Does anyone really manage the 'no-tv until they're 2' thing?

[IcouldstillbeJoseph]

Really? anyone??

2 seems a long time ago with mine (9 and 10) but I think we pretty didn't bother with TV until they were 3-4. Although I have a vague memory of sitting my twins in front of the athletics one afternoon - they must have been about 6 months.

When we did do TV it was more often videos so they never got used to something being on at a certain time and didn't pester to watch a favourite series.

Can't say mine have above average intelligence or social skills. But they do have an unusual lack of interest in cartoons and kids programs generally

Between about 18 months and 2 years, DS watched quite a lot of CBeebies, but at the moment (2.10) he really isn't bothered much. Unless he's feeling poorly when he will request his favourites on loop on iplayer (Mr Tumble back to back for hours...)

I have a rule that dd watches what I want until she can ask for something she wants. At 6mo she has a way to go yet. She does seem quite happy to watch Pointless which is what I watch religiously.

We held off tv until dc was 7
runs away

That's great Isla, how much after age 7?

Mine won't watch it - believe me I have tried. Especially at 5am . She gets bored with it (is 2.8).

DD used to watch some tv as a preschooler, but I made an active decision before ds was born to implement some changes. So...

We do not have the television on during the week. At a weekend we watch a film (dvd or otherwise) with dd if we're at home and have nothing else to do. 9mo ds has never watched television and I imagine won't for some time.

I just got fed up with the idle channel hopping and sitting silently with the people I loved while we watched stuff we weren't really invested in.

DH and I watch films in an evening when dd is in bed, probably twice a week or so. Our lovefilm subscription is about all the use the tv gets now.

nope, stuck them all there from quite young when i had stuff to do.

Showofhands, that is do great , it sounds similar to how we do things. It feels good & peaceful. When my DC do watch their film at the weekend they really enjoy it too.
Me and DH have a Lovefilm subscription too.

With ds1 he was about 18 months ish bug ds2 from the get go really. Ds2 is far further ahead at the same stage than ds1 was.

so

I meant to type :)

My daughter was totally disinterested in tv until well over 2. Now she watches 3/4 favourite programmes, absolutely rapt.

Uninterested I mean. Disinterested means impartial and she definitely wasn't impartial...

Bit controversial here but I am of the thinking that the more you limit something like tv, the more it becomes the forbidden fruit and the more they want it.

Ds (2.10) doesn't really watch much tv now and even if cbeebies is on, he largely ignores it. He used to watch peppa back to back when dd2 was born and had an addiction to Fireman Sam. He has a really vivid imagination and I genuinely believe tv helped fire that imagination.

He's never been a passive viewer anyway so, in terms of his personality, it had not been an issue.

I do the same thing with food. Chocolate has equal weighting to blueberries as I've never made either a 'treat' for finishing a main meal or being good.

This is a tricky one.. DD4 all watched a bit of tv when they were small especially when I needed to to do housework or important calls etc..however apart from that I spent a lot of time with them with books, puzzles, art and crafts and defo plenty of fresh air. They are bar 1DD now teenagers, not obsessed with tv, a take or leave attitude who all A* star performance at school. A couple of years ago I met my present Dh who has a ds of now 4 half and dss of 12 who comes and stays on a fortnightly basis. His mother had done nothing but put both her ds in front of tv for what seems to be 24/7. The younger had no clue of puzzles or books etc. He has extremely poor social skills, is disinterested in chatting and contestantly whines if fireman Sam or whatever is not on tv. If its not on he tends to stare into space unless my DD of 7 gets him to do imaginative play. My Dh ss of 12 is as bad, unless he has a psp, sport on tv he also stares into space, it's such a shame ex has a cant be bothered attitude as its had such a dire effect on their imagination and social skills. I don't blame Dh as he worked away a lot and didn't really know to the extent ex put kids in front of tv.. So my point is a little bit does no harm and tv can be a useful educational tool however from my own experience of my DSS's it can be extremely damaging if used in excess..

Wouldn't have occured to me to not have tv, what with it just being tv and not something awful.

DS (coming up to 2) watches ABC4 which is basically Sesame Street, Playschool etc in the morning while I have a shower and get our lunch ready. He then has a bit of Masterchef (!) while he has his bedtime bottle and a bit of Peppa while I'm getting his bath ready.

It certainly hasn't damaged him as he was an early talker!

It's just tv. Might be different if it was on all the time or tuned to the Horror Channel or something I suppose.

TV isn't 'limited' if you don't have it - the DCs don't know TV exists so they don't want it. As far as they're concerned the screen in the living room is for watching occasional episodes of something and for mummy and daddy to watch Lovefilms in the evening or game on.

Mine Is 4 months and won't drink milk unless kicker Ouse clubhouse is on YouTube

But I need him to have his milk!!

But that's The only time - and I detest that I do this!!

I never limited TV , I found all my DCs could take it or leave it.

I had that idea, but the first week with dc1 was so horrific, I would have let her do anything if it stopped the screaming!

I have DD (4yrs) and DS (22m) and they do watch too much telly. I have started restricting it to mornings when they get up til we leave the house at 8.40 so about an hour give or take, then I try not to put it on til I'm cooking dinner. Sometimes I will put on one episode of Peppa or Bob Builder to get them to calm down for 5mins. Their behaviour is much improved by doing this.

My DD didn't watch any til this week . She's one. I am pregnant and v tired!

BTW where does two years come from?

The first two years is the critical period for building up the language 'iceberg' as I understand it. They need to have a colossal amount of language under the surface before they can start speaking, and they need to understand it. Watching tv (even supposedly educational stuff like Sesame Street) before they're two can retard this because they don't see people on the tv as people - it's just flickery pretty patterns. The language they hear has to come from interactions with human beings who are in the room with them.

I mean, I think we're talking about households that have the tv on for hours during the day, here, so reasonable amounts of tv that are watched with a parent who can explain things as they're happening don't have an effect.

We didn't get rid of the tv because of the DCs, btw - I stopped buying a licence about 10 years ago because I find it crap.

DD1 (nearly 6) watched far too much cbeebies, I would park her in front of it for hours, she was zombified to it, so it made my life a lot easier. She started watching around the 2 year mark, but it became obsessive, and she would have serious tantrums about wanting it on. Being a coward (and absolutely shattered), I gave in and let her watch it.
She is now being assessed at school, as she has a language disorder, mild learning difficulties and autistic traits... the language disorder was identified first, and I believed that this was because I wasn't engaging her in conversation enough and letting the tv do the work (upon reflection, its very likely her speech/listening would be behind whether I had let her watch hours of tv or not). But anyways, I panicked and stopped her watching as much tv. She didn't respond very well at first, but I persevered and she gave in.

Now she isn't particularly fussed about tv like cbeebies, so doesn't watch any at all. We do let her watch a dvd or 2 at the weekend though, and I think she enjoys that more than being hypnotised by repetitive tv shows all day.

As with everything though, its about moderation...

Well, until ds became more interesting around a year old the tv was on pretty much constantly because I was so bloody bored. I managed to get through entire boxed sets of House, Buffy, Bones, Desperate Housewives, Medium etc etc etc.

Now the tv is only on (cbeebies) first thing in the morning and for about an hour after tea so I can have a doze