This Mom Enforced A Rule Of Delaying Screen Time For Her Toddler Until He Turns 2, And Here’s What She’s Doing Instead

Alena Ozerova - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person or child
Alena Ozerova - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person or child

These days, toddlers and young children spend most of their time watching videos on tablets or swiping around on their parents’ phones.

It has become a regular occurrence, but some parents are not having it. This mom enforced a rule of delaying screen time for her toddler until he turns two years old, and she’s showing you how she does it.

TikToker Lauren Meija (@motherhoodandmontessori) is sharing five methods she used with her child to avoid spending too much time on screens.

One thing she does is involve him in household chores. In the video, her toddler can be seen in the kitchen helping her pour sauce into a dish with pasta.

Aside from reducing the time spent on screens, getting your kid to participate in household tasks has many other benefits.

For instance, it teaches them life skills like cooking and cleaning. In general, they will grow up being more responsible and better equipped to handle adversity.

Another approach she took was joining the 1000 hours outside challenge. Here, the video transitioned to a clip of her son kicking a soccer ball outside.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids spend 114 full days per year staring at screens for fun. So the challenge is geared toward providing kids with a more productive and healthy alternative to occupying themselves with technology.

Next, Lauren also supplies her son with toys and lets him engage in sensory play. Sensory activities help your child develop language and motor skills as well as foster curiosity and creativity.

Alena Ozerova – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person or child

Furthermore, she keeps a consistent schedule and routine for her child. Routines teach children self-control. Establishing consistency early on will assist in preventing your kid from becoming addicted to screens.

And lastly, Lauren normalized being bored and encouraged her toddler to be creative with the materials/toys available to them.

Allowing your child the chance to be bored stimulates their imagination and helps them learn problem-solving skills.

At the end of the video, Lauren showed some footage of her son exercising his imagination by playing with a toy dog and pretending to walk it.

Several TikTok users praised Lauren for her parenting skills and agreed that kids today grow up with too much screen time.

“I love that you said, ‘normalize being bored.’ I think it’s wild to think kids need entertainment 24/7 excessive screen time is unhealthy,” commented one user.

“My aunt and uncle did this with their kids up until 5 years old. By far the SMARTEST well-manned children I’ve ever met,” shared another.

“Yesss. I always get a little sad when I see now 6-month-olds sitting with an iPad in front of them. What happened to playing and enrichment and discovery?” asked a third.

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Emily  Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a ... More about Emily Chan

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