Why We Said Goodbye To YouTube Kids ...

We finally did it. We pulled the plug on YouTube Kids. Maybe in your family that might not seem like a big deal, or maybe you had to do the same. Maybe a small percentage of you have no clue what YouTube Kids is and well, you are better off for sure! Last year we stumbled on YouTube Kids and the endless toy videos, kids recipe videos, kids dress up videos, quick kid shows etc. Truthfully, it isn’t a bad thing and if your family can handle it then I’d say YES, keep on keeping on with letting your kids enjoy its bounty. I thought we could handle it. Turns out, not so much.

For starters, we bought our son Ryan a small iPad to use during travel. We downloaded movies, shows and a few learning apps for him. He only used it when actively traveling and it was all fine. I know parents + screen time … well look, we all have our different opinions on it. You can read my thoughts on screen time HERE. Spoiler alert, we let our kids enjoy screen time. Now that Mila gets to have Ryan’s iPad the same rules applied. Movies, shows, and learning apps while actively traveling. It worked for us.

Ok, so last year we stumbled on YouTube Kids. I found it harmless and Mila would enjoy a few videos here and there until soon she started crying when it was time to turn it off. We battled this with explaining to her that if she cried when it was time to turn it off then she wouldn’t be able to enjoy it anymore. She thought about this and that worked. Until it didn’t. I’m quick to blame 2020 and the fact that we’ve found ourselves within the confines of our home more often than normal. BUT, truthfully it is our fault for allowing Mila to enjoy a bit too much of YouTube Kids. The crying and tantrums came to an all time high last week when it was time to turn OFF YouTube Kids. So much so that we had no real other choice but to say goodbye to it indefinitely.

For some reason it wasn’t clicking for Mila that if she heavily cried and screamed when it was time to turn it off, she would then NOT get it anymore. I felt so confused! We tried calmly talking through this with her and she would seem to understand and agree. We would try again and boom! Queue the tears and tantrum. We did give her so many chances and each time were met with extreme scream-o fests that ultimately would bring us both to tears of frustration. We couldn’t handle it and as it turns out, something so fun had turned into something so toxic for us. Which is a huge bummer.

I’m not saying we won’t ever see the colorful landscape of blind bag videos or toy reviews again. But for now they are banned and for good reason. Since YouTube Kids has left the building there have been zero tantrums, zero frustration. When it’s time to turn off the iPad after doing a learning app there are no tears, no fighting. The sun is shinning once again it feels like!

We made this decision because it felt right for our family. I’m not saying YouTube Kids is bad and if your family can handle it then that is awesome! I just wanted to share because I think it is important to share the bad events along with the good. Motherhood is tough and making decisions for the betterment of your family can feel extremely daunting. I felt so awful taking away something Mila loved so dearly. But in the days afterwards she has turned into a totally different girl!

Share your thoughts below … I’m sure we’ve all come across something similar.