My 2 Year Old is Addicted
To the iPod. I’m afraid he is more a clone of me than I had thought. You see, I’ve struggled with addiction to technology my entire life.
When I was 8 years old, the hot gift at the time was a Nintendo. I clearly remember the day my Mom, Grandma and I went to Toys R’ Us to buy mine. I had never been so excited my entire life. I loved my Nintendo and played it until my thumbs were sore and my eyes were bloodshot. I woke up at 5 am so I could play before school. Not long after, my parents took away the Nintendo because I had turned into a monster. They gave me another chance and the same thing happened, I morphed back into a Nintendo monster. I never got the Nintendo back and I’m still not sure what they did with it.
Fast forward to today and I now see the same problem with Jackson, who is 25 months old. The minute he opens up his eyes in the morning he asks for “Jackson’s iPhone,” which is really an iPod loaded with educational games and videos. It’s set to not have internet access or the ability to delete apps and I thought we were doing a good thing when we downloaded all the educational apps. I set it up for Jackson with the intention of using it on our nearly 5 hour flight to Denver we are taking soon. Since the set up a week ago, Jackson wants to be on it 24/7.
Any parent knows how a 2 year old can meltdown and the iPod has caused some epic meltdowns. What do I do? Obviously it needs to be very limited in our house since Jackson has my tendency to become a *little* obsessed with technology.
This is my plan so far:
- Limit iPod use to 1 hour per day
- Allow iPod use while he is eating (remember that whole failure to thrive deal? He still doesn’t eat so I figured this might help. He’s still only 23.5 pounds)
- Reduce the use of gadgets in the house overall and have family time after dinner with NO iPhones/Macbooks/iPads allowed
I need some help here, I feel like this is my biggest parenting fail yet. Do your kids struggle with this too? What are your suggestions?
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Oh you are smart to set limits for it – I think what you proposed is great – kills two birds with one stone (ipad time and eating). (Regarding that, once Sidney starts eating, sibling rivalry might encourage Jackson to eat more too. At least with Ava, she now wants to eat all (well, most!) of James’ MUSHED veggies and fruits when I’m feeding him.
Also, since it’s only been a week, I bet the novelty hasn’t worn off yet. Ava went through a phase of wanting to use my iphone often but now almost never asks for it.
Have a wonderful vacation in Colorado!! xo
Thanks Cynthia! I’m hoping it’s a phase but one that will help him eat a little better in the mean time
Our newest addiction is Lego Star Wars PS3 game. I set the timer on the stove. Once its up, its up. They have to earn more time by practicing writing and helping around the house. Jackson may be too young for writing but I’m sure there are things he can do to help out. Best of luck!
The timer is a great idea, maybe he can help clean up! Thanks!
My 18 month old is addicted to watching videos/shows on my iPad. I just tell him no, hide the iPad in the bookcase (with him watching) and lead him into the playroom. If he flips out about it, I just walk into another room. I don’t know if it’s his age that makes it work, but he usually gets distracted and moves onto something else though.
If it were up to him, he’d be on that thing all day long, no joke,
Hi Colleen! Good to know we aren’t the only ones
I know things with toddlers are very black and white so I will just have to stick to my guns!
Great plan going forward. Remeber a 2yo has a short attention span, so maybe you could get away with 4, 15 min sessions. A timer might help, but he’s kind of young for it. It would certainly be worth a try. BTW, the pic of you with the radio at the beach looks just like J minus the curly hair
I like the idea of the shorter sessions!! Thanks! It’s funny how much Jackson looks like me and Sidney like BC Man. I love how genetics come into play