How Many Hours Does Your Child Watch TV/Videos?

[fimbles]

My dd, 21 months loves childrens videos. She watches fimbles, teletubbies, noddy and just recently Hi Five. She started watching them at around 6 months and the viewing time has unfortunately increased.

I have just bought the "Baby Talk" book, although I said I wasn't going to, it was staring at me in the "Big W". According to Dr Sally Ward the amount of TV viewing should only be half an hour per day.

My dd unfortunately watches alot more than that, but in saying so, she has learnt an awful lot from the videos, ie different styles of walking, started jumping last week and much more. Is it really that bad, as I feel really worried now. I know it can repress the speech, but she is saying around 50 words now, which I am told is ok, understanding seems ok too.I thought that as long as there is a balance between play, 1 to 1 time and videos then it should be ok Just wanted to hear your valued opinions. Thanks in advance.

Shouldny worry at all. I think it is impossible to manage unless you have an "extra babysitter" for some points in the day.

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Dd's almost 18 months and she watches t.v. 2-3 times a day for about 20 mins each session. We don't have the t.v. on in the day apart from her watching one of her videos / programmes. Unlike Cod, we're more likely to have t.v. on at mealtimes than any other time as it's currently the only way I can keep dd in the chair long enough to eat. I watch a bit when she's gone to bed because I'm too brain dead to do anything else! Also I would show her a video if she was v. tired or ill and not up to anything else. AND if I'm v. tired or ill and not up to anything else!

Sorry, but to answer your question properly. I don't think a little t.v. if you're in control of it can do much harm. I think sometimes 20 mins of zoning out isn't too bad. And if it's the right programme it can be educational. I think cartoons etc. that move to fast are supposed to be bad, sort of hypnotic. So choose age-appropriate t.v.

Hi Fimbles

My ds watches about 1.5 hours of tv a day. sometimes he watches more than this - sometimes less.

I think it all depends on the child. My ds gets up sometimes at 5.30am and goes to bed between 6-7pm. So in all that is a long day. So if he didnt watch a bit of tv he would be bored (especially with the weather being so bad we sometimes run out of things to do). I find a lot of the time he waunders off and isnt actually watching it anyway.

When I was little there wasnt all this worry about too much tv. I used to watch loads, and I have turned out ok (I think lol!!). Your dd is not watching anything harmful. It might be good to time tomorrow how much tv she actually watches. You may think she watches more than she actually does.

I think some of the programmes are really good and packed full of eduational stuff. I like to think that I am a good mum - but if I stuck to the half hour a days tv that Dr ward suggests - that means that I would have to entertain ds for about 12 - 13 hours a day!!

Anyway - do what is best for you and dd and dont worry.

Evita, your dd sounds likes she can entertain herself in the day without whinging. Do you spend alot of time with her? I've read on another thread that you work part time, who has her whilst you are at work? Mine won't/can't entertain herself for very long, maybe for about 20 mins out of every hr, then I spend time with her or put on a video, if I have to do something. The thing is, she has a very poor attention span and gets VERY angry if she can't do something and will just kick off, even when I show her!! Sometimes a video seems easier, I'm ashamed to say (esp when you are not in the mood/very tired).I feel like a bad mother!!

fimbles - if you were a bad mother you wouldnt be on here talking about this because you wouldnt care! Dont be too hard on yourself. Do you go out with dd a lot?

fimbles your not a bad mother because that makes me a terrible mother my ds watches as much tv as he wants never realy thought to time it beause when possible im playing with him but when your getting sleepless nights and a baby is willing to give you a time out for a hour or so i call it a blessing plus when i was growing up there was never a time limit on tv and it never hurt me as long as we still get our one to one time with our babies im sure that tv cant hurt that much exspecialy when its raining and you cant take them out and they get v bored

Once a week, they are allowed the tv on a saturday

carlyb, what a lovely response. You havemade me feel better. In the winter months I took dd out every afternoon for approx 2 hrs. In the summer months, we had morning walks and then again out in the afternoon, so definately less tv in the summer.

Do you spend alot of time with your ds or is he easily entertained by himself?

