How we decreased technology use for our kids

Day 2 of Christmas Around the World was Germany.

 We don't own a television. It wasn't a conscientious decision initially. We didn't buy a TV when we first got married and the old one my husband used to have when he was single didn't work in the house we moved into. So we spent some time without it and didn't really miss it, so decided to go without.

 We've noticed many benefits of not having a TV, like being more intentional about what we choose to watch, but I think you really notice the benefits when you have children. After reading articles like: 10 Reasons Why Handheld Devices Should Be Banned for Children Under the Age of 12, we realised the need to seriously limit our children's exposure to technology. But this is very hard to do if you have a huge television staring back at you in the middle of your living room.

 By the time we made the decision to intentionally limit our children's technology use, their media time had already gradually increased to almost an hour a day. See how easily convenience can take over your parenting if you don't keep it in check? Also, we noticed that after more than 30 minutes of media use, our children would become agitated and generally unhappy. I needed to get things under control again. This is the process I took to gradually limit our children's exposure to technology.

 First, I started decreasing their exposure time by 10 minutes every few days. Then, when we reached around 30 minutes a day, I explained that too much of watching things and playing with the iPad was bad for them so we needed to make a change. Then I set a limit to two episodes of their chosen show a day (Each child gets to choose one episode). Our children still don't really understand the concept of time, so giving them limits by episodes made more sense to them. This would amount to roughly 20-30 minutes of media time a day. After a few days, the children didn't beg for more after the two episodes, but it was more challenging for me to not give in to convenience and stick to this limit. Another thing that's important is restraining myself from looking at my phone or computer too much, as well. Children are curious and will always want to look at what you are doing. So if I am using media myself, then the children will naturally be exposed to it.

 After the above steps, our children are now mostly compliant with the limits that are set for them. However, I have noticed that with our 3 year old, she seems to show signs of getting very attached to the iPad. She keeps asking for it even though she knows that we have a set time in the day to use media. She also takes her time turning off the iPad when her time is up. So I will work on gradually decreasing their iPad time to just once a week.

 If you need another way to keep your children happily occupied while you get a bit of a rest, try audiobooks. But that's for another future blog post.