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Original poster

SAHMs, no judgements here... but how much TV does your toddler watch?

51 replies

mfea · 08/12/2011 11:12

Talking with a fellow SAHM at the playground and topic got on to TV.

I said that my DS (16 months) watched about 45 mins a day in total. Sometimes up to an hour. In the morning whilst I shower and housework. And then again after we come in from being out in the afternoon and I am preparing dinner, he just winds down.

She was horrified!

I can't understand why. We have incredibly active days... playground at least once a day, walks, rough play, books, indoor soft play, puzzles. What is the problem with chilling in front of the TV for a little bit?

I am curious about what others think??

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MudAndGlitter · 08/12/2011 11:14

We watch loads but usually discuss it as its on amd use whst we watch in play i don't see a problem with it tbh

Bonsoir · 08/12/2011 11:16

My DD never watched TV as a toddler and at 16 months she didn't watch DVDs either. But from about 2 she watched Maisie, and then Angelina Ballerina, pretty regularly.

Some people think that the TV (as in the medium, not the programming) harms the developing brain. Better safe than sorry.

MudAndGlitter · 08/12/2011 11:20

I've found things like umizoomi have helped DS and he will tell me answers to things. At nursery yesterday he was rescuing princess rapunzel from the tower with the aid of buzz lightyear!
The cooking program's give him ideas he'd like to try and mr maker has evoked a slight obsession with cutting and sticking

It wasn't until I joined mumsnet i discovered tv was terribly bad

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WheezyPeeze · 08/12/2011 11:31

We were probably the same as you. I have two DS: 4 and 2. And telly was a daily but short thing.
However I got DH to stop putting it on in the morning, before nursery, because it just caused ructions.
Then I got quite ill for months and months. And the telly was on all the time. Although the kids weren't necessarily watching it all the time.
I realised how shocked and judgemental the other mothers were with our telly watching habits but decided that, for me, breathing was more of a priority.
Now I'm on the mend, fingers crossed, I have started to switch it off. It was off all day yesterday. And it was great.

People can be a bit puritan about the whole thing. It's just another stick to hit us with.

However when it comes to computer games, do they still call them that? I am a total puritan. Or maybe just a kill joy. They give me the grue.

missboots · 08/12/2011 11:38

About the same as you - I use it to get DS to sit still long enough to get shoes and coat on or to keep him out of the kitchen for 10 mins or so while I'm preparing lunch/tea. And then again to wind down while having milk before bed. People can be puritanical with their own DCs but I have no concerns about my own choices for my own DS!

tryingtoleave · 08/12/2011 11:45

I would say the same, in the morning while I shower and the evening while I make dinner. But that adds up to a lot more than 45 minutes.

DressDownFriday · 08/12/2011 11:46

Can't see any problem myself.

I'll admit to plonking my DD's in front of the tv whilst I had time out for myself/doing housework. DD's are now 11 and 14 - never did them any harm.

As long as it's balanced out with other activities then does it really matter whether its 30 minutes or 2 hours a day.

camgirl · 08/12/2011 12:47

Usually about 1 hour a day for DS2 (2.4). More in the holidays, less in the summer when we're out more. He watches a mix of CBeebies, a French DVD we have and Peppa Pig in French (got the last two for DS1 and DS2 loves them!

And I've read the research into brain development ...! CBeebies is a world away from some of the violent, fast paced cartoons children were exposed too, and balanced with the usual mix of plenty of physical activity, plenty of reading, making etc it's perfectly fine imho.

belindarose · 08/12/2011 12:53

One episode of bloody Angelina Ballerina is all I can usually take and dd (2.3) makes me watch it with her! However, she got a few in a row last week when I was feeling really rough and didn't want to get off the sofa.

InmaculadaConcepcion · 08/12/2011 14:21

None 'cos we haven't got a telly (more because DH doesn't want one in the house rather than concerns about DD).

DD has a Baby Einstein video which she watches maybe once every ten days or so because I use it to keep her still while I'm cutting her nails. She will be 2 at the end of Jan.

The research I read suggests it's better to avoid TV/screen stuff for the under-twos as much as possible. But all children are different and I suspect there are far more important factors that impact on a child's brain development than whether or not they watch telly every day.

MegBusset · 08/12/2011 14:25

About an hour a day - 30 mins while I make tea and again while I run a bath and get beds ready.

More at weekends though!

BurntToffee · 08/12/2011 14:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

YankNCock · 08/12/2011 14:34

At 16 months DS wasn't interested (and I wish he'd stayed that way!).

When he did start watching, it was ITNG which is a half hour long. We'd let him watch 1, maybe 2 episodes a day.

Now that he's 2.3, he's very into Peppa Pig and the TV is a battleground. He'd watch it constantly and sit zombified all day if I'd let him. So he gets some in the morning before breakfast, and some in the evening after dinner, and we give a warning when it's the 'last Pig, then telly goes off!'.

It's about 35-45 minutes a day in total, and our rule is that telly stays off during the day. I have to shut the TV off with the remote and hide it, otherwise he'd keep turning it on and winding himself up.

Sometimes he's so desperate for it to be on, he asks to 'watch news?' (because 'news' is anything that DH and I watch that is boring)

camgirl · 08/12/2011 14:36

BurntToffee Some people make things far too hard for themselves.

That is so true. I remember one girl at school who always had the TV on in their house. It was always just on .. people went in and watched it when they felt like it. I think between them those children now have 3 Oxbridge degrees and countless professional qualifications.

