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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

How much T.V. do your kids watch in a day?

47 replies

batey · 04/05/2002 20:07

Just wondered what other people do. My dd's are 2 and 4 1/2, how much they watch varies on weather etc, but I would say their average is about 1-1 1/2 hrs. Is that awful?!

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WideWebWitch · 04/05/2002 20:27

No Batey, that's not awful, my ds (4 1/2) watches that much daily. But he also gets lots of countryside walks, adult conversation, stories, playgroup, fresh air playing football etc. So I reckon it's fine. If TV was all he did I'd be worried I reckon. And he does learn stuff from it - his vocabulary has been added to by Walking with Beasts/Dinosaurs: he asked me today what "the odds are not stacked in his favour" meant. Sounds fine to me.

Demented · 04/05/2002 23:19

That's not bad at all batey, hate to admit but my DS probably watches more than that. My DS had a speech delay at about 2 and the speech therapists, doctors etc were concerned that he didn't like to watch television. He isn't half making up for it now at just a little over 3. His speech is now almost normal for his age and although I have had concerns about his TV watching the health professionals are happy as they say it shows that his concentration has increased which was what they put most of his problems down to. As www says as long as they have a good mix of activities a bit of TV does them no harm. We unfortunately don't have a garden which I think adds to DS TV facination. My friend's DD has always been a TV addict (and I mean addict) and she started to speak early and has a great vocabulary, concentrates well and seems to have a good understanding of life for a 3 year old.

I'm not saying that I feel excessive TV watching is right either mind you and do try to steer DS away from the TV and on to other activities and we go out alot but I wouldn't say for a minute that your DDs are watching too much! Don't worry about it!

SueDonim · 04/05/2002 23:47

I don't think TV itself is the problem, it's how you use it. If it provides topics for discussion or ideas for things for your child to do or for you to do together I don't think there's anything wrong with it at all. And to be honest, a bit of vegging out with a TV programme doesn't go amiss, either. Lots of people unwind with an easy-read book or a gossip-y magazine and I don't see TV being any different. Obviously, 12 hours a day of TV is not desirable but 1-1.5 hrs isn't doing any harm, IMO.

susanmt · 05/05/2002 01:24

Too Much !!!!
Well maybe not, but dd watches a lot more since ds was born 3 months ago. Thank goodness for Cbeebies! Bring back Storymakers!

tigermoth · 05/05/2002 09:23

I find an hour or so of quiet afternoon TV-watching is a great way of replacing nap time for my two and a half year old. He's at an awkward stage. He needs a rest if we have had a busy morning, but if he goes into a deep sleep in his cot, I pay for it with a distrupted night. TV to the rescue.

Anyone here have views on Tom and Jerry cartoons? my toddler has recently discovered his older brother's collection and they have replaced Thomas the Tank as his favourite videos.

However, it can't be denied, they are full of violence and torture. I fear they are not very PC. Do you think I am wrong to let him watch them?

jodee · 05/05/2002 10:46

Tigermoth, just curious, why the change of heart if you were happy for your elder son to watch T&J (I'm sure he hasn't developed (in your words) 'violent and torturous' tendencies)?

I do agree that young children are great 'copycats' and I don't let my 2 yo ds watch Dennis the Menace on CBBC at the moment, perhaps for the reasons you are concerned about, but I may do when he is a little older and starts voicing his own opinions about what he wants to watch on TV. He has quite a free rein over his choice of videos and loves Pingu - there is an episode where Pingu cuts a wooden bridge with a saw then throws the saw over an iceberg - ds immediately picks up a spare video and throws it over the TV!

I must admit to loving Tom and Jerry as a kid, but probably didn't watch it until I was at school - I hate any cruelty and can't bear to step on an ant!

Ems · 05/05/2002 11:07

tigermoth, how funny, my two are giggling away at Tom and Jerry, so thought I'd nip in here!

I think its fine, they know its silly and aren't now going to bash each other with a saucepan or set light to their pants!

I remember watching it when I was little and squealing as you knew what was going to happen (its actually my video - not theirs!!)

We're really into StoryMakers at the mo, BBC2 8.30amish, its really good. Although the theme tune is too catchy and it spends the rest of the day in my head.

susanmt · 05/05/2002 11:40

Did you realise that Milton Wordsworth is actually the Cat from Red Dwarf? Gave dh and I a great laugh. It is my dd's favourite, especially Blue Cow

sniksnak · 05/05/2002 11:56

I recognised him too susanmt, but wasn't nearly as surprised as when he appears as an evil vampire in the dire film Blade II (dh didn't book for the film we wanted to see and it was sold out!!)

Demented · 05/05/2002 13:03

Blue Cow is brilliant!

Enid · 05/05/2002 14:02

Another vote for Storymakers - we love the blue cow too! And dd likes to say 'imagine...imagine...' before any story now.

KMG · 05/05/2002 18:52

My boys watch up to 1.5 hrs each day, (sometimes none). I do find Tweenies at 3.30 invaluable for winding-down/vegging after a hard afternoon at nursery.

