How much tv does your toddler/preschooler watch-honestly!

[SuperAmoo]

My DD1 watches so much tv and I'm always reading about how watching more than two hours of tv per day is bad. But the fact is after being out at preschool or a friend's or the park etc in the morning, she watches tv for the rest of the day because she's too tired to do anything else, even play on her own. Does anyone else have this problem?

Depends. Today it's been all day nearly but then I feel TV was invented for days like this, rotten weather and dh away.

There's been phases (the winter after my youngest was born say) when it's been on far too much. But I just can't bring myself to get worked up about it...they do plenty of arty stuff, outdoorsy stuff and bookish stuff too. Sometimes there are just a LOT of hours to fill.

I have banned it before school though, it was more trouble than it was worth (for us).

Meglet: You always do BoogieBeebies, really? Even that baby thing today with the windypops ?

we only have dvds and she watches about 30 mins once or twice a week, am I evil?

Pre-schooler, 2 films a day.
She is addicted.
It is a phase which passes.
I refuse to be worried or feel guilty.

Dd (4.5) watches quit a lot. Up to 90 mins in the morning (she gets up early and it takes het a long time to come around. She is at nursery 4 days so none in the day then. If she is at home she gets to choose if she watches it during DS's nap. Sometimes she does and sometimes not. Then about 30mins before her bath (a little more if DH is working late and she watches an episode of Charlie and Lola while I settle herbrother). DS (20months) is not interested in anything other than Waybuloo so even if the Tv is on he wanders off to play.
I am happy that we have the balance right. DD is a clever little thing and gets plenty of time outdoors/ plating games/ doing craft.
It is only ever cbeebies apart from the past few weeks when we have started a BIG treat and she watches Strictly so off I go to watch with her....

Apologies for numerous typos. The bleeding iPhone is great but not for typing whilst sitting next to a cot!

My LO is now 2 and watches cbeebies quite a lot. I think it's really good quality stuff and I am happy for her to see it. She goes to nursery 3 days a week, and on the days when she is at home we go out all the time. I would never keep her in all day as it would drive both of us mad.

I really think cbeebies is good, her favourites are timmy time, something special, way baloo and ITNG. her toys are kept in the (always open) cupboard under the TV so she often plays instead.

I would never watch daytime telly though as I hate it, so she never sees anything inappropriate for her age or adverts.

Lots of telly here...probably an hour on a good day, lots more if I am on my knees. We kind of hit a slippery slope with it when DS2 came along...DS 1 was (and still is) utterly incapable of entertaining himself for even a nano second so when I was BF-ing DS2 (who specialised in crazy 5 hour cluster-feeding bouts initially) telly was the only thing that kept us all sane.

Now - well, it still keeps me sane tbh. DS1 still requires full time personal entertainment and telly is THE only thing that he can do alone for brief periods. DS2 on the other hand, having been thoroughly neglected due to demanding older brother, is an independent little angel!

Wierd this guilt thing tho, isnt it? It sounds like most people do loads with their DCs and simply use telly as down time. Is that really so wicked...? If you have a child that will quietly sit and read a book/listen to a CD/paint a picture for an hour then thats great, but many of us don't...but our children need a bit of quiet time too (as do we quite frankly.) This thread has gone some way to helping me rationalise the silliness of my guilt about it. So wheres the remote..?

I think it makes a difference whether they have a nap or not and whether there is a baby in the house. DD didn't watch much until I had morning sickness for 36 weeks of the pregnancy and now DS is little she needs something to entertain her otherwise she "helps" putting DS down to nap - usually by doing headstands while I'm trying to feed him.

Find it bizarre that some watch more at weekends - surely there is another pair of hands to entertain them, I find DD watches close to none at weekends.

Talking books - any recommendations?

I'd be more worried about kids who play video games all day, than watch things like cbeebies.
At reception, they have the computers on in the morning and its ALWAYS the same kids who hog them.
The teacher only has them on once a week now.

DS (16m) watches ITNG OR Backyardigans for about 20 mins or so 3 or sometimes 4 times a week - helps to wind down on evenings he is very excited. I am a little hesitant with the TV as I was left alone in front of the TV (literally from birth, they tell me) constantly and grew up with a horrible TV addiction (couldn't sleep without it, couldn't relax without it, totally agitated when it wasn't on in the background!). There was no children's type programming on the one channel we had, and I can still remember being a little older and terrified of things I saw but not being able to look away and having aweful nightmares about them. So I guess I am a little overly sensitive to what/how much DS watches...

I'm wondering if the ones who say there LO wacthes no tv, or only a tiny bit, only have 1 non-school-going child in the house.

When there's a second or third baby around, it's soooooo helpful to have a bit of TV time, while you feed the baby. Or cook tea. Or do some tidying up. Or have a shower. Or close your eyes for a few minutes becuase you're exhausted!

iwantitnow I totally agree. DD had had no telly at all until I got pg with DD2 and was zonked and felt like crap. I put ITNG on and have never looked back! It's handy when you're BFing or doing stuff with the baby as well.

Also agree re naps DD dropped hers at just over 1 and it must be much easier if you have a child who sleeps in the day - if not TV gives everyone a rest and me a chance to get other things done.

In the night garden, sometimes and that's it. He is only 20 months though and I imagine the quota will increase once no 2 arrives in Jan !