I was an absolute tele addict as a child and can also watch hours of rubbish as a adult. Dh goes mad at me for just having it on so I have been turning it off when there's nothing specific o watch. I'm a english teacher, as well, so it obviously didn't have too much of a detrimental effect on my powers of communication (on a good day!)
Dd does watch a fair bit I spose, but I do think all the pre-school tv, esp CBeebies is educational. I watch it with her and we talk about it and sing along, etc. She goes to a childminder and nursery 3 times a week and so goes all day then without TV. When she's with me on my days off a typical day would involve one video or dvd of her favourites (eg peter pan, jungle book, bagpuss, etc) and maybe half an hour of CBeebies towards the end of the day.
She has a great vocabulary (she's 2 and a half), we go out, do other things, have lots of 1 to 1 and I refuse to feel guilty about how much tv she watches!

This is a very timely thread for me as I've been worrying about tv watching myself a lot this weekend. My ds (17 months)usually watches about half an hour or so in the morning and a bit less than this after lunch so that I can get dressed and tidy up and also because this is when cbeebies is on. At the weeekend he'll usually watch a bit of his Maisy or teletubbies dvds when we run out of things to do. He does however demand to watch a lot more often than this (any little thing will give him the idea, eg. his fimbles plate, today I said 'give mummy a big hug' - big mistake more like )and I seem to spend lots of time distracting him into playing with his toys or reading a book. He also loves the songs and stories on the cbeebies website and I feel even more guilty about this as Sally Ward seems to think that computers are even worse than the tv although I can't see why as going on the website demands constant interaction from me and I sing the songs/do the actions - and receive absolutely no response from goggle eyed ds.

It really gets me down as he's only been watching tv for a few months and I feel like things that he used to love doing like reading books and singing have become 2nd best and I have genuinely been considering getting rid of the tv. Reasons why we probably won't are that it seems mean to get rid of something that he enjoys so much - I have such happy memories of watching childrens tv with my mum and like cuddling up to ds while he watches. Also that dp and I like watching films after ds has gone to bed and now we don't get out much its one thing that we still can share together.

Btw. fimbles, 20 minutes out of an hour entertaining herself sounds really good to me, arggh you're even giving me something else to worry about

dd 18 months
Occasionally in the morning if she has woken up v early after breakfast for 10 - 15 mins but usually not

Evenings, CBeebies bedtime hour after supper, usually 15 mins to half an hour

The odd video maybe once a week

Crossed posts with you Moomin and think I could do with a bit of your positive attitude on this.

My ds is a nightmare! He has a short attention span and gets bored.

I think like you said - winter is harder.

My day is like this in the winter : Ds gets up and has breakfast - then watches a bit of tv. I then watch Dr Phil on sky (yes I know!!) and ds plays. then he has lunch and a nap. We tend to go out in the afternoon for a few hours and then he watches a bit of tv whilst I cook dinner. I do all the things I should with him (reading writing, playing and so on) so dont see the problem with tv.

I entertain him as much as I can - but am not super mum and get drained! So he entertains himself a lot too. Sometimes though he just gets bored and I cant entertain him - so that is when he watches a bit of tv.

Try not to worry. Like I said make a note of how much dd watches tomorrow and then you will have more of an idea.
As long as her development/social skills are ok, you bond ok and both you and dd are happy - dont worry! When experts write these books they are generalising (cant spell that!). Your dd is watching noddy and teletubbies - not chucky and nightmare on elm street!
anyway I am waffling now!! glad you feel better xx

Croak - my dd would watch tv all day long if I put it on every time she asked. Today, for instance, we watched finding nemo together then as I got her farm out to play with the tv went onto CBeebies. I didn't even think about it until about 20 mins later when I realised we weren't watching it and it was just on in the background. I turned it off and she made a very weak and unconvincing protest before getting back to her playing. Don't beat yourself up about it TV is a wonderful invention as long as it's not abused. The better weather will be here before we know it and we'll all be worrying about whether our kids spend too much time in the sun and any other number of things the world wants us to feel guilty about!

DD2 (now 4.5) has developed an addiction to "Fun Song Factory" since her illness a few weeks back.

We're both out every day - her at nursery until 12.30pm or 2.30pm - depending on when I finish work. When we get in, she'll stick a video of FSF on whilst I'm clearing the kitchen/washing on/general tidying up etc until we got down to school to collect the other 2.

