Recently we went on a trip to North Carolina from Alabama, which is about a 14-15 hour car ride one way. One of my main concerns was how we would manage to keep our 2 year old entertained throughout the drive without giving her an iPad. I am super proud to say that we never had to resort to any type of screen time during our trip- here’s how we did it and why we did it!

Why We Don’t Use Screens

Mental Health Impacts

Right before my toddler was born, I was a counselor for the university where I was getting my Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Throughout that year, I spent over 800 hours counseling college students (ages 17-30). One of the biggest trends I noticed in my younger clients (specifically aged 17-23 years old) was the influence social media was playing in their everyday lives.

Social media obviously impacts all our lives- I look at it every day and I bet you do too (hell, how else did you even find this blog post?). There is no shame in using social media, in my opinion. However, I do not rely on social media- that is the BIG difference between people my age (early 30’s) and my younger clients. Because of their dependence on social media such as Instagram, TikTok, Twitter (now X), and Snap Chat, my clients were anxious, depressed, and experienced social anxiety more often than not. There’s also a link between suicide-related outcomes for those who use too much screen time. I did not want this for my future child.

“According to a 2019 Canadian study, kids who were exposed to more than 2 hours of daily screen time by the age of 5 were almost 8 times more likely to meet the criteria for ADD/ADHD than those who spent less than 30 minutes a day looking at a screen.” -brainMD Blog Post

Brain Development Impacts

There is now astounding evidence that use of screens is impacting the development of many parts of our children’s brains. I believe this is because of two reasons:

1) staring at blue light for extensive amounts of time and

2) consuming material that is not educational/stimulating to the brain in general.

A study led by Dr. John Hutton at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, published in Scientific Reports, has found that high screen time in young children (ages 3 to 5) can alter brain structure. Using MRI scans, the researchers measured cortical thickness and sulcal depth—indicators of brain development. They discovered that increased screen time was associated with thinner cortexes and shallower sulci in several brain regions, potentially impacting language development, reading, and social skills. Another study found that this thinning of the cortex can lead to increased depression symptoms as well. This aligns with previous findings in older children and suggests that the impact of screen time on brain structure starts early and may intensify over time.

Other Astonishing Impacts

Decreased emotional stability (think of temper tantrums)
Difficulty making friends/socializing (think social anxiety)
Poor attention span
Hyperactivity
Lower scores on tests (specifically thinking and language tests)
More likely to get inadequate sleep
Poor achievement of:
- Motor skills
  - Problem solving skills
  - Social skills

***Info from Integrated Learning Strategies and brainMD by Dr. Daniel Amen

All of these reasons are the exact reason I have not had our toddler ever use a screen. Seriously, ever. Sure, she has grabbed my phone from me before, but she has never played a game or watched a show or anything like that on it.

How we survive going out to eat- coloring.

How We Avoid Screen Time

I will be up front with you- it is not always easy or convenient to not give our toddler a screen. We still go out to eat and drive in the car for long periods of time, though. I think we are able to do these types of things because we have never given her a screen. That makes it a lot easier because she never expects to see a screen. This, in turn, has allowed her to figure out how to entertain herself and how to deal with being bored. It is amazing to me how difficult it is for people to be bored these days.

“Boredom is the space in which creativity and imagination happen,” - Pediatrician Michael Rich, M.D.

Things We Use Instead of Screen Time

Stickers

I will often give Libby a sheet of paper and a sheet of stickers and let her put them literally wherever she wants. It’s relatively easy clean up and it is educational because I will ask her what color they are or what the sticker is. She loves getting the questions correct and I think this improves her self confidence. I like these sticker books, too!

Coloring

Libby loves to color but it doesn’t hold her attention long. However, I still buy things to color with (other than markers- I am not a fool). We mostly use beeswax crayons, twistable crayons, chalk for outside, a cheap coloring book (Libby doesn't care what characters because she honestly doesn't know any since she doesn't watch shows much), and her doodle board.

Libby also will paint with water colors.

Blocks/Magnets

Libby recently has gotten really into building with her foam blocks and magnet tiles. It will occupy her for at least 30 minutes to an hour at night. It typically entertains her longer when we participate with her. Disclaimer: if you hate messes then I would not purchase these. They're honestly the bane of my existence. I find these blocks everywhere lol

Chores

Libby loves to help around the house. She will “help” me fold clothes, wash dishes, prepare dinner (we bought her this "knife" set), clean the floors. A helpful item we got for her was a tower to stand in so that she is the height of our counter. Also, we do not use any toxic cleaning products- you can read about what we use here.

Playing Outside

We live in Alabama. Let me tell you, it is hot as hell. However, we take Libby outside daily to run in the yard or swing on her swing set. The heat doesn’t bother her (but it damn sure bothers me) and she would stay outside all day if she could. I just make sure she’s well hydrated with water while we are outside. I also make sure she has nontoxic bug spray on as much as possible.

How We Traveled without Screen Time

Now that you know what we use at home, you might be wondering how we managed to avoid using screen time while in the car for such a long period of time. We had to be strategic about our trip. Instead of driving the entire 14 hours, we broke it up into 2 days. One day we traveled 7 hours and the next day we drove the remainder of the way.

We planned when we’d leave around her usual nap and sleep schedule. Libby will sleep in the car very easily and she really likes her car seat in general (I realize this is not a luxury most experience- I attribute this to chiropractic care and you can read why here). We left a little after lunch time because that is typically when Libby naps. We drove about 3 hours to a town along the way. Libby woke up around this time and we had dinner and let her play/run around outside for about 2 hours total. We drove the rest of the 4-5 hours while she slept at night. The next day we woke up at 4 AM and started our travels. She again slept until about 8 AM and we stopped for breakfast/let her play for about 2 hours. We drove the rest of the way after that and arrived at our destination after lunch time.

Like I said, we had to be strategic about timing. We also had to splurge on a hotel expense when we normally wouldn’t have. It was worth it to me. When Libby was awake in the car, she entertained herself with stickers and coloring or having snacks (read what snacks I recommend here). Libby has a pretty good temperament. She really doesn’t throw a fit or hardly cry. I attribute this to how we feed her and interact with her in general, so I highly recommend reading my post about ingredients we do not feed her and snack alternatives that are delicious and actually nutrient dense.

Other Resources

You can learn a lot about brain development from Dr. Daniel Amen’s Instagram (@doc_amen). He also wrote a book about raising children called Raising Mentally Strong Kids.

This article I read on his blog is great to check out if you’re curious how much screen time is recommended for certain ages and alternatives to use instead of screen time.

Screen Time- How to Avoid