How much telly is your under 2 watching?

[MouMouCow]

DS is 18 months and has started recently watching cbeebies in the morning for 30 min and then in the evening for another 30 min and DP finds it too much and is concerned. DS only used to watch 30 min in the evening until then, but discovered Bob the builder and wants to watch it every day...
I'm quite happy with DS' vocabulary and capacity to express himself, and the fact that he is now showing signs he can empathise with characters and follows stories (watched the episode of the Night Garden where one of the Tomliboos got lost with fascination, very focused though).
Is it too much telly time for such a wee little boy?
If during weekends we're out and about 3 or 4 hours every day does it compensate? It's not that he watches telly all day. He can ride a scooter like a 3 year old which I'm very proud of.
or are we making a fuss about nothing?
I'd like your views please?

[FeralGirlCambs]

Maybe 20 mins to half an hour once or twice max a week. She's 16 mo. We're not big on telly so I guess I tend not to think of it except when really knackered / at end of tether. No doubt it'll increase...

[ZuleikaD]

No telly at all - a bit of a film DVD at the weekend (Toy Story or similar). We don't have tv, though, so it's pretty easy. The DCs never see us watching - it's just not a thing we do.

The guidance is no tv at all for under-2s, but that does assume you're not interacting with them while it's on. It's plonking them in front of it alone that's bad, supposedly - that's mitigated if you sit with them and talk to them about it as it's going on ("ooh look, here comes Wobbly Bottom, I wonder what he'll do today" type of thing.)

[megandraper]

No screen-time at all for under-2s here. I read an article about how it damages their brains

Not a lot of screen-time for over-2s either, as it's not very easy to give it to some and not others. DC3 is 16 months, so not too long to go.

I think Zuleika is right, the guidance is about the interaction, so not leaving them for a length of time just zoning in front of moving pictures.

[MouMouCow]

Thanks for the feedback, DS never watches alone, we even join in the singing, clapping and do comment a lot about what's going on, repeating words clearly to help DS understand and pointing at things (oh, look there's a bow wow, or look at the red blanket and DS repeats every word said so it is quite interactive and possibly accounts for why DS has such a varied vocabulary for his age). I think DS enjoys as much us adults looking like fools than what's actually on.
And he tends to zone in and out, Will watch 2 minutes of bob the builder and then get his truck out and play on the floor looking away from the telly, so he's not glued to it. We don't watch DVDs at all though (technical problems that has never been resolved) and only watch at precise times when there is something on that DS likes.
But I'm worried now, I don't want DS to become addicted, as it is very addictive and we've doubled the time already in the last 6 months...And I surely don't want to damage him, he has such a good start with language acquisition....

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

23mo dd2 watches 20mins max. this is her choice though - the only thing she is even vaguely interested in is In the Night Garden.
dd1 probably watched an hour a day at that age, in two 30min spells, with no harm evident.

[SaraBellumHertz]

20mth doesn't watch anything. Too much else going on for her to be interested. Older DC's watched considerably more - close together and needed the distraction with DC2 watching the most. He is now on the G & T programme at his school.

[MouMouCow]

what's the G&T programme?

[TheLaineyWayIsEssex]

eek! Ds 22 months watches about 30 mins in the morning while we are all getting ready for work/nursery and about the same in the evening before bath/and or bed.
he maybe watches a little more at the weekend if we are home and I am trying to clean - but it is certainly not a substitute babysitter.

[SaraBellumHertz]

G& T is gifted an talented. He is advanced in maths and literacy. Clearly being babysat by an inanimate object a little tv has done him no harm

[woopsidaisy]

Oh lord. I'm a lost cause then! DS3 watches Numrums and In The Night Garden with gusto- he is nearly 10 weeks! It is so handy when I need to hang out clothes or run hoover about. He loves it, and we also spent HOURS chatting to each other and cuddling and breast feeding...so I can live with it. When the big boys are home he watches them!

[dappleton]

we're about the same as you OP, DS 18months watches perhaps 15min in the morning and 20-30min while DH and I have dinner. Nothing the rest of the day. It all seems pretty educational - colours, shapes etc can't see it's going to cause any harm.

[Shayl85]

I think for us it's probably about 30mins a day, sometimes more if I'm busy looking after my other child. We tend to keep this at a min. I don't see any harm in longer periods, just my son is quite contempt playing with toys instead :)

[DialMforMummy]

Mine does not watch telly apart from very occasionally "In the night garden" (maybe once a fortnight). I am very against TV with children because I think that it becomes a very difficult habit to kick. I'd rather my child doing something else than watch TV.
Trouble is, they will want to watch more and more and it will become battleground. That's why I don't want him to watch any telly. The battle will come soon enough...

