Moms need a break too, just like everybody else, but how do stay at home moms get consistent breaks without giving their kids too much screen time?
If you are feeling like a stressed out mom who needs a break from her kids, chances are you have gotten in the habit of leaning on the electronic babysitter.
I’ve been there too.
Today I am going to share my tried and true screen time alternatives for kids so that you can get consistent breaks in your mom schedule without dealing with post screen time behavior issues.
Alternatives To Screen Time for Kids
(When Mom Needs a Break)
Get outside with your kids
This is one of my favorite alternatives to screen time and also one of the easiest ways to get a break as a stay at home mom.
When I get outside with my kids, I am not needed nearly as much as when we are indoors.
My kids ask me the occasional question or come close to show me a worm they captured from time to time. But generally, being outside with my kids is a break for me as a mom.
There are so many relaxing things you can do to destress as a mom while your kids cruise up and down the driveway on bikes and scooters, jump on the trampoline, or simply free play in your yard.
You can…
- Pray
- Reflect
- Read a book
- Write a friend a letter
- Soak in the sunshine
- Fold a basket of laundry
- Doodle in a notebook
- Journal
- Knit
- Crochet
- Sew
- Draw
- Paint
Sitting outside with my kids takes me from being a stressed out mom to a refreshed mama in no time.
Children absolutely thrive outside.
If you need a break in your mom schedule but you don’t want to depend on screens to get it, soak in some Vitamin D and enjoy a little peace and quiet while your kids play outdoors.
Learn all about the benefits of play in childhood in the post below:
Utilize Children’s Audiobooks
Audiobooks are one of the best screen time alternatives for rainy days and afternoons that start to drag on. Set your kids up with Legos, crafts, or coloring books and let them create while they listen to a lovely story. If you have become a stressed out mom, use children’s audiobooks to get a SAHM reprieve, take a quick shower, or enjoy a Mommy Lunch Break.
Here’s a list of the best stories on audio for kids:
Teach your children how to play independently
Do this little by little, starting at a young age. Require just a few minutes of independent play at a time and then build up from there.
Children are innately capable of imaginative play, but excessive screen time stifles their creativity.
The more you reduce screen time, the more adept your kids will become at entertaining themselves.
I keep independent play engaging for my children by giving them a fresh bin from our toy rotation that they do not have access to most of the time.
We keep the toys on a shelf in the basement and I utilize them wisely in order to get a break as a mom.
Require a daily nap time for nappers
Nap time is a great way to get a screen free break as a stay at home mom. Naps are good for kids too!
Their little bodies use up a lot of energy throughout the day as they run, jump, play, and process new information.
A solid daily nap routine is one of the most important parts of your mom schedule.
Prioritize nap time for your little ones every day.
We plan most of our outings around nap time because I know how valuable it is to my mental health as a mom.
After the kids get a good nap, I feel as rejuvenated as they do.
This little break in the day helps me not to be a stressed out mom.
Require a daily quiet time for those who have outgrown naps
When my first child turned two, she quit napping. This was an absolute devastation as an exclusively pumping mom with a newborn.
I was MOM TIRED.
I was exhausted to the bone from the sleepless nights with my newborn, all of the milk pumping, cleaning bottles and pump parts, and the long days with my sweet but busy toddler.
During that depleting season of life, I was a very stressed out mom.
Quickly I learned that my child would be happy to have a “quiet time” even if she wasn’t tired enough for a full blown nap every day.
She still needed the time to chill, just like I did.
I began to set her up with great audiobooks and safe activities while my baby took his long afternoon nap.
My toddler enjoyed this break in the day just as much as I did.
If you are feeling overwhelmed as a mom, add a daily afternoon quiet time to your kid’s schedule.
Give them age appropriate screen free alternatives such as Legos, magnetic tiles, Lincoln logs, books, and coloring books to occupy their time.
I made sure to end my daughter’s quiet time at least thirty minutes before my baby ended his nap.
That way we could hang out, just the two of us, and I could fill her love tank with cuddles and good read alouds before it was time to pump and feed baby brother again.
Making sure your non-nappers have quality time to look forward to with you is a great way to motivate them to remain in their bedroom during quiet rest time.
Some kids benefit from a visual timer that lets them know exactly how long they have left until quiet time is over.
Institute Intentional Sibling Time
Siblings are one of the greatest screen time alternatives your kid will ever have.
Your child’s siblings are their very best friends. They are currently building bonds and making memories with their brothers and sisters that will last a lifetime.
Set your kids up with a game of Candy Land, Guess Who, Monopoly Junior, or a bin of toys that only come out for Sibling Time.
This will give you a solid twenty minute break as a SAHM.
Hire a Mother’s Helper once in a while
Our Mother’s Helper is an absolute angel. She comes once a month in the summer for three hours at a time.
I give her a list of the exact screen free activities I want her to do with my children in thirty minute increments.
