Screen time battles with my 8yo are killing me

Mar 5·1 min read

My son has gotten absolutely addicted to Roblox. I set a 1 hour limit on weekdays but he fights me every single day. Yesterday he literally cried for 20 minutes when I took his tablet away. I feel like the worst dad but I know letting him play all day isn't right either. My wife thinks I'm being too strict. Anyone else dealing with this? How do you actually enforce limits without feeling like a tyrant?

4 comments157 views

Comments(4)

JJoshuaNew DadMar 6

The 1 hour limit is solid, honestly. We do something similar and the fight is real. What helped us was letting our daughter pick which game to play BEFORE the timer starts, so she's not wasting time deciding. Also we do screen-free dinner time no matter what. Took a week but the battles decreased.

DDerek T.New DadMar 5

Eight is that age where they're starting to need that dopamine hit from games. It sucks but the limit itself isn't the problem, it's that he hasn't learned what to do with the other hours yet. Puzzles saved my sanity when my daughter was that age. We're on puzzle 30 now and she barely asks about screens on puzzle nights.

KKevin M.RegularMar 6

This is rough man. My 10yo is starting to want more gaming time too and I'm trying to be the bad guy about it. Have you tried replacing it with something else he actually enjoys? My kid got way more into trail running with me once I made it feel like HIS thing and not just dad dragging him around.

JJason T.RegularMar 6

The addiction is real with Roblox. One thing that worked for us is letting him play for the full hour but only AFTER everything else is done. Homework, dinner, outside time. Flipped it from a reward he gets to something he earns. Way less pushing back.

to join the conversation.