Whenever I talk to other parents about their kids’ TV viewing practices, many are surprised we don’t have cable (or even an antenna that works), and they often want to know what “screen time” is allowed and how it’s administered. It’s pretty much “self serve” for the children, but we do monitor it. Here’s how:
When Netflix allowed multiple profiles, we set them up for each of us adults and then created one called “babies.” Its content is set to “12 & under” (since our 3 are 8, 6, and 5 right now).
Since on Saturday mornings, they get up early to watch Netflix while we stay in bed a while, we like knowing the content is restricted, and they only watch under their profile. If we want to check and make sure we approve of the content they’re getting, we can also review their viewings (which are not always together, as they’ll sometimes split up and use the TV and ipad(s) simultaneously, as they did this weekend):
They tend to favor shows they grew to enjoy on PBS (back before we cut the cable cord).
I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that we had these features for months before I actually started using them, but now, it’s something I’ll monitor from time to time, like a retirement account (or something else that one monitors from time to time), and I recommend you do the same!