Our screen time limit came less out of worry about disconnection and more from noticing that our preschooler had more meltdowns when he was allowed to watch more shows. Even GOOD shows, GENTLE shows. Mr. Rogers, Daniel Tiger, Winnie the Pooh etc.
He wasn’t even melting down about the shows themselves; he’d walk away from the screen on his own when the show was over. But for an hour or two after that, he would be on edge. So now our screen rule is that he’s allowed one 20ish minute show after his rest time, while I nurse the baby in the afternoon. And only if he remembers to ask for it himself. I won’t interrupt his tower building or coloring to offer a show.
This rule goes out the window if he’s sick, and then he gets a full 90 minute Winnie the Pooh or Disney Robin Hood — or BOTH — while absentmindedly sipping fluids and eating clementines. He still melts down when it’s over, but at least he’s hydrated.
BY THE WAY, if you think, “Oh, I remember liking Robin Hood, it’s all cute animals, I can get some chores done while he watches this,” maybe you, like me, have totally forgotten the plot of this movie. My kid got obsessed with it when we all had the flu this winter. I got to field questions about gallows, and taxes, and why some people like taxes and some people don’t, and now he shouts “DEATH TO TYRANTS” sometimes. A pox on the phony king of England!