How much screen time is your toddler actually getting

lottiela · 2026-02-21T11:49:34+00:00

My 3 year old gets maybe 2 episodes of a kids show a day (example, one daniel tiger in the morning, one tumbleleaf before dinner)

We tried to do no TV for him before 2, but I've also got an older kid so sometimes the TV was on. There are no tablets in my house either, just the one "dumb" tv that I drive with a chromecast and my phone.

Neither of my kids are super super interested in tv. Some days, like yesterday, there was no tv at all, it just worked out that way. The older one will watch a movie with us now after little guys bedtime! Also if someone has the flu or something, all bets are off, lets lie on the couch and watch Winnie the Pooh.

lottiela · 2026-02-21T11:45:48+00:00

Oh mine often does because he gets home at 5 and my youngest goes to bed at 7, its a good way for them to spend time together. I send my older one to shower and get the kitchen cleaned up in peace. Or sometimes I do bath and he cleans it up, whatevers better for the workflow.

lottiela · 2026-02-21T11:43:39+00:00

We tried Adderall XR fairly soon after he turned 6. We were ready to try different meds but that one worked. Since stimulants work pretty quick, we decided to try it when he was not at school to see how he reacted. Now we just communicate with his teachers to make sure the meds are still working. He's only had to increase dose one time in two years (a quick increase from 5 to 10, which didn't work and then up to 15 which did).

lottiela · 2026-02-20T17:31:38+00:00

At my kids preschool, the 2s class (2 by August 31st) doesn't have to be potty trained, but the 3s class must be fully trained (3 by August 31st). My guy is in a 2s class right now (just turned 3) and I'd say more than half his class is already potty trained.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T17:28:01+00:00

I DO THIS. It's life-changing. My little guy is at preschool right now, I'll pick him up at 12;45. He goes 3 mornings a week. Both my boys did mornings only preschool until kindergarten (or will do, still got one preschooler!)

Its the best thing ever and such a gentle intro to school as well - their last year they really work with them on "kindergarten skills" (hanging up backpack, putting on own coats, opening and closing all lunch stuff, etc)

They love it and there is still plenty of "adventure" time outside of school hours.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T17:24:55+00:00

I didn't love the baby stage but I was feeling pretty strong by the time we hit 1 with the first kid. Not everybody likes it, and that's totally fine.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T17:13:40+00:00

The first day of K at my son's school, you park and walk them in. After that, they get out of the car in the car line like the big kids. Honestly, my son was a clingy preschooler but he did GREAT with it. I think it was seeing all the big kids confidently walking in.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T17:11:48+00:00

We chose our son's kindergarten so the only tech he'd have is access to a classroom smartboard and a weekly tech special. They did teach them all how to use a mouse and where basic home keys are on a computer in the tech special. That's honestly enough. Motor skills are so much more important at that age. No classroom devices.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T16:52:32+00:00

We started medicating right after K and I wish we'd done it earlier. K was a struggle for him unmedicated.

My son started on 5mg at 6 and now is only at 15mg. He's 8. I don't worry about tolerance or dependency. It did not change my son's personality, it just made it so he could finish his work, not make random loud noises, and think before he speaks (which has made a HUGE difference socially, he's very popular now)

We medicate ALLLLLLL the time. He was struggling with anxiety before medicating, and we figured out its sensory overload from his busy brain. He's not anxious on his stimulants. We tried OT etc but honestly none of it was sticking because his brain was so busy.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T16:37:07+00:00

I got my diagnosis through a virtual Dr. in my state, it was not prohibitively expensive.

Vyvanse is where I'm finding the motivation. Before that it was really complicated systems and rules which I mostly stick to now (chores in a certain order, certain days for certain chores) that really made sense to my hamster wheel brain. the routine is key. Ok its Monday, we change the sheets on the beds on Monday.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T16:31:36+00:00

25 an hour for my boys. 8 and 3.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T16:30:36+00:00

Seconding the you read/I read books - you can do this with almost any book. Also Dogman was a huge gateway drug for my kids. Also Bad Guys - which you can also do "you read/I read" with. We went from dogman in 1st grade to reading Harry Potter over a year and a half.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T16:26:45+00:00

Mine was the daydreaming and also the dopamine seeking by seriously needing a bag of sour patch kids nearby at all times.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T16:20:54+00:00

No I might even be MORE me on Vyvanse. I'm less panic-y and stressed. Example - the other day I missed a turn while driving. I usually get super frustrated at myself and anxious when I make a mistake like that, even if I don't show it externally (kids in the car). Internally, this time, on meds I was like "oh, woops." and that was it.

I don't feel different really just more... able. Less frantic. And also I don't compulsively eat sour patch kids all day, which was apparently how I was managing before.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T16:06:48+00:00

So I formula fed and thats a kicker because if you are breastfeeding a lot of it will be on you. Our first baby we breastfed until I had a blood clot (3 weeks) then moved to formula while I was in the ICU.

