tv time

[BeamMeUpScottie]

Hi. How much tv do your toddlers watch? We live in a really hot country where you can't go outside from about 10 am and I am running out of toddler activities. So they are getting 3 hours or so, throughout the day, of Peppa pig. Just moved here so no mum friends yet. Can I compare notes? Feeling guilty already

Mine probably watched too much. Mainly films. I had HG throughout my whole pregnancy and was so sick. Toddler probably watched about two films a day. Now I'm ebf and my baby is feeding non stop and I have to put TV on keep toddler entertained as his tots won't do it. Also when it rains its s nightmare and he prob gets too much TV. But I make sure we do lots of activities where possible thought the week too.. Swimming, walking, park, football. Don't feel bad. As long as you have a balance.

If they have to watch a lot then make it good quality stuff. Baby Enstein. Caillou.

Also, invest in an ipad if you don't already have one. There's lots of educational aps like MonkeyPreschoolLunchbox that are good value.

I think prevailing guidance is no more than 2 hours a day of screen time?

My 17mo DS watches about an hour a day.... divided between morning (just so that I can have a shower and get everything ready before leaving for nursery drop off and then to work) and evening (washing the bath - we have shower in bath only) ahead of his bath, preparing his dinner and changing his sheets (for example).
At the weekend, he doesn't watch any (DH generally around when I need to get stuff done) or max about 30 mins over both days.
TBH, I feel terribly guilty about the amount he watches (I remember my grandfather telling me he'd read some article about a study they'd done showing that the pictures drawn by children who watching little TV were much more imaginative and detailed than those drawn by children who watched a lot).
I like nursery because I know it means he probably ends up watching less TV than if he were at home all the time

if you've just moved to a new country with no mum friends yet then give yourself a break and don't feel too guilty. 3 hours TV per day is doing really well, especially if you're with them the whole day and they're not in nursery yet!!!! Think of your sanity too!! I was very strict with my toddlers when we lived in the UK, they had almost no TV until the age of 3, then we moved abroad and there was no way I could get through the day without any TV. I didn't know anyone, DTs weren't at nursery and I didn't know the lay of the city yet. I needed TV just to get some washing/cooking/cleaning done! Now they're at nursery, we have lots of after nursery activities, I know children's cafes to go to, playdates with friends. So now they watch far less (about 1 hour per day and I try and have a couple of totally TV free days a week).