Screens are increasingly part of all our everyday lives, and it is especially true for our little ones who have never known a life without them. The World Health Organisation guidelines recommend no screen time at all for children under 2, but this is not realistic for all families.
Instead of cutting screens out of your routine completely, you could try ‘interactive co-viewing’.
Next time the screen goes on, talk, sing or dance along with your child, using the screen content to interact with them. This helps children to translate what is happening on the screen into real life and boosts the back-and-forth interactions over the day. Further, chatting about what you are watching can provide ideas for how to talk, play, read and sing together once the screen is turned off.