If you’re like most parents, screen time seems like an endless battle. Turning off the tv or tablet or phone can result in full blown tantrums. Getting your kids to do anything other than sit on a screen seems near impossible. I get it. I’ve been there.
I couldn’t stand the constant screen time battle and I knew there had to be a solution. But what? I knew there had to be a better way to address this conflict. I researched and thought and tried different things until I finally figured it out!
Now my kids rarely fight me over screens. Turning them off rarely results in a meltdown. And they are willing to do other things! Let me tell you how.
Make a screen time schedule
Stop to think about what your day looks like. What times of day do your kids usually use their screens? When do you want them to use their screens and when don’t you? Establishing a set time for screens will help you better manage when they can and can’t have screens.
Use timers
Using timers is a staple for routine in my house. Giving the kids a set time and providing a visual of that truly helps with transitions. My favorite timer is the time timer. It shows a visual of the amount of time and the elapsed time remaining. There are multiple different colors and sizes.
We use this timer from the Lovevery Playkits.
Give choices
One of the easiest and simplest shifts I made with screen time is giving my kids a choice of who turns their tablet off. When screen time is done and your kid ignores the timer or you, you can prevent this battle with a simple question: do you want to turn it off or should I? Giving them a choice makes all the difference and works almost every time!
Now sometimes they do fight, sometimes they don’t want to turn it off, and sometimes I have to make the choice for them. This will usually result in big emotions. As hard as it is to listen to your child scream, it is important to hold the boundary and not give in. They will learn. I promise.
Set screen limits
The tablets my kids have are Amazon Fire. On these tablets, you can set screen time timers. Their tablets unlock at a certain time and shut off at a certain time too. This was a very simple and passive way to take control over the times they are allowed to use their screens.
If they sneak downstairs to grab their tablet, they can’t use it before a certain time. When it’s time for screens to go off for the day, they go off. It is password locked so they need my help and permission to get off the Lock Screen.
I am also able to put a screen time limit. Once that limit is met for the day, the tablet locks.
Other tablets have similar features. If you don’t have the Amazon Fire tablet, you can still utilize this step it just might look a bit different.
Stop using screens as a punishment
Punishments need to make sense. Not listening at bath time is not a reason to take away a tablet. What does a tablet have to do with bath time?
If a behavior or refusal happens to be occurring during the allotted screen time, then they may lose some time. What does that look like?
One morning, my toddler was refusing to clean up his toys. I told him he needed to clean up first and then we could have screen time. Still a no. I made him aware that it was tablet time and the longer it took him to clean up the less time on his screen he’d have. When he finished cleaning up, it had cut 5 mins into his screen time so that is the amount of time he lost.
If consequences makes sense, your kids are more likely to understand and fight less.
Final Note
Be mindful to be patient when implementing something new. It might take a few tries for your kids to get used to your new strategy, but following these steps will for sure help resolve your screen time battles.
Let me know in the comments what you think!
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