The Most Reliable Parental Control App
FamiSafe lets parents control screen time, track real-time location and detect inappropriate content on kids' devices.
Gadgets play a major role in life. They not only help to communicate with others but are also a source of learning and entertainment. But have you ever thought of the effects of screen time on toddlers? Are you aware of how much screen time is too much for toddlers?
Probably not.
Well, you are required to know it for the better growth and development of your toddler.
So, let us discuss how much screen time for toddlers is in detail? This guide will also let you know how to reduce screen time for toddlers?
Part 1: Is screen time bad for toddlers, and why?
Well, if we go with the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other experts, it is. Screen time is really bad for toddlers.
This indicates that you must limit the screen time for toddlers to prevent them from getting physically and mentally weak.
You might be wondering why screen time is bad for toddlers?
Well, here are the reasons for the same.
Minimizes Human Interaction
You must know that a toddler learns from live human interaction and the environment. But if you allow your toddler to spend more time on screen rather than in person, it will affect their growth and development. According to Patricia Kuhl (One of the world’s leading brain scientists), “babies under a year old do not learn from machines. They get genius learning from a live human being and zero from the machine”. This is enough to indicate the effects of screen time on toddlers.
Hijack Attention Spans
Children need to learn focus and concentration. This ability to learn is at its peak during their earliest years of life. This is the time when their brains are more sensitive to the environment around them. The thing is, the brain needs essential stimuli to develop and grow properly. It gets this stimulus from the outside world. But constant absorption of on-screen images and videos affects their ability to learn. This hinders their ability to concentrate.
Affect ability to control impulses
The thing is, toddlers need their dose of boredom. Too much screen time for toddlers affects their ability to control impulses. , It aids them in coping with frustration. It helps them to control their impulses. But if you haven’t set appropriate screen time for toddlers and screens constantly stimulate them, they will forget to rely on themselves or others for entertainment. As a result, they will fall victim to frustration. This will also hinder imagination and motivation.
Reduces Empathy
Researches have shown that screen time inhibits a child’s ability to read face and learn social skills effectively. These factors are essential in learning empathy. On the other hand, face-to-face interactions help a young child in learning non-verbal cues and interpreting them. But more exposure to screens reduces a child’s ability to read human emotion. They can’t learn that from the image or video on screen what they learn from live faces.
Reduces Physical Activity
If you are not setting the balance between toddlers and screen time, it will directly affect their ability to grow physically and mentally. This is so because if a toddler spends more time on screen rather than engaging in physical activity or engaging and interacting with other children, physical and mental growth will be affected.
Affects Sleep
If we talk about our circadian rhythms and melatonin production (sleep hormone), it kicks in with sunset. But blue light from screens inhibits melatonin. This delays sleep. As a result, we are not able to get proper sleep. And as you know, sound sleep is essential for a toddler. Improper sleep can affect a toddler’s health and growth a lot. Spending time on screens affects their body’s ability to rest properly.
Affects Language and Communication
Researches have shown that children learn more by reciprocal dialogue. This means talking with children face-to-face is essential for both language development and social interaction. It is all about back-and-forth conversation and sharing facial expressions that help a child learn a language and communicate effectively. But if a child is allowed to spend time on screen and interact with a device, this will affect the ability to learn effectively. This causes problems at later stages.
Part 2: How much screen time should toddlers have?
If we go with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, a child must not be left to watch TV or other screens passively. It is not good before a child is 2. This means no screen time for toddlers under 2. If the age is between 2-4 years, even then, this limit is set to 1 hour or less a day. If we go beyond 4 years of age, this limit is set to 2 hours or less a day.
On the other hand, if we go with the American Associations of Paediatrics (AAP) guidelines, Children younger than 18 months must be kept away from screens other than video chatting. If the age is between 18 to 24 months, you can introduce digital media. But keep that limited to high-quality content and that too in your presence to help them better understand.
For 2-5 years of age, the screen time limit must be set to less than 1 hour a day. This only includes high-quality content and that too in your presence. And for six years and beyond, keep it consistent and as minimum as possible so that it does not affect the normal activities.
Part 3: How to reduce screen time for toddlers
So now you have come to know the effects of screen time on toddlers. You also came to know how much screen time is too much for toddlers. So, the next step is how to reduce screen time for toddlers. Now how to reduce it is a matter of concern for many.
Wondershare Famisafe - The Most Reliable Parental Control App
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Location Tracking & Geo-fencing
App Blocker & Web Filtering
Screen Time Control
Smart Parental Control Setting
Block In-app Purchase
You need to know that it is not as difficult as it seems to be, especially when using Famisafe from Wondershare. It is one of the most reliable parental control apps. It lets parents control screen time, track real-time location and detect inappropriate content on the device.
It lets you manage how much time your kid can spend on devices. You can set smart schedules. Let us discuss some of the main features.
- Know the Screen usage: Famisafegives you details of a kid's screen time remotely. It lets you know how much time your kid is spending on devices on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis. It also lets you know how much time is spent on a specific app. Apart from this, you can also know the most used apps and the period in which the phone has been used most.
- Apply Screen TIme Restriction: You can manually and remotely block or unblock devices to get more off-time screens. FamiSafelets you set up daily or recurring screen time limits to restrict phone usage. Moreover, you can also customize the blocked app list to whitelist certain apps during the lockdown.
- Cultivate Good Digital Habit: You can easily schedule to block chosen apps or devices for any specific day period. You can also set screen time restrictions around specific places. Apart from this, you can set the schedule to repeat on a specific or chosen date as per your need.
Not only this, FamiSafe lets you manage up to 30 devices and cross-platform. Apart from this, it provides you with various features like Real-time Location to track a kid’s location, Location History to check a kid’s location history by timeline, GeoFences to create specific zones, Activity Report to monitor phone activity, Smart Schedule to set screen time around specific locations, App Blocker to block distracting apps, Web Filter to block websites by categories, Browser History (Even Android private or incognito browsing history), YouTube Monitor to detect disturbing videos. You can also block YouTube videos or channels.
Not only this, you are getting Explicit Content Detection that monitors suspicious texts on social media and SMS. You can even detect suspicious photos that can disturb your kid.
Conclusion:
Many parents around the world want to know how much screen time is too much for toddlers? They are worried about the effects of screen time on toddlers. If you were one of them, this guide has provided you with enough information that is required. You can follow this guide to give your toddler a better environment to grow both mentally and physically. Apart from this, you can use the parental control app to apply screen time restrictions. This will help you to focus on what is most essential to you instead of worrying about screen time all day long.