Start your child on a Digital Detox Diet

Hello and welcome to the livechat on digital detoxification

Hello Nalini. My child does not eat food without TV or IPad. please help with ideas.

hi parents, hello nalini!

Hello surbhi and nita

My son is now 11 and he's perpetually on the phone or psp

Surabhi, have u read the blog on detox diet

We had to get him a phone last year since almost all his peers got it... since then, he's just lost in his phone

yes

what do you think could be a couple of things i could do as a mother?

still early days of him on the phone, so i want to be proactive rather than wait to get it worse.... and i don't intend to take a way the phone from him, is their a mid path?

when my 1st born was very young and used to b a fussy eater, it used to b easy to put her in front of the screen and feed her. After a while tantrums became more often when i would refuse

Thats when I realised it had become a habit that i had prob started.

Getting rid of this habit is much like weaning off the baby from the bottle.

Yes Nalini I read the blog and it was very nice but the problem is that my son is only 2 years and he does not understand rules.. he will cry and throw tantrums and not open his mouth for a bite till i switch Ipad on

how about a 11 year old glued to his phone...

also, which is the lesser evil.. TV, Ipad or Youtube?

?

Nita, i think having some simple agreement with your son is a way. Let him set screen times and u can support him. I hv found nagging does not help. Positive firmness works

Surabhi, the prob starts at 2 or before. Kids realise at tht age that feeding them is impt to parents

Can you give sm exmpls nalini?

Perhaps u can leave him b if he does not eat & wait till he asks for food. Keep sth nice & healthy ready for whenever he asks for it

for e. g. We agree that he would not be on his mobile when we are having a meal, or a family time together.... but then more often than not, he would walk out with his phone on his ears, just like adults, says-please excuse me, and then disappears for hours. or finishes his meal, and goes back to his phone stealthly, not listening to the dining table conversation.....

Nita, examples of?

Surabhi, the evil is not the medium it is how long they spend on it & wat they watch which influences their actions and thoughts

Nita, do the adults in the family also do tht?

earlier-yes, my husband use to, but i asked him not to, and he has been really great with it. doesn't even take his calls/sms durring meal, neither do I

Nita, also maybe the agreements shud b on when screen time will happen & not when it will not happen

seems, we need to be more tough with him, he's also an adoloscent now, so we try and make things conversational rather than harsh.... but each time this conversation doesn't go anywhere, as he agrees, but then doesn't do it...

you mean, when can he and when can he not use the phone?

we have even contemplated stopping the internet plan on his phone, as wassap seems to be his perpetual obsession

I think keeping the conversation firm but positive and without threats helps. I

Also, Nalini, do these toy Ipads and laptops also get included in screen time. or can I allow my child those. I am confused about them.

I used to say things like if u don't stop the screen now, i will not speak to u or u will not b allowed screen for the next week. Those don't work.

what worked in your case?

Stopping screen or keeping agreements shud not b linked to anything else. It shud b absolute

My daughter started giving me her phone when she studied. That really worked. For my aon, he listens to my husband qho is much more firm than i m. So they have their agreements. He doea not hv a phone yet so its more abt screen games

Surabhi, again it is not abt screen being bad. It is abt distraction, abt getting ised to not having to think & push oneself

Nita, also in my case, wat works is doing alt stuff w the kids that they enjoy.

like?

Like i talk to them a lot, my son pikes to play corridor football so sometimes my husband or i do that. We also play squash.

We cud do w a lot more consistency but i hv seen success

I also sit w my kids ven they study. Tht helps keep thm focused

Wud b gud to see how much time u r in the phone doing watsapp or talking. These r subliminal msgs tht kids imbibe immediately

I hardly use wassap, my husband neither.... we avoid joining groups on it, as the msgs keep coming all day. it takes my peace away

I think i follow and like what you said.. thanks, let me try these

Thank you nalini, parentune team

Thanks for being here. I hope it was useful

For further queries u may call parentune help desk

Thanks Nalini and parents for joining the live chat.