She has absolutely made a mistake, but she’s been smart enough to notice and determined enough to start doing something about it. That’s great. I don’t have any brilliant tips – I think this is one of those occasions when only time and consistency will help. Good luck to her. Hope it’s not too long.

Being a busy Mum I understand the use of television to keep him occupied while you’re busy. I also did this with my kids before school but they had to have eaten breakfast and dressed ready for the day ahead. I also limited their screen time and send them outside to play for 1/2 hour or more. I feel for you now having to cut back on his screen time but persevere and you’ll get there in the end

I sometimes use the TV and ipad as a distraction when i need it but i also don’t allow my child to sit in front of it for hours on hand. I think it is important to set boundaries early on as it gets very hard later if you don’t start good habits from the beginning.

It is a hard thing. These days so many people use screen time as their go to, not just TV, but iPads, phones, etc. It is not good for young children. I have always been strict with mine. They generally only get it on weekends. We spend more time together outdoors walking the dogs. I can notice the difference in behaviour when family have looked after them and used screens as they are always more tired and ratty even at ages 9 and 12.

Sometimes you have to let them scream and cry when they don’t get what they want. If you give in and turn the tv back on, they know they can get away with anything. So have to be tough, switch it off. Put toys out on the floor and walk away. Eventually he will see that you won’t give in. However, it depends on what you have had him watching on tv. You have control on the shows he watches. Best advice is, to keep away from youtube and devices, especially when your out at restaurants cause once you give a child an ipad or phone to watch, you will have more difficult tantrums to deal with then tv.

OMG, I love this kids hair! But the 16,000 followers? This highlights the problem. This is a status statement. A created status. It’s not real. It doesn’t matter. What matters is real life connections with real people that are there to help. Screens are not your friends. Your friends are not your followers. Your friends are those people there for you when you’re life is crumbling. They would help you with your toddler. Work in getting off the screen yourself and you’ll understand why your toddler finds it hard. It’s not too late, just remove them or if sight! It’ll help you both. Yes. ALL screens. Read books. Run. Go to the play ground. Go to the zoo. The pool. The beach. Buy a trampoline. Swing sets. Throw a ball. Dance to music.

Never too late, turn the TV off

I remember using the television as a distraction tool for my children when they were littlies but never had a problem with tantrums etc when it came time to turn it off once I had completed my tasks. My youngest now is a little too interested in television but we just tell him turn it off and he listens. He’ll go and do something else like playing on the trampoline or kick his ball around. We just need to be more mindful of how quickly the time passes.

This would have been so hard for her to admit and share with other Mother’s but we shouldn’t be criticizing her, we should be offering her solutions. How many of us were guilty of putting our kids in front of the telly while we got some housework done or took a phone call? I would put my son in front of the telly to watch play school and sesame street at a very early age too. I was just lucky he never got addicted.

At his age, it shouldn’t be too hard to reduce his screen time. Dropping just a minute a day wouldn’t be noticed by bub

Yes let’s just film our kids crying and having a meltdown and then post it on the internet…

Wow hard to comprehend. Wishing her all the best.

Keep going with reducing screen time. He will get used to it.

Hope all works out for them.
Can be hard to juggle motherhood and we all make mistakes.
We rarely got screen time, compared to the generations these days with phones, iPads, tv and computers etc.

I wish this mum all the best in helping her son ween off too much screen time. Finding other fun outdoor activities is my best suggestion.

Screen time is so hard to control especially when your a busy mum with work and more than 1 child. Do whats best for you and your baby.

Good on you mumma for taking steps to reverse screen time. It’s hard, most of us have been there. It’s convenient to pop the telly on for a bit and get stuff done.

Wow. Let’s just offer support and understanding. She’s trying her best.

At least she’s trying to fix this while he’s still young.

So many perfect Mums out there…..amazed I have never met one in person.
We all make mistakes and thats ok. Good for her seeing that there was an issue and trying to fix it.

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  • • mom93821 replied
    • 15 Aug 2024 , 5:14 am

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  Exactly; parenting is a learning journey and mistakes can be fixed.

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  • • 
    • • Ellen replied
      • 15 Aug 2024 , 7:51 am

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    Yes so true, we all make mistakes. I would like to say to this mum don’t be too hard on your self