That said, there are programmes I wouldn't let my DS watch having seen the effect they have on the behaviour of DS1s peers.

SantasLittleEmmaRoyd · 08/12/2011 14:41

I tried to limit it when DD was young, due to thinking I was being some kind of bad parent by letting her watch TV but when DS came along and DD was still only 20 months I couldn't get through the day without my plasma babysitter.

I don't see the problem with it. We read books, make things, bake things, grow veg, play outside, go to playgroups, so what if they watch tv too.

DD has sometimes really surprised me with some of the things she has learned from cbeebies.

MissMollyCoddle · 08/12/2011 14:43

About the same as you. They often have an episode of a Postman Pat (15 mins) whilst I run upstairs, shower, make beds and gather laundry together. Then in the evening, we tend to all sit down after dinner and play and then nearer bedtime we watch a Mr Tumble (20 mins?) as calm down time before bath , books and bed upstairs.

I know that compared to my friends' little girl 45 mins is a lot everyday, but then she is in nursery all day and when they get home its just bath and bed so its a totally different kettle of fish, can't compare really.

The way I see it, we are out and about doing something different everyday, they still get books read to them through the day (if we are home) and at bed so I really can't see t doing any harm.

Now, when DD2 was a newborn DD1 watched a lot of cbeebies, the BBC really earned my licence fee last year!

SantasLittleEmmaRoyd · 08/12/2011 14:44

But YankNCock makes a good point, I think it depends on the child. If a child would sit zombified all day I'd be more inclined to limit it. Mine will watch a bit then get bored and go off an do something more interesting like start a fight with one another

Violetroses · 08/12/2011 14:45

I used to be very judgey and puritanical - wouldn't watch TV whilst breastfeeding with DS1, didn't want to expose him to it at all. I got a virus when he was 2 and I regretted it then, because he wouldn't watch the damn thing - expected his usual fully-attentive mum.

CBeebies is now on for DS1 (now 4) and DS2 (20 months) while I make supper from 4.20-5pm ish, and for half and hour afterwards (I'm 39 weeks pregnant with DS3). I don't see much harm in it, and it's helped make them play more independently. Is difficult cooking/cleaning/mnetting with children clinging onto your legs.

petaluma · 08/12/2011 14:46

Absolutely loads. I have a newborn and a very active toddler obsessed with peppa pig.

He has learned so much from it because I talk to him about what's going on, and he reads more books because of it.

I do occasionally feel guilty about it BUT he has such an active varied life - several playgroups, trips to the park, friends over, soft play centres - that I know he gets a balance. I suspect you may get skewed respOnses on this thread - I know loads of mums who let their dcs watch a lot of tv but would never admit it on here, and those who see tv as harmful to development and limit their dcs viewing, either have very biddable kids or feel so passionately about it, they feel compelled to answer this thread. ;)

MissMollyCoddle · 08/12/2011 14:51

Petaluma Don't feel at all guilty, I think think cbeebies was invented to help out mums who are struggling with the baby/toddler combination. It was heaven sent!

Astronaut79 · 08/12/2011 14:54

A lot more than I thought he would.

in my defence, Ds tends to bounce awake at 6 and run in to our room. Tv has garnered us many a moment's shut-eye on the weekend.

Currently have a newborn and it hasn't stopped raining for days, so 'Cbvision' is a god send, as I get to feed her whilst Ds is entertained. i usually stick in on at lunch time for an hour, then in the dead zone at 4, before Dh comes home. There's also Tv before we go up to bed for a story. I do feel guilty sometimes, but cbbies is definitely teaching him various things and again, like others, I talk to him about the programmes. He also gets bored quite often and will wander away to play for a bit, so I can grab the opportunity to put the radio on. Besides, we do lots of other stuff and when I'm back in work he'llwatch it all day in his grandparents' house not watch as much.

megapixels · 08/12/2011 14:56

At 16 months none. They weren't interested anyway, not that I had to enforce it as a rule. And I never have the TV on as background noise, it only comes on in the evening, and stays on only if someone is actively watching.

But with DD1 I'd sometimes switch the TV on when I go for a shower, about 10-15 mins. She would have been 2 or more then though. After that I used it plenty (and still do) if I have loads to do around the house and want them out of the way. Not as an everyday thing.

YankNCock · 08/12/2011 16:21

Oh mine learns things from telly, just not things I find all that helpful. For instance, he tipped fabric conditioner on to the floor and then gleefully jumped in it (in his socks) shouting 'Muddy puddles, muddy puddles!' (thank you Peppa Pissing Pig)

And I am regularly called 'naughty mummy' if I do anything he doesn't like (which is a lot of things). Again, thank you, oh porcine one. 'Naughty' was a word we were trying to avoid.

EmmaBemma · 08/12/2011 16:56

I think people get their knickers in a twist about telly a bit. My elder daughter (4) would be glued to the screen all day long if she could, so I limit it for that reason to one hour in the evening. But I know people who have the telly on all day on as background noise (like camgirl's friends) and their children hardly seem to notice it most of the time.

NinkyNonker · 08/12/2011 20:14

I tend to put it on for about 20 mins first thing while I empty the dishwasher, get breakfast etc. Then same again at the end of the day for the reverse process. To be honest, at 16 months she rarely does more than glance at it as she dashes past it en route to emptying or destroying something.

DH will put it on with her sometimes, but he will dance along to it with her, point stuff out etc so not just shove her in front of it.

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