Some easy things a mother’s helper can do with your kids are puzzles, reading, education worksheets, a walk through the neighborhood, bike ride, and mold with play dough.
Trade off with another mom in your same season of life
Is there another mom in your circle who could use a break too? Maybe you could have her children over for a couple of hours to play with your kids.
Get all the kids outside and let them wear one another out.
Let them have a water balloon fight, play tag, or build a fort together.
Provide snack and simple screen free supplies. Let them use their imaginations and make their own fun.
Then, a week or so later, allow your mom friend to return the favor to you.
This is a win-win situation, a great way to build community with others, and an opportunity to get a break as a stressed out mom.
Get your older kids outside without you
Not only is outside play excellent for child development, it is also a way for you to get a break as a mom without resorting to screen time.
Excessive screen time leaves kids amped up and dysregulated; outdoor play does the exact opposite.
If your kids are old enough to play outside without constant supervision, remove screen time as an option and start requiring frequent outdoor play.
If your children are at the proper age and maturity level, you have a window to keep an eye on them, a patio where you can observe from a distance, a security system, or a fenced in yard to keep them safe, enjoy the season of life that you are in and let those kiddos free play!
Your kids can play safely outdoors just like we did as children. Just like our parents and grandparents did before us.
Outdoor play was a very normal part of children’s days for all of the generations preceding this one.
Kids rode bikes through their neighborhoods with friends, explored the woods, built forts, climbed trees, and made mud pies in the dirt for many decades before media portrayed the world as overly scary and helicopter parenting became a thing.
I will tell you what is actually scary—kids who get five to seven hours of screen time per day and virtually no outdoor free play.
Kids today are inside on electronics for way more hours than they should be and they are driving their moms bananas.
If you need a break as a mom and you can provide a safe environment for your kids, avoid post-screen time behavior issues by replacing tech time with lots of free outdoor play.
When kids are finished expending their energy outside, they transition very nicely to the next activity expected of them whether it is chores, homework, family time, or reading.
Free play outdoors is an excellent screen time alternative for children, an easy way to reduce stress for moms and kids, and an essential element of any good mom schedule.
Communicate with your husband and work together
Getting support from your loving spouse is an essential way to keep you from becoming a stressed out mom.
If you have a present husband, don’t try to run the entire parenting show yourself. You don’t have to be supermom.
Let your spouse know your needs and how he can help.
Many husbands are more than willing to give mom a break and engage with their children, but they may not know exactly how to go about it.
A couple ways to make this easy on your husband is to be specific, write a clear list of what to do, and provide food, when possible.
If you are in the midst of postpartum exhaustion and your husband’s paternity leave is over, ask him to grab a pizza on the way home from work and wear the kids out for the evening.
He could take them on an outing. Lots of dads prefer to take their kids out rather than be cooped up in the house. Trust your spouse and give him the freedom to do so.
Your spouse could also play basketball, soccer, or football with the kids in the yard.
He could watch them jump on the trampoline.
He could read them library books.
He could take them to visit his parents.
For a longer mom break, your husband could also do the bedtime routine. Just remember to lay out pajamas and pull ups to set him up for success.
Also, remember to return the kindness when you are in a season of life with more margin.
Dads need a break too!
When you are refreshed and at a higher capacity, give your husband a responsibility-free evening to himself to relax while you do the bedtime routine for all the kids.
Is Screen Time Really that Bad?
It can be exhausting to go, go, go all day long as a parent with all kinds of responsibilities and tiny children underfoot.
Little people are full of big needs and even bigger energy.
Screen time is a tempting option to get a break and pass the time as a stay at home mom.
Devices look like a convenient idea at first. But then, your kids spend an hour on screens which easily turns into two, or more.
Before you know it, they are having a full blown tantrum when you try to pull the plug.
Everyone is moody and dysregulated.
After screen time, kids declare they are “bored.”
“There’s nothing to do outside!” they whine.
They seem to have lost their imagination, their attention span, and the ability to play independently.
Technology kids do not easily transfer from screen time to their next scheduled activity.
This feels like a lose-lose situation to me.
Whatever “break” we moms got during screen time didn’t actually serve us.
We may have had the illusion of refreshment while our kids were on the screen, but that all disappears when we have to reengage and handle post screen time behavioral issues.
This is the plight of the modern day mom. We are only human. Mom needs breaks throughout her day just like everyone else and entertainment is just a click away for our kids.
But if we give our kids excessive screen time to get the breaks we need, we will pay for it in the long run and feel like a stressed out mom.
As an introverted stay at home mom with lots of little kids, I know the struggle.
But after years of practice, I am here to tell you that there are much better ways to get a break as a mom than to plop your kids in front of a screen.
In our home, we have made a point to help our kids love outdoor play, become readers, and entertain themselves.
Now I am able to get through my days with four kids without screen time and actually enjoy motherhood.
Try the screen time alternatives from this post to get a break and enjoy your family so that you can come back from your daily respite recharged and ready to engage with the people you love most.
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