[A Change in Perspective] I want to stop my 2-year-old from watching too much YouTube! A method that worked even for me, a parent who isn't very good at raising kids

I have a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old.
For those of you with small children, you probably know the experience: they get glued to YouTube and won't pull themselves away.
Especially on holidays, they end up watching for long periods, which has been a problem.

On YouTube, even when one video ends, the next one plays automatically.
Even if you turn off the autoplay feature, many thumbnail images of related videos are displayed after the video ends, which triggers the desire to watch more.

The impact of watching YouTube on small children

I also talk with other parents I meet at daycare, saying,
"It's not good to watch too much YouTube."

The things that are often said are as follows.

Admittedly, there were times at night when they had trouble falling asleep after watching YouTube.

A 2-year-old won't listen even if you say, "That's enough."

I try to limit it by saying, "Just one more," but if they are in a bit of a bad mood, they sometimes won't listen.

If I forcibly turn off the TV, they keep screaming, "
I want to see the fire truck! I want to see the fire truck!" for a long time.

Even if I say, "Let's go to the park," they say, "No."

Even if I say, "Let's draw," they say, "No."

They don't really go along with my suggestions.

When they are watching YouTube, they are quiet, and I can do what I want to do, so it's easy, but it's a dilemma.

A surprisingly easy way to get them to stop watching YouTube

The video my child was watching on YouTube was simply a video of various ambulances going down a slope.

I suddenly thought, "
We have ambulance toys at home, so couldn't we do the same thing?"

For now, I made it with things I had at home. (It's not really worth calling it 'making,' though lol)

When I showed them, saying, "Look, it's the same as what you were just watching!"
"I'll do it!" they said, and snatched the ambulance toy from me.

It's a huge success!! They are absolutely delighted.

My 5-year-old brother joined in too. "It's just like YouTube!" he said, and they started playing together.

After that, perhaps tired from playing, they took a nice long nap.
How easy was that♪

Going to the park or drawing pictures aren't things the child is currently interested in.
I needed to think about this more and make it something the child is currently interested in.
It's a small change in perspective.

It is good to suggest fun activities related to the videos they were just watching.

I learned this later, but if they like train videos, draw pictures of trains—it seems it's best to connect it to activities that use their hands, feet, or body.

After reading an NHK article, I thought, "That makes sense."
It's great because it doesn't cost any money, and I felt once again that it's important to satisfy a child's interests in a different way.

Lesson learned: A change in perspective.

Not just with children, but when you want to get someone to follow rules or stop doing something,

That seems to be the best approach.

If you have a child who is struggling because they keep watching YouTube, I hope you will give this a try.

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