Make the limit a wall, not a negotiation
Decide the limit when you're calm and your child isn't asking. Then let it be boring and fixed. A rule that's the same every day stops being a thing to argue about.
Set it once in your child's settings rather than granting 'just five more minutes' each evening — repeat exceptions teach a child that the real limit is how long they can push.
Warn the ending
Abrupt stops cause meltdowns. A heads-up — 'screens off in ten minutes' — and a known landing spot afterwards make the transition far smoother. The end of screen time should lead somewhere, not into a void.
Protect sleep and meals first
If you only hold two lines, make them no screens in the bedroom overnight and none at the table. Those two protect the things screens most disrupt — sleep and connection — and they're easier to keep than a minute-by-minute budget.
How Murphee helps you hold the line
Pebbles is built without the hooks that make stopping hard — no autoplay rabbit-holes, no pressure streaks. When a limit you set is reached, Murphee winds the space down and sends you a quiet heads-up, so you can back the limit calmly instead of discovering it mid-argument.