Do you let your under two watch TV?

[triton]

Despite best intentions (my pfb didn't watch any TV until he was two and a half, and even then half an hour a day) my 23 month old dd has been watching TV (up to an hour a day).

It saves my sanity at times and means I can cook nice meals at teatime. I only allow an hour max and she gets plenty of other one to one appropiate stimulation but I still feel guilty. She adores that waybuloo rubbish, her eyes just glaze over. But oh that bit of peace is far too precious!

I feel guilty though. Am I damaging her brain as the papers would have us believe? If I had never introduced TV would she have learnt other ways to entertain herself while I cook tea, or would I have to put up with her clinging to my leg and screeching?

Yes. Every day he makes me watch Neighbours, dreadful child that he is

I used to watch Countown and Deal or No Deal with DD2 when she was 18 months. She knew all the letters and could say them before Rachel did, she also got very excited at the numbers round. From watching these programmes we found out that 4 is her favourite number

I introduced our first child to 30 mins of Maisy the mouse video when he was about 20 months old, I was heavily pregnant and it was lovely to cuddle up with him on the sofa and watch Maisy together.

Obviously our second child was exposed to children's tv much earlier than her older borher was.

I don't think 30 mins a day of Maisy or Bob the Builder are harmful, just as I don't think that Little Einstein dvds (which have nver entered our household) will enhance their IQ.

At the moment our Tv hasn't got an aerial, we only watch dvds. I don't want my children to watch too much Italian tv, because it's crap (we are not in the UK anymore)

DD 16 month just watches something like 3rd and bird, Waybuloo or Night Garden between supper and bathtime. She generally turns her back on it after about five minutes though !

I read in a parenting manual (The Incredible Years, Webster-Stratton) that the studies which have said that TV is harmful found that 75% of the TV that the preschoolers assessed watched was not aimed at their age group or appropriate for them. This made me feel a lot better about watching Cbeebies or DVDs of Peppa Pig or Dora as I just don't think the studies apply to watching good quality programmes which are age appropriate - and like others, my son certainly learnt from TV before he was 2 - he was using signs from Something Special, for example. I think it's far better than some of the methods used in the past to get on with things whilst looking after small children, like leaving them at the bottom of the garden to scream!

My DD is now 3.8 and has watched "age appropriate" tv (and nothing else - worse luck) since long before she was 2. She used to love it but is now not really bothered one way or the other. If she asks to watch a dvd or some tv, I'll put it on and she may watch it or may wander off and do something else.

I've tried to encourage her to watch Saturday Kitchen and Strictly but she's just not interested.

I also don't really understand why we beat ourselves up about tv so much...