Who is with me? Reducing toddler's TV time

[Sixfeetandcounting]

I have always thought of myself as someone who is pretty much on top of things until I actually noted down how much TV my DS watches (he is 2.5). Some days when he gets up early it is as much as 5 hours!! WTF??????? - couldn't believe how much it adds up without realizing it. I have a 6 month old DS2 and I think it has really crept up since he was born.

So starting from today I am going to get a timer and he is going cold turkey down to 40 mins per day (2 x lots of 20 mins). My DH seems pretty unsupportive of this (Grrrr) and there will be probably be lots of tantrums until he gets used to it but I am determined.

Just wanted to know if there are any other MN's out there doing the same and what has worked for them - hoping that DS will get used to a timer going off and then the TV going off.

Because of DS hearing problems I was advised to reduce background noise by having TV off. I just wanted to say that after a few weeks you just get used to it. But, then again, DS was never that much into it (probably cos he couldn't hear it anyway)....good luck

Just tell him it's broken. Worked with DD. Bizarrely Beebies is suddenly a lot less broken when my only pupil of the week turns up. She's 2.8 and hasn't questioned it (yet).

I'm horrified by how much CBeebies we can get through in a day, too. :( I'm sleeping really badly at the moment, so I'm a miserable zombie in the morning and tend to just set her up in front of the telly with breakfast while I get properly conscious. By the time breakfast is done (a loooong process at the mo) and I've sorted myself out, that's an hour or more out of the way - and then a couple of her real favourites come on, so I let her have a bit longer and take the opportunity to do some tidying or cooking. I usually manage to put my foot down by lunchtime, but then it goes on again later when we're both tired and rubbing each other up the wrong way. I don't even have the excuse of a second baby needing my attention...

What I really want to do is pick a few shows that I like she likes, check the schedule, turn the TV on for those and then turn it off again. That's the way the TV was used in our house growing up - it was never on constantly or just to flip through channels, you read the TV magazine and you switched on only for what you wanted to watch. So no more of this non-stop veg-out stuff.

And try to figure out a way to make mornings easier until I can get some bloody sleep. :(

does he sit glued to it for five hours or is it just on? With the shocking weather lately there have been days when DS (also 2.5) has had that much - he watches it but will wander off, or we talk about it to make it more interactive. I have a baby as well and sometimes it is the only way to get some things done. We do try to minimize it on days when we can do other things but he is a very active kid and wants to either run about or watch TV, or read. Not really into puzzles, games, colouring etc so entertaining him indoors is v difficult. I try not to sweat it, if your DS is happy, healthy and developing normally, just try to find a balance.

Thanks all for the advice. leguminous that is exactly how it happens in my house too. DS1 gets up at 6:30am, sometimes earlier so we park him in front of the TV and by the time I have got up, showered, fed the baby, changed the baby, put washing on, had brekkie etc etc that is 2.5 hours already gone.

Then I keep it turned it off until about 4:30pm when I am flagging completely over --it and he watches while I get dinner, feed the baby, change the baby, put washing on etc etc. Then when DH comes home at 6:30pm we eat dinner together but again there is another 2 hours easy.

Actually now I have written this, it is probably sometimes more in the evenings after dinner . And yes trixie123 he is glued to the TV, might wander away sometimes but is mainly sitting on the sofa rocking away to it. We have my sky so he only watches certain recorded programmes and no adverts but I am definitely going to have to be more "on to it".

So far today (we live in NZ, so morning here) he doesn't seem at all bothered that there has been no TV so far - but that is likely because I have just spent most of the morning playing trains with him - he is loving this new regime :) Realising it is probably me who needs the TV more!!

good for you OP :)

I'd like to cut down too, it's difficult as DH is barely able to move some days (he can't work so I work while he is SAHD) so they certainly watch more than they should. You are so right about it being the parent who needs it more, nothing wrong in that admission! Don't be too harsh on yourself, it's really tricky with a toddler and a baby

What we are trying to do is make more of a thing about actually watching the TV IYSWIM, so making a point of actually watching whatever DVD they choose (we don't have live telly either) rather than just having it as background, so they appreciate what they do watch. I grew up with the TV on ALL the time, I don't really want to repeat that. We are also trying to reduce background noise for DS, who is speech delayed - it has already made a difference!

