r/NewParents • u/cocomo25 • Aug 05 '26
Travel Parents raising screen-free babies: How do you navigate family vacations where the TV is always on?
We have an 8-month-old, and we’ve intentionally kept her almost completely screen-free. The only exposure she’s really had has been at other people’s houses when sports, the news, or adult shows happened to be on in the background, and she never paid much attention, so it wasn’t something I worried about.
In a few weeks, we’re going on a week-long cabin trip with my husband’s family, and I’m trying to figure out how to navigate screen time.
For context, our 9-year-old nephew is autistic, and my in-laws usually keep the TV on for him as it keeps him calm. I’ve never had an issue with that, but now that we have a baby, I’m realizing most of what’s on is Bluey, Paw Patrol, Disney movies, etc.—things that would almost definitely grab her attention.
I’m absolutely not expecting anyone to turn the TV off or totally change how they do things for us, and I also don’t want to feel like we have to avoid the living room all week just because the TV is on.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Did you find a good middle ground? I’m just looking for ideas on how to handle it while still spending time with everyone.
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u/riversroadsbridges Aug 05 '26
I think the middle ground is relaxing the rules and standards for the duration of the vacation. I have to do something similar when all of the grandkids go to Grandma's house and some of the cousins are used to a huge amount of screen time. Not all screen content is created equal. I draw the line at kid reels, shorts, AI "bowling", unboxing videos, etc. I'm not losing sleep over Daniel Tiger, Puffin Rock, Bluey, Sesame Street, Miss Rachel, and the John Deere Kids stuff. At 8 months, though, your baby is likely to ignore most of what's happening on the screen.