[DialsMavis]

DD is 23 months and started watching 1 in the night garden in the summer when I was trying to move house.

Now she might watch none for a day or 2 then it might be on for around 45 mins to an hour late morning.

DS watched loads when he was young, no ill effects, also G & T and incredibly articulate.

I never have it on until the kids are in bed. I am more concerned about her watching inappropriate stuff when DS has it on after school, but I can hardly stop him watching programmes he has loved since before she was born.

[Kiwiinkits]

You'll get a biased sample on here. None of the imperfect parents will admit to it.
At that age, DD was watching around 30-45 mins per day, in the evening before bed.
If you are concerned, you can choose age appropriate things (i.e. not too fast-paced, not too flickery) on DVD. See if you can find a set of the Baby Einstein DVDs -- I would recommend them 100% even though they are American. They have been FABULOUS for DD's vocabulary and understanding of the world.

[Eggsbon]

Oh dear, I am ashamed to say my 22 month is watching around 2 hours per day! 30 minutes for In the Night Garden, 30 minutes while I cook his dinner and then numerous short periods thoughout the day if I need to get on with things (mainly Alphablocks which he's obsessed with). I have to say, it wasn't nearly this much until I had a baby 9 weeks ago, now the TV has turned in to the babysitter. Bad mummy, I know... I'm hoping this will reduce again as I perfect the art of leaving the house.
On the plus side, his obsession with Alphablocks has really got him in to letters and he will now sound out some of the words from the Alphablocks magazine - something I've not taught him!

[JoEW]

20 month DS watches a bit of BBC Breakfast with DH, 15 mins, while he has a cup of tea (DH not DS) and then about half an hour of cbeebies in the evening, while he has a snack and milk before bathtime (DS not DH). I like Charlie & Lola, so we always watch that. I get a bit bored of ITNG, so we usually stop before it ends.

[Iggly]

If your DP is worried then you should ask why. tbh I think it's too much for under 2s. We had none here until ds was 2 and do the same for his you her sister. It's a lazy parenting method, yes it is before anyone protests. I use it myself

[matana]

I too am a lost cause. No TV in the morning as a rule, but around an hour in the evening (sometimes more). That said, DH and i work FT so DS goes to a CM. By the time we get home in the evening he's so shattered he just wants to snuggle up with us and watch TV. We watch it with him though and talk to him about what's going on. I don't like just plonking him down and using CBeebies as a babysitter and at weekends we'll always try to do fun, active things with him instead and go for walks. I do think it's harder in the Winter and we've just been through an entire summer with virtually no TV.

[Christmas78]

About 30 minutes morning and 30 minutes evening. Which is about the same as everyone else I know with toddlers. All in moderation etc etc! X

[Beatrixpotty]

The tv is on (milkshake or Cbeebies) for 30 mins in the morning and sometimes for an hour in the evening.And sometimes also put a DVD on for up to an hour as well . 19 m not interested at all. DC1 (3) glued to it.I feel like a crap mum for having it on this much but I'm pregnant with DC3,need to get things done, and reconcile it with the fact that DC1 is at pre-school and doing things like swimming for the majority of the week and does other stuff like play with Lego and trains very imaginatively and also never stops talking.I admire mums that never have the tv on at all but haven't managed to get into that habit myself.

[CanIHaveAPetGiraffePlease]

I think this is a select bunch replying!!

I did no tv until 2 with my first, but I think I was the only one I knew (inc NCT, post-natal etc) that did this. Most were amazed and many had tv on almost as background noise.

I was incredibly sick when pregnant with no 2, so at 2yr 5months ish my first started to watch quite a bit of tv. And learnt (with my help obviously) numbers, letters etc. I didn't have any childcare options and
I couldn't have managed with constant sickness ("oh mummy you're being sick again. Can I have my breakfast now").

Now she is at pre-school (and no 2 is out) we watch a lot less tv but I have changed my attitudes. It isn't evil incarnate. Cbeebies is pretty good. I liked show me show me and numtums later on.

Now my little one is 11 months I can see that she isn't going to get to 2 without watching tv as I'm going to let the big one watch!

[BlingLoving]

Ds loves intg so he always watches some at night - normally a full episode and often watches an episode or something else in the morning. He also gets story time in the iPad -- about 45 minutes a day.

I feel no guilt. We are always around and sometimes he needs something just to quietly focus on. He engages with both, as do we, and it works well.

100 years they did not have tv, sure. But I can assure you that do spent a lit more time plonked on floor and expected to just get on with it with no interaction it stimulation.

[midseasonsale]

Mine watch about an hour once every two or three days. Peppa pig mostly.

[midseasonsale]

My older kids get one hour screen time every other day.