I'm having another 'paranoid mummy' moment... (about my child watching TV)

[emkaren]

... one of those in which I feel that I'm not such a good mum, which more often than not is brought on by reading German parenting discussion boards - everybody there always seems to be soooooooo perfect! So, would someone please indulge me by answering these questions:
How much TV does your child watch per day?
How old is your child?

Dd1 is 33 months old and watches an hour a day, sometimes an hour and a half, but on Mondays and Fridays, when she spends the afternoons at her grandparents' house, she watches loads and loads - not really sure how much, but I think it's basically the whole afternoon.
In Germany, however, many parents feel that children shouldn't watch TV at all until they are 3, and then only 5 to 10 minutes a day, in company of parents so it can all be discussed afterwards.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

issymum

roisin -
you could have a look at these:

www.rund-ums-baby.de
kind.qualimedic.de

and a site which is very 'attachment parenting'

www.rabeneltern.org

They all have general info plus discussion boards (Foren).

HTH!

I feel bad too, when it is cold and wet and we are not going anywhere then the TV is on, mostly background. I do feel guilty about it so turn it onto the music channels so at least ds twins (aged 2) are dancing around (they are developing a worrying taste for Justin Timberlake's songs!)

It may be on but they only watch it if Dora Explorer is on (and now they can say some of the Spanish words, particular favourite is "delicioso" - sorry about the spelling!) or any of the other favourites, but they don't watch the same show each day. So one day it will be Dora, the next Blue's Clues, the next those god-awful Tweenies (!) You get the idea!

Most of the time, if they are playing in the living room, they don't pay it the slightest bit of attention, much prefer building or colouring!

My ds (25 months) probably watches an hour a day on average, but it does vary, especially if dp's looking after him as he's a softer touch than me. I do tend to watch it with him & we talk about it, but not always. I really don't like having it on when we're playing/reading/painting/doing whatever else, so am quite strict about turning it off. So far, ds doesn't seem to mind. He's worked out how to put teletubbies videos on though, & has been demanding beebies almost since he's been able to talk...

Emkaren, thanks for those sites - I'll check them out.

Mmmm... we don't have a telly at all (hooray! freedom from adverts and pester power ), but the kids do watch a lot of movies on DVD in winter which worries me some. It's just hard to keep them occupied in this cold weather; 4yo is ok about going out, but 2yo hates the cold.

My Dad is German and had very strong views about too much TV. When I was allowed to watch TV, it had to be BBC, as ITV had too many American programs on !!!
He would not buy a coloured TV, until nearly the time I left home, as he thought it would encourage me to watch too much.
TBH I can't be bothered with watching TV now,I'm far too busy and have far more interesting things to do, and I like nothing more than curling up with a good book, when I do have time to sit down.
I don't let my boys sit in front of the TV for hours,they are usually playing or we go out somewhere.
We have cable but I stopped them watching Cartoon Network,as I thought it was comlpete rubbish,and I didn't like the langage used. If they are going to sit down in front of the TV I'd rather they watched a nice film on vidio.

DD (19 months) watches half an hour over breakfast (this allows me to eat my branflakes and toast in peace without her wanting to climb on my knee and pick out branflakes from my cereal bowl with her fingers).

She watches another 45 minutes over lunch (which covers the time it takes to eat her meal and the time it takes for me to clear up the kitchen afterwards)

And about an hour at tea time

So that's just over two hours - and I don't feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable / guilty about this.

I'm looking forward to when she is older and will have the attention span to sit through a kiddies video now and then.