My 8yo is addicted to Roblox and I'm losing my mind

1w ago1 min read

So my son wakes up at 6am asking to play Roblox. We let him have 1 hour on weekends but now he's sneaking my iPad at night. I found him at midnight yesterday just playing. I tried taking it away cold turkey but he's been a nightmare all week. How do you guys handle this without turning into the bad guy? Other parents at school say their kids are the same but I feel like we're failing somehow.

10 comments152 views

Comments(10)

MMatt W.Regular1w ago

Man, we've been there with two kids fighting over screen time. One thing that helped was letting my oldest earn extra time through chores instead of just limiting it. Gave him some control back and he stopped sneaking around as much.

AAnthonyNew Dad1w ago

The midnight iPad raids are the worst. I had to straight up remove devices from the bedroom and make a charging station in the kitchen. Took a few rough nights but it worked. Might be worth trying that before it becomes a nightly battle.

MMarcus T.New Dad1w ago

Three kids three different obsessions over here and Roblox was the hardest one to crack honestly. The sneaking thing is the real problem - I'd tackle that boundary first before worrying about the daytime hour. Sounds like he doesn't feel the limit is fair yet.

TTony M.Regular1w ago

This hits different when they're sneaking it though. With four kids I've learned the hard way that if you don't actively monitor what they're doing on these games, they'll find ways around your rules. Have you checked what games specifically he's playing? Some games are designed to be more addictive than others.

SSam T.Regular1w ago

This is one of those situations where you have to decide if he's earned more time or if boundaries stay. I'd lean toward sticking with the hour rule even if he's complaining. These games are literally engineered to make kids want more.

LLance K.Regular1w ago

The 6am wake-up asking to play is the worst. My son does the same thing and I've had to be really strict about the boundaries. One hour on weekends sounds reasonable but maybe you need to make the transition off Roblox less abrupt? Like give him a 15 minute warning before it's time to stop so it doesn't feel like you're yanking it away.

LLance K.Regular1w ago

An hour on weekends is actually reasonable but yeah the 6am wake up is the real problem. You're basically dealing with an early gaming session addiction. We had to go cold turkey for a week with my oldest and reset expectations. It sucked for three days then he forgot about it.

TTony M.Regular1w ago

The Roblox thing is tricky because it's designed to be addictive. Have you tried setting a timer that he can see? Makes it feel less arbitrary when time's up. My son respects the visual countdown more than just me saying stop.

CChris M.New Dad1w ago

Waking up at 6 just to ask about it means he's thinking about it constantly. That's when you know it's become too much of a focus. Might need to scale it back even further for a bit.

SSam T.Regular1w ago

Man I feel this. My kid got obsessed with Roblox last year and it was affecting his behavior, his sleep, everything. We ended up doing a full reset where we took away access for two weeks and then reintroduced it with much stricter limits. It sucked but it worked.