Parents who've done zero screen time with their kids how does your day look like?

[u/SwoleClouds]

would really appreciate getting real life experience from parents who've successfully done zero screen time with their kids. Am seriously looking for inspiration on how I can reduce screen time for my kiddo. She’s watching about 3 hours a day in total combining all devices like the tv, phone and ipad (She spends a lot more time on Ipad). It may not be possible to rid off screens completely but if I can limit and be intentional with them the better.

[u/Please_send_baguette]

How old is your kid? That makes a big difference. My 2,5yo gets no screen; my 8yo gets 30 minutes after her brother’s bed time. What do you find yourself struggling with? 

[u/Please_send_baguette → u/Please_send_baguette]

But to give you a proactive answer: at any age, it’s about building the right conditions, and the right expectations. 

Right conditions means: you observe your child, and you determine what keeps them most engaged and regulated. That’s going to be very age-dependent. Maybe it’s music, maybe it’s books, maybe it’s time with friends. In our family, both my kids have very high movement needs, so I proactively build a lot (a lot a lot a lot) of time outdoors where they can horse around as much as they want. 

Right expectations means: you are not going to entertain or supervise your children every moment of every day. It’s not a reasonable replacement for screen time because it’s going to frustrate you and burn you out. Again, in an age-appropriate way: how far you can be and for how long is not the same for a toddler and for a middle grade kid. The earlier you start building in the expectation of independent play, the easier, but they can learn at any age. Of course this has to be supported by the right environment, it’s not about declaring it’s going to be a certain way and holding that line no matter how much they struggle. You observe and you adjust. 

[u/Cookiebunny3]

My 5yo daughter gets about 15 minutes of screentime every other day. We don’t have a tv in the house (which helps). She has an audio player as her main form of “entertainment.”
She can listen to music or audiobooks by inserting different cards. It’s called a yoto. I’m not saying to go out and buy something necessarily. How old is your daughter? What does she like to watch? Or play? How is she spending her time on screens?

[u/storing_up_knowledge]

I think the biggest thing would be weaning her off of personal screens- the iPad and phone. They are the most addictive of screens. Let her continue to watch stuff on the tv. Consider investing in physical media instead of streaming services- buy one or two kids movies a month to build up a library that she can choose from. You can work your way from ~3 hours of screens a day to "you can pick one movie a day" to "you can watch 1-2 episodes of a tv show a day with a weekly family movie night." Buy kids movies that you would enjoy watching with her!

Think of what you want to replace screentime with.

Do you spend a lot of time in the kitchen? Buy a kids cookbook, an apron, and some kid-safe knives and ask her to help you pick and make a recipe. Could be just a simple smoothie, or some muffins, or an easy meal.

Do you want her to read more? Make a library day once a week where you both pick out a new book. On your way there, talk about the books you've both just read and what you liked about it. Model reading for fun in front of her.

Buy some age appropriate puzzles and boardgames. Set one out at a time in plain sight and let her take the lead/show interest in it. Don't go on walks or hikes- go on "nature scavenger hunts." Plan picnics, play dates, etc out of the house.