How often does your toddler watch TV?

[Lelophants]

How often and how long for? Curious to see what everyone does.

[Mylittlesandwich]

DS is only 17 months so he doesn't watch much. He has the attention span of one short episode which I'll put on if I need to quickly get something done but not every day.

[Chickenlickeninthepot]

About an hour in the morning and then 30 minutes before dinner. It was more when I was newly pregnant/heavily pregnant/had a newborn.

DS gets up at silly o'clock so he watches Cbeebies first thing while I drink endless cups of tea and try to remember why I thought having kids was a good idea.

[Nameregretter]

3 year old DS didn’t watch any TV until his sibling was born when he was 2.5. He watched loads in the early months but now it’s prob 30-60 mins 3-4 days per week (when I have to make dinner and DH isn’t around). All his peers watch loads more than that though.

[Ihaveoflate]

My 22 month old watches two short programmes on CBeebies on non-nursery days, totaling about 40 mins.

She watches one before lunch and one before tea. If it's nice weather though, she'd rather be in the garden - but it's cold and wet at the moment so telly wins!

[AliceTheCamelHasFiveHumps]

Nearly 17m, none.

[Allthegranola]

15 months. Weekdays it's probably 20 minutes, weekends an hour? I never put it on for them specifically, it's just if older sibling has it on and they are in the room.

[MagicMatilda]

I have the TV on in the background and my toddler never ever watches it. I don’t have children’s programs on though so that might be why.

[Onceuponatime1818]

26 month old, about an hour a day in 2 30min sessions

[Zarinea]

16 months. One CBeebies episode in the morning if it's an early one, one before tea if it's been a tough day.

Occasionally more in extremis.

Have discovered that she loves the Sewing Bee (bright colours/ smiley people/ jaunty music I guess), so we've been going through that in 10 min chunks to stop my brain dissolving from too much Duggie.

[BertieBotts]

Every day in the mornings and normally after nursery as well. Age 2.5

[dottiedaisee]

Granddaughter aged 17 months...it really depends on how the day is !!
Probably more if a rainy day and Mum or grandma feeling exhausted …all TV appropriate for her age ...thank god for Mr Tumble 😂

[TiggeryBear]

DC2 almost 3 years old watches an alarming / embarrassingly large amount of TV. It's on with some kind of kids TV most of the day. He'll dip in & out though & he'll ignore it if he's interested in something else. I think we've just gotten in to the habit of turning it on after the school run whilst I potter about washing up breakfast stuff, putting washing on etc then we might do puzzles or play whilst it's on in the background.

[Bomchiccawick]

An hour in the morning whilst I do jobs and then another 40 mins/ an hour in the evening whilst I cook dinner.

[Findahouse21]

Dd is 17 months and watches none, I've just never put it in for her. She has a 6 year old sister who watched from about 4 months and loved TV as a toddler, but even when dd1 has cartons on dd2 shows no interest so I haven't bothered with her at all

[Snowpaw]

2.5 yr old - some days none. Other days 45 mins whilst I’m cooking dinner. I try and only use it when I know she’s hungry and tired and just needs some time to be still.

On days any of the household feels ill it’s on a lot more with zero guilt as a one off.

[BeHereNowx32]

25 month old watches a quite a lot. Usually it’s on first thing, for a few hours, and then late afternoon for another couple of hours. On a bad day, it can be on even more.

What do people do to fill the time while at home? Do your children go and play independently?! I used to do lots of activities etc, but ran out of steam 🙈

[00100001]

@BeHereNowx32

25 month old watches a quite a lot. Usually it’s on first thing, for a few hours, and then late afternoon for another couple of hours. On a bad day, it can be on even more.

What do people do to fill the time while at home? Do your children go and play independently?! I used to do lots of activities etc, but ran out of steam 🙈

Imagine you had no TV. They'd be forced to do other things. Like puzzles, colouring, dolls, Lego, play outside, make dens, dress up, role play, read, cars, trains, cook/bake, paint, play dough, sorting laundry, farm animals, bike rides, walks, scooter, park, swimming, sweeping, water play, sandpits, bubbles... etc

At 2 they should be able to play independently for a while.

No need to provide "activities" all the time.

[BeHereNowx32]

@00100001 yeah, she does all these sorts of things, and we spend a lot of time outside too. But with no naps and early waking- it’s a lot of time to fill 😅 I may look into how I have things set up for her. Thanks

[Bomchiccawick]

I feel the same way @BeHereNowx32 I assume they have siblings? Because there is no way I can constantly fill the day it’s exhausting!

[EmergencyHydrangea]

Too much but I don't care. The Telletubies, Postman Pat, and Little Baby Bum have kept me sane over the last year

[BeHereNowx32]

@Bomchiccawick @EmergencyHydrangea your comments make me feel better 😅
I try not to have it on between 9:30-3:30... most days

[24GinDrinkingOnceTheKidsInBed]

We keep the telly on in the background, DD doesn’t watch much of anything. She watches a bit of bing, Peter rabbit and go jetters. But only when something catches her attention while she playing.

[Amammai]

DS is 3.5. Actually watching it properly - about an hour per day. On in the back ground and he might watch odd bits- another hour or couple of hours on a weekend. I used to stress massively about it but have found myself more relaxed now I know he’s confidently hit milestones and now eyfs goals. I don’t feel it’s doing him any harm. We also play a lot inside and outside and have lots of days out as well as lots of stories. I feel it’s all in balance and he seems to learn a lot from what he watches (and no we don’t only watch educational stuff- he picks up all kinds of interesting things from kids YouTube!)

[Onceuponatime1818]

Out of interest why do people leave the tv on all day if not watching?

[Brieminewine]

It’s usually on in the background in the playroom but she doesn’t really watch it, well apart from when Peppa is on 😂 I think she’s learnt quite a lot from some programmes, she’s a very wide vocabulary, speaks in sentences and could count to 10 at 19MO.