As the title suggests, I think you know what this post is all about. I did share what I did on my Instagram, but I didn’t have enough time to share here. Phew berhabuk jugak blog saya ni rupanya. Lama dah tak update!
Well, I got to say, I was busy with all the traveling part, Raya 2024, packing unpacking, and now I am back in Australia, again. It was a loonnnggggg story back in 2023. Let’s talk about that in another post. What I’m going to talk about now is, no screen time for toddler. Do you think it’s possible? ✊
Phew. Even myself thought it was impossible *blamed myself*
So, tahun lepas I challenge myself untuk restrict Adellia from having her screen time. It was because, I did a research and read the latest study paper conducted in 2023.
Why did I conduct that research and read that paper?
Well. Honestly, because I nampak Adellia was overwhelmed. And it causes myself feeling overwhelmed too.
How did I end up thinking about searching for studies on screen time among children?
It was very random. And of course the point is as above too.
I memang terus decide NO screen time for Adellia. I didn’t even restrict her phase by phase, but by restricting her 100% totally. Bila teringat balik waktu tu, memang…. Oh God, tak sanggupku ingat kembali ya.
Guys, it was not easy. I had a tough time for the first few days (honestly the first three days). But it gets better as time goes by (loved it!)
D-1
I was planning to bring Adellia out to distract her from TV. Masa ni I nak bagi dia lupakan Baby Shark dia. And at the same time, I want to buy coffee for myself. And suddenly I remembered yang ada lebihan magic sand beli untuk dia dulu. So balik dari beli coffee tu, I keluarkan magic sand tu and bagi dia main.
Masa ni memang nampak dia focus main la. Satu jam jugak dia focus je. Lupa sekejap baby shark dia.
Then, it was time for her nap time. So, I tidurkan dulu. Masa dia tidur ni, I was planning activities for her untuk D-1 tu. Antaranya, coloring, and dia banyak sambung main magic sand for D-1 ni.
Masih ada banyak lagi tantrum untuk D-1 ni sebab she requested few times to watch Baby Shark. Fuh. It was hard haha. Masa ni otak I berhubung dengan sangat laju ye. I tried to distract her A LOT.
Untuk D-1 ni tak banyak improvement sebab dia masih dalam fasa withdrawal syndrome. So tantrum dia sangat dahsyat ye hari pertama ni. I hampir give up tapi I kentalkan je la hati and pekakkan telinga 🤭
D-2
Start D-2 ni dah nampak ada la sikit improvement. Sebab I tidur lambat malam tu untuk plan activities for her. I siap buat research la malam tu and print banyak benda untuk prepare activities.
If you guys wonder what kind of activities you can plan for your little one, you guys can just google it and there are 1000 of activities there.
Antara aktiviti yang I plan untuk Adellia for D-2 ni:
- Fine motor skills bottle for toddler — toothpick & empty bottle
- Matching colors — colored paper & any colored toys (to match with the colored paper)
- Matching picture — print any pictures (car, fruits, alphabets, animals) for the toddler to match with the laminated picture
I have to admit that when you do these kinds of activities, you need to use a lot of energy. It also depends on what items you have at home. Kita memang lebih galakkan DIY sahaja barang dirumah, but it really depends on the availability itself. Macam kertas yang I guna semua memang ada dirumah, so memang senang. Kita tinggal print, laminate and prepare saja.
Ada benda yang memang kita kena beli juga. Contoh, pom pom balls, crayons, magic sand dan sebagainya. Kalau korang nak tahu mana I dapatkan semua items ni, I ada list dibawah ⬇️
D-3
D-3 is much better. Nampak Adellia sangat-sangat improving. Boleh kata tantrum dia reduced more than 50% jugak. Masa ni I dah happy sikit sebab rasa lega tu banyak juga la.
I still accompanying her during her playtime. Sebab masa ni kita kena guide dia apa nak buat dan sebagainya. I memang focus ke dia je untuk seminggu pertama tu. I ingat lagi yang I ada join training sebelum tu tapi nasib baik la training tu dah habis. Fuhh. Boleh la kita bagi 100% attention ke dia je.
I masih plan macam-macam aktiviti untuk dia for D-3 ni. Antaranya:
- Sprinkling paint — yang ni game macam kita main masa kecil-kecil tu. Tabur pasir berwarna ke drawing paper yang bergam
- Scissor skill — I ada beli scissor untuk latih motor skill dia. You only need paper & kid scissor. Bagus aktiviti ni
- Magnetic book — Ni alphabet book yang memang I dah beli lama dulu masa dia baby. She learned alphabets a lot from this book!
Best ye bila tengok anak focus dengan pelbagai aktiviti macam ni. Takde lah asyik screen time je kan. Dengan kita kita terikut busy macam dia pulak 🤭
I would highly suggest if you guys want to get your toddler “busy”, you boleh prepare all the activities by yourself.
Does Adellia still not have any screen time?
Well, I wouldn’t say yes. She is having her screen time in a day now. BUT, no longer for cartoons yang dia pernah tengok dulu. Like, Baby Shark, Cocomelon, etc. And screen time dia now is shorter than before. I restrict juga hari hari tu.
I dah tak bagi dia watch any of those shows. She only watches animals channel (monkey, chickens), Malay/English songs, cartoon movie ONLY (kung fu panda, moana, etc). Meaning, cartoon yang bukan berulang-ulang (I memang seriau betul hshshs)
Dia pun sendiri dah faham siap ada dialog dia kalau mak dia tak bagi tengok 😂
She would say, “momma tak bagi tengok kan?”
I bet her papa always talk to her like that, lol.
Aiman sometimes asked me, bila I nak bagi dia tengok semula cartoon budak-budak tu. I didn’t give any answer. I cuma rasa when it is the right time.
So, what does Adellia do every day now? Does she always have activities planned for her?
Nope. I dah kurang sikit plan aktiviti untuk dia. Sebab sejak I restrict tu, she improved a lot. She can play by herself. Cuma biasa lah kadang tu dia nak kita layan dia. Sebab dia bosan kan.
Dia main masak-masak sendiri, dia kemas rumah sendiri, dia color sendiri. Hehe
How about her tantrums?
Her tantrums improved a lot. Now dah dekat 6 bulan ni, I can say… I dah tak ingat bila last dia tantrum 🤔
Kalau tak tu, dulu boleh kata setiap hari taw guys 😭
That’s why I decided to do this. I felt that all of these repetitive routines were overwhelming her. Dengan I sekali felt overwhelmed.
What website do you look at for those activities?
Kalau tak silap I, ada 2 websites yang I selalu refer for these activities.
1. Busy toddler ➡️ Click here
2. Kids activities blog ➡️ Click here
Can you list down all the items for the toddler?
Sure! Just click below to buy ⬇️
5. Busy book
Ada banyak lagi aktiviti lain yang I buat. Antaranya oobleck messy play, transferring rice from cup to cup, put coins inside the jar, origami, ribbon inside the bottle, fine motor skill using toothpick and many more.
It was a fun activity with your kid, but it really takes quite a bit of energy and time to plan and prepare everything. I'm trying to get back into the routine of preparing activities again, but I've been so busy with my own stuff 😭 — I need to find time to at least do one activity for her again.
Hope this post will help you guys a lot.
Thanks for reading this and stay tuned for my next post 🤍