To stop giving myself a hard time about the amount of TV my toddler is watching?

Hobbycraft and The Range have tons of reduced price Christmas craft stuff at the moment. Some of it is so lovely that i might buy myself some😍 I got my nephew a large cardboard gingerbread house one year to colour in/paint and play inside and that was a big hit - from Hobbycraft they also sell igloo ones i think. or an actual assemble a gingerbread house kit etc. Always popular. I would say maybe don't let your young DD eat lunch whilst watching TV or staring at a screen or you may end up with a child who won't eat nicely without watching a screen. My nephew (9) is now a bit like this. Always got a screen propped up at the table when he's eating etc. I think 6 am is a bit early for full-on playing with a young child personally so nothing wrong with some cbeebies then just for a bit if she's always up early. Maybe age appropriate story CDs would be nice too? Roald Dahl stories or The Magic Faraway Tree or whatever 🌳 I find classical music on low is really relaxing too esp at the crack of dawn. I bet she'd like some matching pairs card games too. I didn't mind sitting doing those 1st thing when mine were young plus you could get a range of ones - more educational ones if you wanted to mix it up,make it a bit more interesting. I've seen flags of the world ones (my DS was amazing at knowing his capital cities/countries when he was v young, he loved memorising them). Good luck OP. I know it's much harder these days to keep kids away from screens esp at this time of year.

Are you ill, pregnant, disabled? If not then I think that's an awful amount of screentime for a 2yo. Most recent study showed how bad tv is for children. 2yo are recommended no screentime. Yours has it on for what, 25% of her awake hours?!

Yes she'll be fine, it won't kill her. But the most recent study on 5000 Canadian children showed links in lower maths and writing results. Why would you want to hamper her, even if it's only by 5 or 10 or 15 or 20%. There's really only a tiny difference between being fine and extraordinary.

You've asked the question so no need to be so defensive with your replies either.

Set boundaries that you can stick to.
No TV during meal times.
No TV in the morning - you want to break that habit now as it's terrible for them before school.
Books, tonie box, toys, dolls, colouring. Just anyhting other than TV in the mornings

Honestly, my daughter watched quite a lot of telly when she was young. She's now 18, just passed her driving test, doing really well at A Levels, offers from great unis, plenty friends etc. It'll be fine. Just try to limit the amount as much as you can but don't beat yourself up about it - she'll be fine. I'm sure that you read and play with her too (I did all those things too but mine just never slept until evening and the days were very long so I did let her watch a bit of Cbeebies fairly frequently).

We have the TV on in the background all day. Always have. Absolutely no issues.

Op she's obviously getting stimulation and meeting peers etc at toddler groups , I think you said you go once a day ?

I wish when mine where younger I had seen all these I tube things on how to entertain toddlers.
Eg someone strapped paper towel tube (ie longer than loo roll ) to their kitchen side and the toddler was spending ages dropping pasta , soft balls and what ever through the different sizes tubes onto bowls at the bottom !

Then I saw this amazing video of what looks like a older Chinese granny with her granddaughter and she has very simple stuff like cushions and she turned that into mini obstacle course game and jumping , and doing this and that and a whole range of simple house items turned into a child wonderland !
I'm sorry my explanation is really bad ! But hopefully you get the idea
I remeber seeing it wishing i had that info my when my two were young !
Very creative and free and yet stimulating ,physically working on fine and large motee skills ...and this and that
So maybe loll up stuff like that

I think 'screen time' is too simplistic and there are lots of factors. I think big tv time is very different to holding an iPad and watching YouTube kids. I also think it really depends what they are watching on the tv. You cam be selective with what they're watching and opt for lower stimulus shows.

I currently have a just turned 3yo and a 4 month old. I've recently started making a 'morning basket' each evenings for her, I leave it on the dining table before I go to bed and she now goes straight to it in the morning. I made a huge list of ideas for things to put in there so at the end of the day it just takes 2 mins to put together. Usually a book (lime a lift the flaps or 100 words book), paper and something to make marks with (I mix it up, crayons, paint pens etc) and something like a puzzle or blocks, or just a random toy she hasn't played with for a while. However I will say, I tried this at 2.5 and it didn't hold her attention. But I'd say try it and keep offering, it's hard when you're busy so try after school or weekends but if you start it together she could make the move to being independent.

However, after a while she does ask to watch tv. So we have a little tv time in the morning, and we have it as quiet/rest time instead of nap, and a little in the evening. We've very selective about what she watches. On youtube you can find shows like little bear or moon and me.

