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?

You sound very sensible and moderate and I wouldn't worry about it at all.

I think most children watch more TV than their parents would readily admit on this thread.

I know families who have the TV on all the time when they're in the house and they all seem to have normal, bright and happy children.

I also know a family who were quite smug about not having a TV at all - then I noticed that they play DVDs of cartoons for the kids on their computers!

But then I am about to take my kids to McDonalds for tea so perhaps my opinion doesn't count today!

A McDonalds once in a while does no harm whatsoever!! Infact I love it as a treat ;-)

Oh God! I thought we were being 'good' by letting DS 'only' watch 20 mins morning and 20 mins evening. He's 18 months. DH uses it a lot more than me.

narkedDo you know if you do eye exercises you can 'correct' short sight? it's true I do them so one can get the DCs to do them as well. I mean If you're sitting all day in front of a screen your bum will spread won't it? It can be reversed easily.

Blimey mine are both damaged you know I never timed TV, it wouldn't cross my mind to limit to 20 minutes etc, they just watched f it was on, and sometime played and had it on as background - we weren't in all day so it was never a big deal.

Even now my 2 DS age 5 & 8 will switch it on or off at will, but they happily walk away from it and sometimes go days without it and other day are glued for hours. I guess as it's never been restricted it's not a big deal on or off?

Ideally my 28m old would just watch around an hour a day. A bit in the morning and INTG before bed when we are all winding down before bath time. Trouble is he gets up at 5.30 and tbh I don't feel like doing much constructive play at that time so he watches a DVD (Tweenies currently). i wish he watched less but I try not to worry too much.

DD 'watches' the following; Micky Mouse clubhouse, Jungle Junction, Zou and ItNG oh and The Hive. Shes coming up to 2. ItNG sometimes before bed depending what time that is as I like them all saying night night and can be useful in readying her to whats coming up...

Micky, Jungle, Zou and Hive are shown 1 at a time e.g. first thing in the morning when I make breakfast, then switched off whilst its eaten in another room. We usually then play, put stuff away and get dressed so tv is off again.

Im not worried by the amount she watches as shes doing something else whilst its on and its helped her vocabulary and Im careful which programs I let her watch.

Im not worried by others/experts either. They do studies on 50 kids and extrapolate. Im not seduced by a new mascara anymore either tested on 200 women and then marketed to millions....figure same kind of statistics.

She doesnt watch anything remotely adult and never watches anything I havent seen before (Sky + so its all taped really anyway) that way mickey for example goes shopping or out or bed if shes begging to see another... so far works anyway.

Ohh feck. I am a bad mother

DS is 11 months. I put baby TV on in the morning when I am getting ready for work. It's the only way I can do my makeup.

Is there any actual evidence that it is harmful in itself as a google only shows me studies where there is also poor interaction etc

our telly is nearly on all day!!! i did use it as a baby sitter when i had my third child now 2.5 yrs old due to grief and pnd and it seems to of stuck. i am trying to break the habit but i struggle.

Yikes I am a bad mother as well in terms of using the TV as occasional babysitter. Times are different now, I don't have parents or inlaws living close to me so i rarely get a break. Sometimes i need the TV on just to have a 15 minute breather but its mostly CBeebies. I hope it isn't doing DS any harm. I think when he was 2 was peak viewing time because he would never stick to one single activity for more than 30 seconds. Now that he is in school he is watching a lot less TV

There was an hilariously crap bit of research reported on Radio 4 the other day. It simultaneously said that a) toddlers shouldn't watch any TV because they should be running around all the time, and b) that toddlers shouldn't watch any TV because they should be interacting with their parents all the time. I had this brilliant vision of a mother running around the garden with her toddler all day long while simultaneously maintaining eye contact and holding educational conversations . The same pile of crap piece of research also used the following argument: we have found evidence that watching six hours of TV a day is not good for toddlers; we have therefore come to the conclusion that it would really be better if they watched none at all, and that is therefore our recommendation. Biggest load of unscientific bollocks I've ever heard.

Oh, and while I'm ranting, this whole myth about TV being a modern evil in the sense that it stops parents interacting with their kids is also absolute toss. If you go back, say, 75 years or so, the amount of time that a SAHM had to spend on domestic chores because she didn't have any labour saving devices like washing machines, microwaves and hoovers was absolutely massive. Far less time available to spend interacting with her children.

Wow. Really had no idea people actually timed their kids watching telly. Not being rude or anything, just hadn't really considered it as anything that needed discussing.
My ds nearly 1 comes into bed with us in the mornings between 6.30 - 7 and watches a few episodes of Peppa. He might watch another couple of things later in the day, he might see a bit of football if his dad is watching or he might see some Spongebob if his sisters are watching.
I take him out plenty in the week, swimming, toddler groups, parks, lunches etc. He does the school run twice a day in his buggy an hour each time getting lots of fresh air. I think it's totally in proportion, although I guess (having read this) some would see it as too much. Maybe it's an hour spaced over the day, maybe it's 3 if theres a film on in the front room while we're making train sets.
Very interesting reading this thread though, genuinely didn't think of it as something to worry about.

