Many of you wanted to know how I weaned my daughter completely off of screen time. First & foremost… I am NOT against screen time. Gosh If it wasn’t for Blippi & Ryan’s World- I may have not made it through some of my toughest days. However, we found it just wasn’t working for our family.
Backstory:
Aura started to get very cranky and demanding with screen time. She would come downstairs and demand I put it on. If I refused, she would throw a full out tantrum! It was annoying.. and I gave into it a few times before I put a complete stop to it. This is not normal behaviour for Aura so we knew it was the screen time causing this and it had to go ✌🏽
What I Did:
I woke up one day and decided it was not happening anymore.
On Day 1 she begged me for TV and even tried taking my phone out of my hands.. several times. I never once gave in. She cried and threw a tantrum (it was a full out withdrawal).
Days 2-3 were similar.
Day 4- she stopped asking for it.
Day 5-7 she completely forgot about it and has had no interest in it since.
What Helped:
*I had a new Lovevery Subscription Box come in that same day! The box kept her busy with stuff to do.
*New workbooks & books to read
*Gratitude flash cards and affirmation discs (linked in my shop)
*New play-things/toys set out
*Building Forts
*Allowing her to destroy the Christmas tree 🤷🏻♀️
*Getting messy! Lots of sensory activities
*Baking with me
*Hide and seek (a lot of it)
*Learning ABCs and Numbers
Outcome:
Aura is using her imagination more than ever now and it’s honestly pretty damn cool! We love pretending to be kids with her. She has not asked us for TV or our phones even once… it’s been two weeks!
It’s important to treat screen time withdrawal with care and empathy. Children go through a dopamine withdrawal and need lots of stimulation to fill that void. Be prepared with new activities, be compassionate and patient.
Oh, and most importantly: be a good role model… limit your screen time in front of your children too. 🤍✨