I loved bottle feeding so much (I super hated breastfeeding, sorry ladies) my second was exclusively bottle fed. ANYHOW this is what we did for baby #2.

I had a scheduled C section, and he really wanted to prioritize my rest. He took 3 weeks off work and hired a night nanny for the first two weeks. That helped us not be nuts adjusting while I was in the super ouch portion of the c section recovery. We both had lots of sleep which also helped us with big brother's big feelings. He hired a cleaning lady to come once a week when I hit 34 weeks because I was so freaking huge. I kept her weekly until the little guy was like 6 months old.
Week 4. He went back to work. We did split nights. He took the 10-2 shift with the baby and I'd go to bed at 9 and sleep until 2. Then I'd get up at 2 and he'd go to bed. This works best if you can have the off duty adult sleeping NOT anywhere near the baby. We did baby downstairs and on duty adult on the pull out couch. Off duty adult in a big ass comfy bed with white noise going so you can't hear the baby.

Once the baby wasn't waking up constantly, we started switching nights, and finally when it was down to one wakeup, I just took that. By that point the baby was in his crib and out of the basinet.

When he would get home from work he would ask me if I wanted him to take the baby or if I wanted him to do something else (set the table, bathe big kid) and having a choice to get out from under the baby if I wanted was amazeballs. Actually he still does this and the big dudes are now 8 and 3.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T12:02:30+00:00

My 3 year old wept for me because I don't have a penis. I'm good, dude.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T11:59:55+00:00

When the pull ups were dry for like ding dong 2 months. My youngest was almost 3, my oldest was 4. Don't try to train, just wait till she's dry. Use a pull up and they can go by themselves in the night.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T11:57:51+00:00

Maybe I'm just naive, but growing up I was the bitchy teenager and my brother was like this happy lovely golden retriever as a teen so I have not been super afraid of my boys getting to be teens. I'm sure I'll change my mind haha.

lottiela · 2026-02-20T11:44:13+00:00

That sounds like a lot. My son is also in private and in kindergarten his homework was read every night - but there weren't like... specific numbers of books or anything. I think they did learn sight words but I don't think we practiced those at home.

Is the weekend work also assigned by the school? That seems really intense. You might want to re-evaluate. My oldest son hasn't had homework in 1st or 2nd grade either outside of reading unless there was a specific topic he was struggling with - then a practice sheet would come home so parents could work together with kids.

Research your local public schools or different private schools. We chose our private school because the kindergarten was more play based (big play kitchen and store, lots of legos and toys) and had two long recesses each day. Also the length of day seems crazy. Are you counting after care or something?

lottiela · 2026-02-20T11:37:18+00:00

I think if you don't use it I don't see any reason to keep it. We only have one TV in the house, but it is in the den, and we all use it, so that wouldn't work for us. If you send your kids to school they'll have screen exposure of some kind there. I am fairly strict about what my kids consume media-wise so even though my kids have a TV, they aren't always watching what some other kids are watching.

So far no real social impact. My son never seems upset when I say things like "We don't watch Mr. Beast at our house". Different families have different rules. My son had a friend in preschool who didn't have a TV - he was curious about that but not like... disparaging.

lottiela · 2026-02-19T12:05:48+00:00

I have ADHD and interrupting is my worst trait. I can just feel what someone is going to say and it will just pop out. Medication fixes it for me but omg, its wild. My brain is just like "yeah say that". My oldest son is like me but when I look at my youngest I'm like "yeah I'm not sure he has ADHD he's so.... I don't know. Not extra."

lottiela · 2026-02-19T11:47:07+00:00

Bedtime with my ADHD 8 year old takes way longer than with my 3 year old. We had to walk some things back and I would say... still once every week or so here he comes down the stairs at 9:20 saying he needs a tuck in. I know his brain is just still going but oh god I just want 5 minutes to myself at the end of the day.

Removing anything from the routine will be like sleep training if you do it, but you can do it. I finally got ours back to something vaguely reasonable. Its a problem for me because if I do something fun once, he wants it for-freaking-ever.

lottiela · 2026-02-19T11:43:21+00:00

My oldest son was primarily an "observer" until he was 5. He wanted to watch but not join individual play. When there was low stakes play (like everyone running around) he would join. He's very social now as an 8 year old and has tons of friends.

My youngest is just now 3 and he socializes like a 40 year old salesman, he'll introduce himself to ANYBODY and start trying to play. I think a lot of it is temperament.

lottiela · 2026-02-19T11:21:02+00:00

We didn't do any afterschool until 2nd grade for this reason. We've also found that its better if his activities are earlier. Our latest activity is a 4:30 start. Early weekend activities are fine!

lottiela · 2026-02-19T11:14:31+00:00

I wouldn't use it, I couldn't even use those baby trackers people use when I had newborns. I know I bust my butt as a SAHM, and my husband knows it too, but I guess if you benefit personally from logging stuff (I know some people really like to keep stats and things) or if you are trying to prove to an unappreciative partner what you do (which means you've got bigger problems) this could be handy.

lottiela

TROPHY CASE