Mine (19mnths) watches about 25 mins in evening (read: on a good day, is 20 mins, on a bad day is 40 mins). In the mornings about once or twice a week will have about 15 mins (my estimate of how long Timmy lasts for) whilst Mummy has a restorative coffee. The morning TV started when I had pneumonia, and I wish it never had. The evening TV is nice and cuddly before bath/story/bed. She doesn't watch anything else - including DVD or whatever. I think that would count as TV time anyway, even if it is improving "baby Einstien" stuff.

Sounds OK to me.

dd is 11mo and doesn't watch any TV but that is because I can only bear to have Peppa Pig on and even that she seems to only like the music at the start.

Saying that, I do have the telly on in the background most days when Im in (work FT so rare anyways), and again she watches certain bits, and ignores most of it. Her favourite is All Star Mr & Mrs as she waves back at them when they wave at the start, and claps along with the audience when a question is answered correctly, but thats about it

I don't specifically restrict the TV for her, I just am not prepared to watch drivel (In the night garden makes me want to poke my eyes out) so generally the TV is only on when I want to watch a specific thing.

The CM she goes to doesn't have a TV, but that was just by chance as she was our favourite for other reasons, so if she had a TV it wouldn't have bothered me.

However, in your situation, I think that you and your DH are both the parents and neithers wishes shoould override the others - if he is unhappy with the amount of TV your ds watches then he should have a say in it. A compromise would be good.

Shoudl have siad "DD doesn't watch any kiddies TV" - she loves a bit of Pointless

I had a question about this actually: when you say 'no tv for the under-2s', does that mean not having any television on at all when they're around as well? We don't have a TV as such, just the Apple TV where you select podcasts or buy TV shows on iTunes that you watch on demand, rather than the usual TV channels so my DS (1) hasn't ever watched TV and I don't watch anything while he's around usually. Recently though I've been cracking in my resolve and started watching some regular video podcasts and news headlines, maybe adding up to about 1 hour total.

So is the 'no-TV' rule only for the child or is it also 'no TV in their presence'? Even when I do watch a news show or video podcast, he doesn't pay attention really unless some music or a loud noise makes him look over.

Oh dear, I'm going to seem like a terrible
Parent now.

2.8 yr old DS watches a good couple of hours in the morning. But he is up 2/3 times a night & is up anytime from 4:30. He's usually still exhausted when he gets up so he crashes out in front of Peppa pig/Fireman Sam while I catch up on some sleep!

I don't have it on during the day tho, and we do lots of different activities, and his speech & social skills are fantastic, so I'm not worried.

We don't have the tv during the day. Dd 3.9, has never watched a live tv programme (except occasionally watching rugby with dh). If we're in the house then she's allowed one dvd each on Saturday and Sunday - so approx 2 hours in total. The rule was no tv before 18 months for either dc. Ds just turned 18 mths and so now we let him be he same room when tv is oon, but he's not interested. Pit ass could do with the break!

Mine also like to watch the washing machines go around and around................

DS1 watched about 20 minutes twice a day around the same age as your LO. By the time he was 3, this had risen to 30-60 minutes a day, after lunch, as I lay comatose on the sofa and the new baby slept. Now they are 4 and 6 and I let them have an hour a day during the week (after school) and maybe 1.5-2 hours a day at the weekend. They are both bright, articulate, physically fit children. I was (and am) pretty vigilant about what they watch - we've never allowed any commercial TV (as we hate the consumerism engendered by advertising) or any 'grown up' programmes / films.

I am more relaxed about TV watching than hand-held screen technology (e.g. Nintendo consoles). I hate seeing toddlers and young children with their eyes stuck to those when they could as easily be sat on someone's knee with a crayon or book, given some playdoh etc.

Crumbs, I'm another one who needs to join the "bad parenting" club.

DH watches BBC Breakfast when he gets up to get ready for work. I tend to keep Breakfast on so I can see the headlines/local news/weather and then switch over to cbeebies whilst I get myself ready, do some washing up etc. We've probably already clocked up 60-90 minutes by the time we go out

DD and I will then go out in the morning - toddler group, shopping, the park, a friend's house etc. Back home for lunch, then DD will have her nap.

I do try to keep the TV off in the afternoons, but there are some days when DD tends to be even more into everything than normal. It's exhausting to keep moving her away from the CD cabinet/bookshelves when all she wants to do is pull the CDs or books out, so I'll often resort to putting the TV on. I know perhaps I "should" engage her with something else, but that is easier said than done when I need to get on with getting dinner ready etc.

Just wondering whether parents who limit TV to 15 minutes (or thereabouts) per day are those who go out to work? I'm interested in what other SAHMs do. The days seem very, very long sometimes, especially when I haven't had adult company, so putting the TV on can be a god-send to enable me to have a little bit of respite.

The tv is on all day in my house, usually tuned into cbeebies but sometimes noddy.

My 16 month old is the brightest, funniest, happiest little man I know.

I'm not going to make excuses for it - we are happy as we are.

Can I say as an OLD mum and GM count yourselves VERY lucky with the standard of a lot of the DC's T.V. today. You have sooo many CHOICES of GOOD (not a load of violent cartoons which were considered good DC viewing in my day) stuff to watch, and how to watch it, WITHOUT Ads FABULOUS.