for 1/2 hour screen time and they get to choose how to "spend" it. If one kid cashes in for a 1/2 hour of tv and the other kid joins him, then ask the second kid to pay up! That counts for his time too.

[emilysmama]

My dd is 6 y.o. This summer we will have no TV, no movies, no DVDs, no computer, and no video/computer games all summer. This is what we do all year long, anyway. For us, it is MUCH easier to enforce nothing at all than to try to enforce a little bit. Your family probably can regulate better than us, but we can't, so this is what works best for us.

[cafemom]

I wanted to recommend a friend of mine who does parent coaching. Her name is Susan Epstein, she has a website www.parentingpowers.com. I have kids and get ideas from her all the time. I had asked her kind of the same things, how to regulate certain activities for the kids in the summer....she gave me many ideas and is a great resource to talk to when you have questions about your kids. Check out her website. She has some free material for reading to about parenting.

All the best to you! And hope your summer is calm, not chaotic : )

[Dukey25]

Originally Posted by sanguine_speed

This is a great idea!
But I wonder...do your kids watch the same shows?
My 9yo and 6yo have different preferences. I guess there is no easy way to navigate this. I may just have to enforce fairness. Otherwise, I fear the older child will "bully" the younger child to agree with her by threatening that I'll turn the tv off if they fight.
The other concern I have about this is that they may pass up other opportunities if they know their tv time is limited and will be gone if they don't use it. For instance if a friend comes to the door and asks them to go outside, I can see them saying no because tv is "now or never"...

Yes my kids generally agree on what to watch so that is one less thing I have to worry about. If a friend came to the door I would guess they would choose the friend over the TV but you never know. My DS does have a melt down on occasion when he realizes he has missed his window but we try to just talk about choices about how we spend our time and we can't do everything we have to choose sometimes.

[Alison's Mom]

School isn't out yet, so DD is in K for the morning, and DS is in preschool 2 mornings per week. Unless we are out, I let them watch about 60-90min of TV at 4 or 4.30 while I make dinner. This is around the time DS gets tired and a bit cranky, but we don't allow him to nap otherwise he goes to bed at 11pm. So, this is a nice way for them to get some downtime and for me to get dinner made without fighting, meltdowns, etc.

I'm not sure what we will do in the summer. We are away for 2 weeks, and apart from that, I have activities scheduled for the majority of the other weeks - biking camp, swimming lessons, gymnastics, etc, so we'll probably schedule playdates for a good chunk of the afternoons and still do the 1hr of TV in the late afternoon. And maybe lots of library time when we don't have a class in the morning?

Right now they only do TV, and a couple of kid phonics / game websites. We don't have Nintendo, Wii, etc, although DH and I were saying that given the choice when they're older, I'd rather they be playing Tennis on the Wii than a violent video game.

On the weekends, they watch a fair bit more of TV, since DH is around and just says yes automatically when they ask. Also, his iPhone is around which is another source of amusement for them. I don't keep track of weekend screen time because it would be a huge bone of contention - DH grew up watching a lot of TV and thinks he 'turned out fine, so what's the problem?'