I have noticed that she is watching a LOT of FSF lately - a good couple of hours today whilst I was doing homework with the other 2/ironing school uniform etc - but she is constantly singing/dancing around the house - desperately wants to be one of the kids on Fun Song Factory

I'm not worried TBH with regards to her TV habits - come September she'll be at school full-time, so I have a bit of the "make the most of her being at home" attitude etc.

When we're not at nursery, we go for walks down to the beach/park and do "crafty" stuff so she does get a "mix" of stuff.

For what it's worth, DD1 (now 8) developed a huge addiction to "Tots TV" when she was a toddler and used to watch a fair bit I suppose. She's now a well-adjusted, very bright and intelligent child

I don't mind programmes such as CBeeBies/Nick Jr or videos - but I really stamp out things like Cartoon Network/Fox Kids and the like - am not keen on DS1 (6) watching stuff like PowerRangers/Cartoony stuff - would much rather he watched a DVD and then switch off.

I agree with CarlyB. It is a Winter thing in my house and it is only in the last week or so that my children nearly 5 and 3 are starting to get outside for longer and so the tv is not on as much. My do as you say crafty things as well. As long as they get a balance of things then I wouldn;t worry.

Aww thanks for that moomin, it makes me feel so much better that ds is not the only one who'd watch tv all day long if he could. I was starting to think that I must be the world's least entertaining mummy He also complains if I turn it off when he's stopped watching - its very strange how they like it on in the background isn't it.
I'm sure that you're all right that so long as they do a balance of activities they'll be fine. Ds loves toddling round outside for ages and this is much nicer when its warmish so things can only get better here too.
Thanks Slinky et al for the stories of your well adjusted children - they cheer me up no end
Looks like I won't have to get rid of the telly after all, was wondering how I'd live without my fix of channel four house programmes - and I wonder where ds gets it from.

I think too much tv-viewing can prevent children from making up their own games and it's too easy just to switch on the tv if you are bored. I don't think a couple of hours viewing matters on a rainy day, but we have set hours for when the tv is on and I control what they view. I think there are lots of good children's programmes.

I really don't like it when I am in houses where the tv is on continously. I think it's a reallybad habit to use the tv as a background to everything you do.

I think on average we have the tv on for cbeebies bedtime hour and at the weekend maybe 1/2 hour in the mornings too.

hi fimbles, almost embarrassed to post on this thread and therefore am not going to tell you how much my children watch but it's a lot more than half an hour/day! As long as it's not ALL day and you do other things too (you probably go out!) I really wouldn't worry.

Mine watch absolutely masses and appear to be perfectly OK, in fact really quite bright and alert

Half an hour a day??

Well I am a selfconfessed TV addict. I NEED the TV on when I'm in the house, especially on my own.... so it's no surprise that DS is the same. It's just not something that I put high on my list of priorities to monitor daily. I turned out perfectly well so don't really see a problem with it. DS still plays with his wooden train set, draws pictures, makes up games.... just usually with the TV on.

And YES he does have a TV and video in his room >gasp

WE watch much more than half an hour a day of TV too. DD will be 2 next week. But mostly she doesn't just sit in front of the TV vegitating. We watch Cbeebies mainly when she's watching and we join in together - the songs and actions, talking about what is on, etc. We also watch videos - fun song factory, baby bright and Cbeebies stuff. And we mix in loads of other stuff too - craft and art stuff, going outside, playing with toys, puzzles and games. Tv hasn't hindered DD's development so far at all. She is happy and sociable, imaginative, loves other types of lay, sings and dances, etc. And her language skills is definitely her strength - her vocab is well in excess of 100 or more, she talks in full ssentences and is really clear - can be understood my people outside of family increasinly so.

So I just think it isn't always how much you watch, but how you actually watch it - whether it is inactive or interactive. And that it is in addition to other things.

Well I am the worst mummy - Sunday mornign I had such a hangover, and god knows why mine decided that 6.30 (old time) or 7.30 new time was time to get up. But they usually sleep at least an hour more. Well I sent them downstairs (5 and 3) to watch TV and get a snack. When I finally woke up it was 9.30 and they had watched 3 hrs of TV!! Ate a pack of choccie biccies too, but at least I felt better

We also watched TV later for a couple of hours, a film and then the Simpsons