AIBU to think that excessive watching of tv has a detrimental effect on a toddler's behaviour?

[BigGiantCowWithAKnockKnockTail]

Because I'm about to tell XH that he'd be hard pushed to find a mother of a toddler who would dispute that. Thought I'd better check first

Lords knows what they might get up to if over exposed to Spongebob

I don't think it does. Maybe if its all day everyday with no interaction with parents.

In fact when ds (2) gets a bit over excited I put on curious George and it chills him out.

How excessive are you talking?

It depends what you mean by excessive?

Sorry, I don't have a link - but there have been studies which have concluded that toddlers shouldn't watch very much tv at all.

I am sure there are studies saying the opposite too choco
YABU.
Unless the child is being sat in front of the tv for hours with no interaction at all.

I don't know exactly how long it was for but it's the only thing she's talked about doing at all yesterday. We don't have a tv so she doesn't watch very much here. If she's watched more than normal I find her much more unsettled at bedtime, which is basically the problem he had with her and then he decided to bring her back to me at 9:30 last night because she was 'playing up' and he couldn't deal with it

pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2011/10/12/peds.2011-1753.full.pdf

I don't think the tv is your main problem here.

I have briefly looked at some of the studies and I don't think that there is conclusive proof that sitting toddlers in front of the tv 'does' something (bad) to their brains. I think it's more of a secondary issue - the sorts of families in which tv use is really excessive tend to be familes where other stuff that's not great is going on and stuff that is beneficial (lots of talking/reading/going out to parks etc) isn't happening so much. I don't think it's as simple as tv alone causes a problem.

YANBU

It does if that is all that happens in the toddlers home, we need to interact with other humans to be fully rounded.

One toddler that i saw via my work was non practically non verbal after being shut in a room with a television but had picked up some sign from "something special".

Any play helps develop motor and thinking skills, so that is obviously needed.

If it was daily then it would have a dextramental effect on development and possibly intellect.

You would be counter acting this though.

Toddlers are little sponges, it is a pity to waste this stage.

We always watch an hour of Cbeebies before bed - I really don't find it unsettles my toddler (but then it's not a novelty for her).

DD watches some in our bed each morning while we doze/get ready. This varies from none if she has woken up late to 2 hours if she has woken up early at the weekend and if she will sit still. She watches up to 1.5 hours in the evenings, though not normally this much. I don't think it has been a problem for her behaviour.

However what we do is part of her normal routine and even if she argues she goes to bed at her normal time, never 9.30.

I actually find that watching some TV has done wonders for my toddlers conversational skills. She comes out with stuff that she defo doesn't get from us or grandparents or nursery (as far as I'm aware). It has also reinforced 'work' we have done with her re letters, numbers, shapes etc. a lot depends on the programme.

Did you Know???

random fact coming up<

it is illegal in France to pitch TV programmes at preschoolers. Therefore there is no TV for the under 5's.

Yabu - surely it depends what they are watching and how they watch it - ir are they playing while tv is on or watching it solidly?

Tv always on here but kids hardly ever just watching it (i can dream though)

When DD (2) was a little bit younger, about 18 months, we found she was starting to have nightmares at night and there seemed to be a correlation between them and the amount of television she was watching. We don't watch a lot here, but at her GPs' they do put her in front of it for a while.

She probably watches one or two episodes of something at the most per day (sometimes nothing) but as long as it's counterbalanced with plenty of fresh air, exercise and alternative stimulation, she seems fine.

YANBU

I never let my DS watch TV as a toddler, DVDs occasionally from when he was 3. We don't have a TV at home.

There is evidence to show that children respond better to being given the same information by another person than they do receiving it from TV.

Once children are able to walk, they should not spend more than 1 hour strapped into a buggy or anything else while they are awake, so definitely not watching TV strapped into a buggy.

My ex also lets our DS watch lots of TV, that or computer games. If he has a day of this or a day at school and child care where they sit inside and watch DVDs and no outside play due to the weather, then he is quite hyper when I collect him and in need of lots of climbing, running and jumping.

A child that is used to a lot of TV would adapt to the situation but one who isn't may find it upsets their natural rhythm and energy levels.

YANBU. I'm laid back about most parenting issues, but we haven't got a TV and even if we had, I wouldn't let them watch. It's far too passive and it discourages the development of attention/concentration. The worst possible thing is when TV is on all the time as background wallpaper: having to divide attention isn't ideal for growing minds.

I've got professional knowledge in this area so it's something I feel strongly about.

It's not called the 'glass teat' for nothing.

Thanks for all the responses. Definitely some interesting ideas and clearly something that is child-specific rather than a general rule.

It definitely does something to DD. She's had a screen free day today to counteract yesterday and she's been a dream. The less time she spends watching anything (always dvds in our case) the more chatty and imaginative she is in her play and soooo much nicer to be around!

YANBU, all my children are vile if they watch too much in a day.

YANBU my 16mo has never laid eyes on cbeebies or peppa pig!

I wish my toddler would watch more tv (sigh).

I often have it on in the hope it will catch his attention and make him sit still for 5 minutes!

eggsy then you don't know what sort of effect it might have!