What really worked though was moving their bedroom around and tidying it finally - it is much better for them to play in now so we can be away from the telly completely.

I can recommend getting rid of it altogether. You really don't have to have something to sit them in front of while you do stuff - they get used to doing other things. We don't have tv but the DCs are allowed to watch a film at the weekends and the rest of the time they know there's no point asking.

Good on you OP, and agree with last post. I let her watch one episode of Baby Signing Time (DVD) in the morning but otherwise keep it off for the whole day. She manages to keep herself her busy. I think we think they must need it.

By 'her' I mean DD of course!

We used to let them watch 30 minutes at that age, which worked out to 3 Cbeebies programmes, so I said they could have 3 programmes and counted with them how many there had been (at whatever age they could count to 3, can't remember when that was!).

I also used to choose the ones they genuinely enjoyed (and maybe record them to watch at a convenient time) and then would say, right we're going to watch X and then the TV will go off and we will do Y (some other fun activity, especially at the beginning when you are making hte change).

Great Stuff. Thanks all. Reduced TV is working well at moment - have found it much easier to just give it up entirely in the morning and now he just watches me and plays with his toys as I go round and round the house getting things ready.

This at least means there is no TV in the house until 5pm and then he is allowed a bit of Toy Story before DH comes home (we both agree on this being the best film ever!!) He then has a little bit of Wiggles after dinner which he loves to dance and sing to and that is it so far.

I know some days I will need the TV more than others but am surprised how well he took to the TV no longer being switched on in the morning. Guess I just needed to actually make a change - they are still babies really x

If he loves to sing and dance what about fun kids radio' it's digital radio station for children.

It plays a mixture of childrens music and stories.

I restricted tv for my school aged DSs to weekend and hols only. Now older teenagers and I think it's been one of the best decisions over the years! They then have so much more time to play with toys and do other things. Good luck OP, hope it goes well :)

Omg sixfeet, you're right. DS1 (also 2.6) is downstairs watching TV now as I'm lying with DS2 (6 months) trying to get him to sleep. It goes on in the morning and stays on unless we're out of the house. I used to be so good at only putting it on for certain programmes, then DS2 came along and now it's like a babysitter for DS1. I never even noticed until I read this thread.

How bad is it? He still plays with toys and we do P&T groups and go out for walks... He's pretty full on and I need something to distract him so I can prepare his food/deal with DS2 etc! :(

I'm in a similar boat. It's because it's hard to think of ways to entertain ds while I do stuff knowing that he won't jump on dd (5 months). I've started sitting with ds and playing while dd rolls around and watches. For cooking, dd comes with me and sits in her chair in the kitchen while ds comes to and either plays or messes about. But come half 4, it's a struggle!!!

I wouldn't set a timer, it would be frustrating as a adult if you were in the middle of something and someone said 'time up'!
I would use the TV guide , read out the choice and ask him which 2 he wants to watch and only switch on for those.

Tbh, ours watched more tv as toddlers than they have done since! We only had 5 channels, but plenty of videos. I wouldn't worry so much about it, when they're young it's all about survival, sanity, and doing what you've got to do!:)

We only use iPlayer, that way DD doesn't expect it to keep going after the show she's watched.

We only watch a few shows (Something Special, Woolly and Tig, Night Garden and Baby Jake). DD is 18months. I think you have to make sure shows are developmentally appropriate rather than just moving pictures on a screen, then at least when they have that time it is not too bad. For DD, I look for lots of repetition- I think it's better to revisit the same episode of a show a few times than watch lots of new stuff.

We schedule it to suit our routine (early morning while I wake up properly, and for a bit of a sit down before a nap. When she's ill then no limits!

I wanted to say go easy on yourselves with the TV watching.

When DS2 was born DS1 watched far too much and I use to feel really guilty.

But fast forward 2 years he is at school and hardly watches any. He hasn't watched it at all this week! Also DS2 doesn't watch anything as I'm not as tired in the day as I was.