But we've just discovered BBC Education programming (BBC2 mid morning). My son (4.5) loves Numbertime, Words and Pictures, and The Magic Key. Am I the only person not to have come across these before?

Azzie · 05/05/2002 19:01

KMG, I discovered these last time my 4.5 y.o. ds was home ill from nursery - he became totally engrossed in them. Ds also loves Walking with Dinosaurs/Beasts, and the Sunday late afternoon nature programmes on BBC2 - the latter have furnished us with much material for discussion, and I feel he's learning something from it.

janh · 05/05/2002 20:23

batey, my ds2 - now 17 and doing AS Levels - used to come home from nursery at lunchtime, aged 3 - 4, and watch Mary Poppins for 2 - 3 hours. EVERY DAY! As tigermoth says, it substitutes for a nap and lets them chill out - didn't do her any harm anyway....

tigermoth · 06/05/2002 10:27

Jodee, going back to your question, I was thinking to myself - why have any angst about my youngest watching Tom and Jerry, since the oldest as a toddler watched these cartoons with no adverse effects on him I assume. He was, however, very into playfighting as the three year old. But I'm not going to heap sole blame on old T&G for that

Anyway I had no mumsnet to ask this question on the first time round. I was just curious to see what other people feel about this.

I have to admit, if I was a toddler again, wild Tom and Gerry would win over worthy Thomas the Tank any day.

Janus · 06/05/2002 22:17

Batey, I think that's pretty much normal. I actually quite like watching something like 'Bear in the Big Blue House' with mine in the morning. I also find a put on a video when I'm preparing her tea so I can do it without her hanging off my leg!
KMG, I like the sound of the BBC Education programmes so will try this on those mornings when it's tipping down with rain, are they suitable for a nearly 2 year old?
I do find when the weather's good we don't watch hardly any TV and I think most people use it when there's not the option of getting out in the day.

MandyD · 06/05/2002 23:16

My son was fascinated by Words and Pictures from about 9 months old! He went on to learn his alphabet by 18 months. Can't be bad!!

Rhubarb · 07/05/2002 13:50

I don't like dd watching the television, but on occassions when I've been desperate she has watched the Tellytubbies (which she loves) and various other kids tv. I would say about 1/2 hour of that and Pet Rescue in the afternoons. When dh comes home he puts the tv on to watch Anne Robinson and it never gets switched off after that, but I don't count that as my dd's television watching as she doesn't really watch any of that.

KMG · 07/05/2002 18:38

Janus - most of the programmes I would say are not ideal for a nearly 2 yr old, but I notice that Mandy says her son loved it at 9 months. They are aimed at school children. So the ones I mentioned are aimed at Yr 1 & 2, some other programmes, such as MegaMaths are aimed older than this.

At home we always had a rule that the TV couldn't be on if it was light outside and not raining! I don't think I will be this strict with my children - sometimes they do just need to crash, but it's a pretty good rule of thumb to work by.

Original poster

batey · 10/05/2002 19:29

Susanmt-storymakers is now on bbc 2 in the mornings, 8.25 I think.

OP posts:

Azzie · 10/05/2002 19:33

How weird! I'd never heard about Storymakers until this afternoon when my son and his friend were sitting in his bedroom talking about it (ds sees it at nursery apparently), then I log on to Mumsnet and someone mentions it immediately.

Original poster

batey · 10/05/2002 20:05

Spooky!!!

OP posts:

susanmt · 11/05/2002 11:05

HOORAY!! Thanks batey!

LKM · 29/05/2002 10:13

Just thought I'd add this thought from an early childhood education specialist friend of mine (and please don't think I'm trying to make anyone feel guilty - also this is aimed more at young babies):

"Be cautious about TV. Strong inverse association in several research projects between TV as 'childminder'and development of ompetencies. That is, go easy on TV if you want a
bright baby. Babies and young children need multimodal input and interaction. There is something about TV that placates and dulls.
Doesn't engage the brain/mind of children much - can be addictive for some children. Apparently it is something to do with the sort of visual perception/ brain area involved in looking at TV
images - flat images.

Why are tapes better than TV? I think music is closer to natural sound, babies can concentrate just on sound, gives opportunities for detecting
patterns, sound bites that form words, and a variety of other benefits. (This seems a bit contradictory to my multimodal proposition, but I
guess the listening is short bursts and she may be doing some sound production or thinking about it as she listens). Babies are doing important work on language rhythms (sensitive period for establishing prosody of mother tongue) in their early months, and music aids this."

Cityfreak · 29/05/2002 10:26

Well, you all already know that I am a freak, so I might as well confess that 18 months ago I decided to save the TV licence fee towards a holiday, and got rid of the TV. I work full-time and hardly watched it anyway. Now, I would never have a TV back again. We really enjoy have a leisurely dinner together and talking and playing without anything distracting us. He sees a children's video 2-3 times per week at Nursery and if we visit a friend with a TV we might watch it occasionally. I have also enjoyed reading more when he is asleep. Perhaps if there were more shows I actually liked on TV, then I might feel I was missing out, but I feel relieved not to have a TV any more.

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