TOTALLY agree re. babies and naps. I went on holiday with a friend and her 3yo DD (and baby) a year ago, and was horrified that her DD watched TV in the middle of day. Since then, DS was born, my DD became a 'threenager' and its all gone downhill form there !
Re. talking books, my DD LOVES the Julia Donaldson collection she has on CD (Gruffallo, Monkey Puzzle, Charlie Cook etc), has only recently gone off the ITNG CDs, and loves the BBC fairy tales (Little Red Riding Hood, Three Little pigs etc - although ironically, I am more worried about those than the TV - they are SO gorey!!! ). Have bought her a Charlie and Lola CD but don't know what its like yet as am saving it as blackmail a treat!

it really depends here, some days they watch about 2 hours (though not continuously), other days it stays off all day. on average i'd say 30-40 minutes.

i don't really feel guilty about it because it's either cbeebies (whcih is absolutely brilliant) or dvds. actually i think dvds are great, we have all the old disney ones (dumbo, cinderella, jungle book, peter pan- our current fave), they are lovely stories, with lovely music, great characters etc. often we watch them together which is a nice cuddly moment.

if they are not watching tv, then the tv is off- i have never ever watched daytime telly in my life.

what I do feel guilty about is the fact that while the amount above is I think fine for dd1 (3yrs8m), it is too much for dd2 (17 months), and dd1 didn't watch nearly as much at her age. but i really don't know what to do about that...

a couple more thoughts... i remember days when dd2 was about 3 monhts, torrential rain for days in end, i think we had peppa pig on a loop all day... it was awful. i felt bad because dd1 watched too much telly, she forgot about everything else, became addicted, and was just generally not very nice. but it was a phase whcih duly passed, she kind of got bored of it after a while.

and re the sleep thing- dd1 only now dropping her nap (i know she's late with it) and when she doesn't nap she'll normally watch a movie instead.

dublinmom (and iwantitnow, sardinequeen, undercovermutha) - I have an 8mo ds too, and it was hard in those early days, especially as iwantitnow says at feeding time when the green-eyed monster is stirring!

DD dropped her nap when I was about 2mo pg, so was quite exhausting when I was 7-9mo pg...

...but as I said I am lucky! Her personality is quiet, absorbed type- she really will 'play nicely' for a good amount of time, has from an early age, and for things like preparing dinner- I have her in the kitchen 'helping' me anyway (chopping mushrooms with a butter knife ).
It's all going to come back to bite me with ds I'm sure...

She does occasionally play video games, well she watches DH play Mario Kart for 10 minutes maybe (though we haven't done that for ages with DS around. I really am not happy with any screentime for under 2yo).

we probably have the tv on more than the boys actually watch - i have the news on in the background sometimes for a little while - it seems to be a secret obsession of mine!

proper sitting down watching is just over half an hour - 15 minutes of curious george before dinner and then 15 minutes after, only if ds1 has eaten enough and not palyed up.

It really varies. Sometimes it is over the 2 hours and most of the time less, esp now ds1 is at school (dd2+3 still at home with me)

I agree that what they watch is as important as how long they watch it. I never let them watch day time tv, soaps, violent cartoons.

I dont think you can beat cebeebies. Sitting and watching something like show me show me or something special with dd2 is something I choose to do as an activity. We sit and chat about it and what is happening. I dont see how that can be harmful at all.

Also the timescale of the excessive watching. When I had morning sickness with dd2+3 and when I had spd with dd3 they watched much more than normal but it was only for a shortish period rather than a 'lifestyle' iyswim. I dont think it did them any harm and everyone was happier.

We were finding DD was watching more and more tv for a couple of months before and after DS was born and I found she was playing tv related games, re-enacting peppa pig episodes etc rather than more imaginative play. She was also completely zoning out on the tv, going into a zombie mode and ignoring what was going on around her. That freaked me out so we made a few changes - we changed our dining room into a playroom and although there is a tv in there it has no aerial attached so can only watch dvds. Watching dvds instead of regular tv means we are able to turn it off more easily and measure how much they are watching, plus no adverts.

I also made tv rules:

• none at all at weekends when we are both around to entertain and can go out for walks/days out etc
• max one dvd a day at home during the week and only in the afternoon when tired
• books rather than tv before bed

I sold at an NCT sale all of DD's tv related toys and books - they seemed to feed into the tv thing, she wanted to watch tv because she was playing with the tv toys.

Nowadays the tv is rarely on. She probably watches an hour or two a week. She never asks for it anymore, it is certainly addictive to her, the less she watches the less she wants to watch. Now we could probably get rid of the tv and she'd never notice.

veryhungrylennipillar- yes- the blank-eyed stare

I hate seeing little children zoned out like that

difficult if you have more than 1 dc

ive 4 boys the youngest is 15mths and he wouldnt recognise cbeebies if he saw it

the other 3 have there fav programmes so an hour a day but to each watch there own gets to be quite a lot,

never on in the background its on for a reason usually, like others i sky+ things so its limited and monitored really

DS watches as much as it takes for us to have showers/do a bit of housework/grab a bit of sanity time or other vital tasks. We don't neglect him. He's never left on his own. I have no compulsion about him watching quality cbeebies programmes which are truly educational.

I watched tons of TV in my youth and still watch a fair amount now. I've also grown up to be an avid reader and snotty intellectual - !

People worry too much.

mine watch it at teatime in the week from 5-6 - peppa pig and night garden

at weekend dd gets a bit of hannah montanna on sat morning while i have a lie in

then we watch x factor together

My two DD's are 7 and 3 - so unfortunately because only the 7 year old knows how the remote works - they both end up watching Garfield or (the worst) Scooby Doo!! My 3 year old sings Scoobie doobie doo, where are you' perfectly! She also loves Mamma Mia and stands up on her little stage (foot stool) and sings it loudly... also likes to do this when in Sainsburys.

So the older they get and the wider the age gap the more difficult it is. My three year old doesn't really watch much on her own (she loves her dvds so will sometimes watch Ice Age or Lion King or Jungle Book), but when my seven year old gets home after school and activities she is shattered and watches some TV while I cook. Normally only about an hour or so but like I said - bye bye Cbeebies...