Finally got rid of our kids' YouTube Kids account and wow
Okay so we were letting our 7yo have unlimited YouTube Kids (famous last words, right?). Decided to cut it completely for summer and do only 30 min on weekends. First week was BRUTAL but after like 10 days something shifted. He's actually bored enough to ask for real stuff—building with LEGOs, asking to go outside, reading more. I'm not saying I'm some hero parent but I'm genuinely shocked at how much better his mood is. Obviously this won't work for every family but if anyone's on the fence about cutting back, it might be worth trying.
This gives me hope. We're about to cut screen time and I'm dreading the first week so much. Did he actually find stuff to do or are you just enforcing board games and boredom?
Weekend only is the move honestly. Full cutoff felt impossible to us but weekends we can actually manage and weekdays he just doesn't ask because the habit's broken. Did you consider a middle ground or was cold turkey necessary?