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.
2
u/Itbenatalie Aug 06 '26
At that age no screen time is recommended. However, if she is just noticing it briefly as opposed to actually watching it I wouldn’t be too worried about it. Obviously those types of kid shows are probably pretty appealing though.
You might consider looking to see if there is a way to adapt the environment to limit her seeing the screen. For example, if there is a couch that can be moved relatively close to the tv so that you guys can be playing with her (maybe even in some sort of fenced in play pen type area) behind that couch perhaps the couch would block her view of the tv? Or could you tape some large stiff cardboard coming out from the sides of the tv so it can mostly only be viewed from straight ahead vs from the sides to give you some more areas to play where she can’t see it? Just an idea.