To ask how much screen time your toddlers get?

[Silverclasp]

My little one is 18 months old and for the last couple of days I've realised that I've had the TV on most of the day and I'm feeling so bad about it.

She's not a kid who will sit and watch TV for hours, she's too active climbing and playing but she loves it to be on in the background and will comment on whatever is on the screen from time to time.
Obviously we go outside for walks and playing but when we are in the house she asks for the TV to be put on all the time and I'm thinking that's not good for her and need to get out of the habit of doing it. We are currently making a playroom out of another room and there's no TV in there so hoping that will help.

So my question is those of you with toddlers how much TV do they watch?

Just to note it's usually YouTube she's watching so Super Simple Songs or various versions of "we are going on a bear hunt" because she's obsessed with that book.

I automatically put it on in the morning for my DC who are nearly 4 and 18 months, and it's usually on for about 30-45 mins.

If we're at home/they're tired in late afternoon (so usually the weekend) they have probably another hour.

It's not generally on in the background here. It's not a habit we're in and eldest will just turn it off.

Could you set aside a specific time for TV? Ours is most likely 5.30am to about 6.15am for obvious reasons

Really depends. Some days none. Days like today when I have a stinking cold and cba? Loads. I don't really think about it much.

We don't have the TV on at all if no one is watching it. My little boy is also 18 months and he will sit and watch it - he tends to have some in the morning, maybe half an hour to an hour depending on how early he wakes. The 4 days i work he won't have any during the day as they don't have one at nursery but the days i'm with him he might get another show around lunch. Then when we get home in the evening he gets one show. So in total probably between 1 and 3 hours a day...on hard days a bit more!

If she's watching songs or similar is it just that she likes a bit of background music? Could you try that instead?

You'll get so many posters saying their children only have 10 minutes a month because they're too busy doing enriching activities all day.
In reality it will vary. Some days you'll be busy all day, some days (like us today) it will be on all day because of illness, tiredness, or just for a treat. And all the variations in between.
It doesn't matter. Don't compare with anyone else, as long as you and they enjoy other activities, and you're not shoving them in front of it every waking moment, it doesn't matter.

@BarbaraLoganPrice

You'll get so many posters saying their children only have 10 minutes a month because they're too busy doing enriching activities all day. In reality it will vary. Some days you'll be busy all day, some days (like us today) it will be on all day because of illness, tiredness, or just for a treat. And all the variations in between. It doesn't matter. Don't compare with anyone else, as long as you and they enjoy other activities, and you're not shoving them in front of it every waking moment, it doesn't matter.

Again for those in the back!!

Probably too much but he is only just starting to sit and watch things for longer periods. it's mostly on for background noise.
He's at nursery all day so 30 mins when we get home doesn't hurt as a wind down before bed but otherwise it's background.
Always something age appropriate though so I don't feel as guilty.

Our TV is often on in the background but is very much just background noise 95% of the time rather than actively watching. I have tried to swap to the radio many times but my DC are used to me using Spotify for music and get annoyed that songs they like aren't on, and I don't want to be a Spotify remote all day.

I think there is a lot of guilt surrounding screen time, however most programmes for children are in some way educational and little children don't tend to have the attention span to actually watch anything for more than a few minutes at a time.

I know for me having adult voices in the background helps with my mental health and isolation of being on my own with young children a lot of the time.

My DD is 20 months and has only just started watching tv this month. She had no interest whatsoever.
She now loves Hey Duggee so every couple of days asks to watch an episode. Unfortunately she has a 4 second attention span so will usually bring me a book within a couple of minutes and ignore the tv. Yet if I turn it off she starts screaming .

We don't have tv on in the day usually so she's just not used to it. I'm glad she's not that interested but at the same time it would be lovely to be able to plonk her down for half an hour and get a bit of peace and quiet!

Our tv is on a lot. I like having it on as background noise and my son will play with toys, watch a little, play again ad infinitum all day. On the days we stay in of course.

We eat in the dining room away from any tvs so that's dedicated screen free time

@PissedOffNeighbour22 my daughter does the same thing, grabs my hand to bring me over to read a book or play a game but when I go to turn off the TV she freaks out.

