Kid turned 1. What’s next?

@stassit We strictly regulated how much screen time all three of my kids got. They’re 9, 6 & 6 now. During Covid we buckled and got a nintendo switch. Instant addiction. They’re always asking to play it or watch tv. Kids will always want screens. Set the rules and stick with it. Use it as a reward or in situations where you are sick or just really need to keep them entertained for a good reason. The temptation to turn on a tv to give you peace is strong but ultimately it’s probably not in the kids best interest.
 
@stassit We learned real quick how fast they get addicted to TV. Like screaming and raging when the tv goes off. We save it for when we are exhausted and need an hour to just sit and not move. Too much tv and they start to turn into little fiends
 
@stassit I wouldn’t stress too much about screen time, especially if it’s something like Ms. Rachel. My daughter turns 2 in September and has had probably the average to slightly above average amount of screen time in her life. But most of it is Ms. Rachel. And I honestly credit Ms. Rachel for my daughter being extremely advanced verbally and with letters and numbers. That she learns a lot from it makes me not feel so bad if we had to use it as a crutch for a bit.
 
@stassit Just before we had our first, we watched some study about brain development and screen time.

They showed brain activity of a child just sitting there watching TV vs. Child watching TV while engaged with someone. If you must chill with him in front of the TV, perhaps just get him talking and interacting about the content. “Lightning McQueen is red” “the wheels are circle” or something to stimulate some brain activity.

We were pretty stingy on screen time until we had to use it while we do house work. He was weirdly into bees and flags so we tried to find videos around that and at age 20 months, he was able to identify the flags of at least 10 countries.

Hang in there dad, you’re doing your best and there will come a time that your little one would want to be at the park so much that you’ll be like “are you sure you don’t want to do a Cars marathon”
 
@stassit We have a 9 year old and limit his TV to 24 minutes (one episode of whatever he's watching) during school. He only watches after we do all of our other work together: homework (which he's fairly independent), piano practice, extra math (multiplication and division facts via gamified flash card), dinner, chores (help clean the table, prepare bag for the next day, just small stuff), and independent reading (10 minutes minimum). We then read again before bed.

After everything he totally deserves to zombify in front of the TV for a few minutes. We also try to explain the reasoning behind TV being the exception and not the rule--sometimes we don't always get TV and it's ok.

During the summer we do the same stuff together, minus the homework, and heavier on the math and reading. He can watch TV lots during the summer in the evening. I admit we sometimes just need a little downtime as parents and if the Simpsons raised me, they ... D'oh.

Our one year old gets 0 TV and won't get TV for many years time.

Our 9 year old talks about how his friends "use" TV and he clearly understands that it isn't a healthy habit. Regardless, he's still a kid and would easily sit for hours if unsupervised.
 
@stassit TV/screen time of any kind can affect sleep, attention span, speech development, sleep, obesity, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.

Not here to judge. I'd probably have my little one watch a bit, too, if I hadn't married my wife. My wife is a primary care provider, and her initial bachelor's and masters were in psychology at Yale. She initially wanted to go into public policy she spent a few years researching all of this stuff and tends to keep up with all of this information. Check out the research don't take my word for it. We'll wait until our little one is at least 6 up to 8 before we introduce any screens.

She's almost 2. Loves books, toys, parks, walks(we do 3 miles a morning, she walks about 1 and then eats breakfast in the stroller), pool, she uses a butter knife to cut strawberries/Bananas in the kitchen(great when you want to cook or clean keeps them busy) check out some of the Montessori games and ideas.
 
@stassit “TV”, broadly, including graphic interfaces like games, tablets and laptops, and the internet, is going to be a crutch that could occupy a considerable percentage of your son’s life…forever! So, the trad. in me recommends as many malleable activities as possible. Counting games, shapes, play toolsets, etc. Get your kid using his fingers to manipulate real objects. Take him for brief walks outside to look at nature, play in the dirt, have him help cook, play with food. Accept every invitation to socialize with other toddlers. Variety is the spice of life!

Your son will, with any luck, learn to read and do maths no matter what, but the natural world can be a missing element for kids these days. I have three young adults, all healthy and smart. However, I do think they are comparatively separated from interaction with the real, physical world, and it’s partly the fault of too much interaction with machines. Keep him away from the screens as much as possible. Congratulations and good luck!
 
@stassit I pushed back on screen time for my kids whole life so far, but one thing that has made it less bad in my mind is that it has been a vehicle for foreign language, very easy now with streaming services. He’s six now, we still do 5 days a week in his second language. This was supplemented by immersion preschool, speaking it at home, visiting relatives in country etc, but there is a window when the video programming is basic enough that the entertainment level and linguistic level match your kid. If you miss that window (which we did for the 3rd potential language), then the foreign language videos are either boring if you match them to a beginner language level or incomprehensible if you match it to entertainment level.
 
@varlin my german has always been very basic and id love for him to learn it so i can grow in my learning with him but i have no idea on how to do that since english is the first thing weve got to do
 
@stassit We try and not lean on the tv too much but it is still a tool. For example, when me or the wife are home alone with the kids and we have to do something that means we can't be there to supervise (usually cooking) then the tv comes on because then the kids will be preoccupied and not climbing the walls and breaking stuff. Outside of that, the kids need to play and run and climb and all the other stuff that helps them build muscle memory and motor skills
 
@stassit My son is about to turn 2. He's Disney and Sesame Street obsessed, loves to try to use our phones. We try to limit it, some days he has no tv at all, some days we lean on it too much. He's rarely watching alone. One thing that I think is good about this is he is constantly singing and dancing, I think it genuinely benefitted his verbal development. He loves music so much and watching him run around the apartment singing Let it Go is awesome. Also if we don't want him to watch more than 10 minutes of Frozen or whatever, we turn it off but play the music and he will do other things. You don't have to go zero TV, you haven't made a mistake. You just adjust.

In terms of what's next. Once he starts walking it's like you get a whole new kid. Everything becomes "I want to do it" "I want to hold it" and it becomes easier in some ways to do less TV because he can do more physically and can engage with things differently. They can actually start helping with things!
 
@stassit I got a 14 month old today. He's really active. Gift or a curse he doesn't care for tv. Just wants to find what can potentially hurt him and play with only that stuff. He'll stay for a song but dialog? Forget about it
 
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