Your baby is fussing while you’re talking to your friend, so you hand them your phone and let them play “Baby Shark” on it. This works like a charm \u2013 both to distract them and give you some time to focus \u2013 but you feel a pang of mom-guilt. What\u2019s the harm though, really?<\/p>\n
Pediatricians recommend that babies under 18 months not be allowed to use any electronic devices, and that kids ages 2 to 5 have very little screen time.<\/p>\n
But why worry about letting our little ones use screens? Are these guidelines missing the mark for overloaded parents who need a break sometimes?<\/p>\n
We know that young children don\u2019t learn well from screens \u2013 they need interaction from their caregivers to learn. Also, kids who spend more time on an electronic device are more likely to:<\/p>\n
To address these concerns, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the following guidelines to help parents navigate the use of digital media (phone, apps, videos, television) by their families.<\/p>\n
Children under 18 months shouldn\u2019t use screens at all \u2013 other than video chatting with relatives. Why?<\/p>\n
Children ages 18 to 24 months may be introduced to digital media if parents use it with their child. Letting children use media by themselves should be avoided.<\/p>\n
For children ages 2 to 5, screen time should be limited to 1 hour a day or less.<\/p>\n
Being a parent can be incredibly hard! Some days you just need a few minutes of downtime \u2013 such as a chance to help an older child, get some chores done without interruption, or just take a quiet moment for yourself. Using a screen with care at these times may be a wise choice \u2013 and one made without that mom-guilt!<\/p>\n
While screen use can give parents a much-needed break, remember that children benefit when parents watch with\u00a0<\/em>them. That\u2019s because kids learn best when you explain and reteach what the child is watching.<\/p>\n Imagine the difference between a toddler using an app alone and using it with you. When using an app together, you can say something like: \u201cPush the picture of a bird\u201d \u201cWhat does the birdie say?\u201d \u201cYes! Tweet, tweet is what a bird says! You knew.\u201d Then later when you go for a walk, you can point to a bird and connect the online learning with the outside world.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to know how to guide young children through our digitally connected world. Some other tips that parents of toddlers can use to set limits on screen time include:<\/p>\n Don\u2019t use screens near bedtime.\u00a0<\/strong>For all of us \u2013 toddlers, teens, and their parents \u2013 it\u2019s important to avoid screen use within 1 to 2 hours of bedtime, to allow for the best night\u2019s sleep.<\/p>\n Avoid screens at mealtime.\u00a0<\/strong>Meals should be times to connect, tell stories, and have fun together \u2013 not look at screens.<\/p>\n Save screen time for special times.\u00a0<\/strong>Use screen time when you really need a break as a parent, or at times like airplane flights when your child needs the distraction. Remember that apps and shows are not as educational as when your child interacts with you.<\/p>\n Be a role model.\u00a0<\/strong>More time on our phones means less time with our kids \u2013 and they learn best from us! Turn your phone on silent at meals, as well as when you\u2019re playing or reading with them. If kids see us distracted by phones they feel ignored. Set up a favorites list on your phone (for\u00a0people who you really\u00a0need\u00a0<\/em>to reach you like the school office) and use \u201cdo not disturb\u201d so you\u2019re comfortable not checking it.<\/p>\n Avoid using devices to calm kids down.\u00a0<\/strong>Using phones to distract kids may work in the short term but it doesn\u2019t allow them to learn to self-regulate or self-soothe. Instead, guide them with deep breathing, hugs, and taking time to sit quietly. Distract them with games, books, and songs rather than screens. Young kids learn to play quietly and entertain themselves when given the chance. They don\u2019t if they\u2019re often given a screen instead.<\/p>\n Playing with, reading and singing to young children will always be a better way to help them learn. They\u2019ll learn vocabulary, language and social skills better from people than from screens. Or as Dimitri A. Christakis author of the latest screen time guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics, says:<\/p>\n Children need \u201claps not apps.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Find more resources for parents:<\/p>\n Common Sense Media<\/a> Your baby is fussing while you’re trying to talk on the phone, so you let them play “Baby Shark” on it. This works like a charm \u2013 both to distract them and give you some time to focus \u2013 but you feel a pang of mom-guilt. What\u2019s the harm though, really?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[415,111,375,376,79,70],"class_list":["post-2157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-use","tag-non-media-tips-for-toddlers","tag-screen-time","tag-screen-time-and-toddlers","tag-smart-phone-and-babies","tag-toddler","tag-toddlers","ages-toddler"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1691580200:8"],"_edit_last":["8"],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"slide_template":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["60"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["289"],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_custom_body_class":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["60"],"_thumbnail_id":["2159"],"wpfp_favorites":["1"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.760000000000002;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.379999999999995;}"],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1691580200"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2157"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2304,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157\/revisions\/2304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPBS Kids<\/a>
\nSesame Street<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"