Right my son watches far too much tv. But we always go out in a day, we always play and we always do some learning games. He also does nursery twice a week and a play group. I only have CBeebies on, no other channels. My son Is an absolute sweetheart and speaks well, counts and is a really happy little person. He never hits or hurts anyone and doesn’t have a blast off temper. Of course he has his moments too. But I really don’t think the tv is harming him. I don’t leave him on his own with it either. We love a cuddle in front of the tv.

My child has done nothing but winge today - not even swimming or a trip round the supermarket ( they normally love it) pacified them. TV on while they rampage round the living room is helping so I won’t be turning it off.

DS is 16 months old, once a day here. He gets about 45 minutes post-nap with his snack - he likes music videos on YouTube.

Too much! But in all honesty, part of that is a product of covid, when during lockdown 1, DD was 18 months old and both DH and I were trying to WFH with no childcare, the TV did become a good distraction! Also elder DD watches too much youtube and this has rubbed off on her!

But it does vary. She goes to nursery, gymnastics, swimming, music group, the park, grandparents etc so if she spends an entire afternoon watching back to back Bluey, I'm not going to beat myself up about it!

@BarbaraLoganPrice

You'll get so many posters saying their children only have 10 minutes a month because they're too busy doing enriching activities all day. In reality it will vary. Some days you'll be busy all day, some days (like us today) it will be on all day because of illness, tiredness, or just for a treat. And all the variations in between. It doesn't matter. Don't compare with anyone else, as long as you and they enjoy other activities, and you're not shoving them in front of it every waking moment, it doesn't matter.

Great answer.

I'm also baffled by parents who say they have TV on for 20 minutes at a time... do people really do that? It seems very abrupt to cut off at that point

My DD (2.5 years) won’t do other things with the TV on in the background, she would sit and stare at it all day if it was kept on. So I put it on for about 30mins - 1 hour in the morning and the same before bedtime. And then we do other things in the day.
Most days. Then there are days like today when I’ve let her watch 4 hours of cocomelon because the baby is being difficult and I’m tired and just need her to be quiet and entertained. But then there are also days when we’re busy and she doesn’t watch any at all. And I take her out somewhere for at least a few hours every day so I figure it all balances out.

Not much at all in the week as he goes to nursery 3.5 days a week. Maybe half an hour in total while waiting for dinner or while putting shoes and coat on.

More at the weekends, but always balanced out with two outings a day (unless weather is really bad), inc trips to the park, playground, country walks, museums, church, playgroup, swimming etc. We also do lots of playing and reading at home, so it’s not TV for hours on end. We also limit what he watches to CBeebies shows on Iplayer and original Postman Pat etc on YouTube. We pay for YouTube so he doesn’t see ads.

He’s not allowed near phones or tablets. He’s 2.5 years old.

Twice a day, 20 minutes each time.

Some days 5 mins. Others 5 hours. I don't limit it and I don't worry about it

Depends on the day but honestly we don’t measure it. Sometimes it’s loads, sometimes a few episodes of Peppa Pig before bed.
On a rainy day- bloody loads. Needs must!

About half the days none, about 2 days a week half an hour (yes it does get turned on just for 1 episode!), and 1 or 2 days it will be on longer but not necessarily children's programmes.

I don't like using it as a babysitter, I quite like watching something together though. Or sometimes we have sport on or general TV.

We are rarely doing enriching activities though. More likely my Toddler is drawing on the furniture or breaking things in the kitchen

We don't say 'you can have 20 minutes', we say 'you can have two Octonauts' but that comes to the same thing... We don't have live tv though, only on demand/streaming, so putting the tv on to just 'what's on' isn't an option, we have to deliberately pick something.

20 mins cbeebies after dinner. 30 max. Unless one of the kids is poorly and not up to anything more. We only have one tv & one tablet, there isnt a tv in the kitchen or bedrooms.

2 year old doesnt use phones or tablets at all. Eldest (4) sometimes has 10 mins on a tablet playing a phonics game the school recommended, or playing on a drawing app.

Loads. Nobody in real life actually cares