Some people will think it's too much. I try to look at the whole picture. We do a lot of really engaging activities with her, a variety of things, and we always monitor how it's impacting her behaviour and adjust accordingly. So there's no hard and fast rule, but do make sure the tv works for you so you don't get stuck!

This.

Im from a different time as my DC are now 17 and 15 . We had CBeebies on as background noise and they would just play in front of it - toys all over the place . I also used drawing to distract - always had a pad of cheap a4 paper and colouring stuff on the kitchen table . Also we got the max permitted kids books out the library every week . I took them out pretty much every morning though and read to them each evening . My DCs development is not stunted at all - the eldest is at Grammar School doing 4 Alevels and an EPQ and the younger one is hopefully going to pass all his GCSEs if I haven’t just jinxed it . There is some great stuff on some of the free view channels too as they get older - can’t remember the name but my eldest used to watch an engineering programme religiously

Oh just ignore that poster. They seem to have a nasty streak. If you think your toddler has too much TV time maybe try to cut some gradually. No TV at meal times and stop putting it on the mornings. A bit of wind down time later on watching the Gruffalo is fine!

Yeah, probably.

It’s dark, cold, I’m tired and not up for much else.
things get a bit tricky.
attempts to encourage ‘quiet time haven’t been very successful.
getting very, very tired ... wanting to chill out and
impeding her development
with the weather being wet and cold and dark early it’s hard finding motivation.
they don’t hold her attention for long at all.
I am wondering whether ... to make more of an effort!

6am isn’t early really, if you’re going to bed at a reasonable time. I get up at this time pretty much every day, in bed no later than 10.30 and feel fine.

I realised my DS was watching too much when his attention span was just shot during most other activities, he has SEN so I felt it particularly pertinent to fix it. Now in the morning I let him make a big mess with the lego if that’s what he wants to do, or we read, or he draws or plays with his cars. After school we do any homework (he’s 5), read his school book, do a dot to dot or colouring sheet, play with Lego again. He also helps me chop veggies for tea or bake dessert. Barely watches TV now.

I suggest cutting down, find other things to do. Make a mess and be a bit wild.

Her child is 2 - of course most things don't hold her attention!

This all sounds absolutely fine - the research broadly shows that it’s about what they watch rather than how much. Watching a long film like Frozen or Moana and following an entire storyline is actually much better for them than 15 episodes of a short show with no plot. The really terrible stuff is Cocomelon and short videos on YouTube, especially when watched on an iPad or phone where they can scroll or autoplay mindlessly. Watching good quality programmes and films like the ones you list above are not going to do her any damage, especially if you watch them with her and talk to her about the plot. At that age my son watched a lot of Julia Donaldsons and educational shows like Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures.

From your other comments it sounds like she’s doing absolutely fine, so just trust your gut. You only need to change things if you think it’s having a negative impact on her behaviour. Other than that the only mistake you’ve made is hoping for solidarity from Mumsnet!

🙄

You literally said the other things you do with her don't hold her attention. There's plenty of evidence and research into children in recent years who have increasing access screens and the problems they have paying attention and focusing as they get older.

The thing that stood out about your OP was how many times you basically said (in different words) that you can't really be arsed.

I think a lot depends on what they're watching and the context they're watching it in.

• Well made, educational stuff (i.e. CBeebies) is far better than YouTube or Netflix dross

• I've recently converted to putting on the channel rather than binge watching particular things and find it's much better - there are natural breaks where it's something they're not as interested in, and it generally seems a healthier way to consume content

• watching with another person (parent or sibling) is a lot better than watching alone

• putting the subtitles on is a great way to start working on early reading skills without them even knowing

Obviously it all varies child to child but mine watch a similar amount of TV and seem to be doing just fine socially, emotionally and educationally.p

OP

Go easy on yourself

Life is already hard enough for us all

Everything in moderation

Sounds like you are doing great

I have friends who refuse a tv in their home
Utter madness

I think they are OTT

It depends on what they’re watching to a certain extent- mine had a lot of screen time but it was vaguely educational (Numberblocks, which helped their maths, Mr Tumble, which helped my SEN son learn Makaton, Alphablocks, etc). If it’s hours of mindless Netflix nonsense, I’d have more of a problem with it.
It’s harder in the winter months if you don’t have a golden child that will sit nicely and read, bake, colour, whatever (mine wouldn’t!) so as long as there’s a mix of going out and about, then chilling at home, I wouldn’t beat yourself up too much

Did nobody else grow up in a house where the TV was permanently on and turn out ok? 😂

OP mine grew up on the Night Garden, Wonder Pets etc (maybe before your time)

Now at a RG Uni studying medicine.

We do what we have to do in the trenches