🖥 I know there's a lot of judgment and shaming about this topic so let's leave all of that out of it! This is what I do for my kids, and it works best for OUR family:

🖥 I do not allow any screen time for my kids except on planes or if I am not feeling well. That being said, the content and your level of engagement are key.

🖥 There have been studies that demonstrate the impact of fast-paced animated shows versus those of old-school Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Something like Powerpuff Girls is 90 frames a second versus Mr. Roger's Neighborhood which is five frames a second. This is a significant difference and has been found to be correlated with attentional difficulties, low levels of frustration tolerance, and poor sleeping and eating habits.

🖥 Additionally, while Disney movies are my favorite as an adult, they can often be scary for a toddler. For example, if you tell the story of Beauty and the Beast without the screen -- the toddler can imagine the Beast and its size. They can imagine the Beast to be the size of their hand which is not overwhelming. If they see it on the screen, it becomes this big colossal monster and is dictated by the movie, not the imagination.

🖥 Thus your child is in control of their fears allowing mom and dad to sleep more at night.

🖥 I also get a lot of questions about sports. Do you let your toddler watch sports games? For 2 and up, I say 'yes' within reason as long as you are interacting with your child while watching, it can be a great bonding and learning moment. A sports game is live, and it's real, and thus generalizes more toward a toddler's reality. Use this opportunity to explain what a team is and how the players work together to help each other.