5 year old wants tv the second they’re awake. Anyone else?

[anotheranxiousmum]

My 5 year old wants to watch the tv the second her eyes open. Anyway on weekends the second she’s awake she whines to go down and watch tv and insists me or my husband go with her. It really bothers me and I can’t stop feeling guilty about it and I just wish she would read or draw or just PLAY instead of watching tv.

What do your kids do when they wake up? Any suggestions I could try ?

My 3yr old watches TV as soon as he gets up. I don't mind as I can then zombie on the sofa until I wake up properly

Mine too. I also don’t mind. He watches tv, I have a cup of tea and come too. Then we switch it off for breakfast and it doesn’t go on again until I’m cooking dinner. Apart from the occasional afternoon film.

Unplug the tv, and pretend it is broken .
Screens will make any other activity harder as none will be as attractive and full of adrenaline.
So you need a week of screen free, add this mean all the other screens in the house (phone, iPad, ....)
Just say there was a storm and it caused electrical damage to everything that was plugged in.
Going screen free as a family might be an interesting week!

My 3 year old does but it’s totally my doing as she wakes at 6 on the dot so I stick her in our bed watching tiny pop whilst I doze. Within 30mins she wants to go downstairs to play though.
I don’t see it as a huge issue as she loves going out and playing and asks to go in the garden etc it’s just a tiny part of our routine

I let mine. I remember Saturday morning kids TV fondly!

We have breakfast at the table when we first wake up. Serve the kids and then they’re busy eating while I have a coffee and try to wake up. I find if we switch the tv on it’s a battle with the 5 year old to get it off again so it doesn’t go on unless desperate.

I just let mine watch TV when they get up. I did the same as a kid. I think it's quite normal!

Sorry if this sounds arsey, but if you stop giving into her she will find something else to do.
It might cause some angst initially but if you want to stop feeling guilty you're going to have to stick to your guns and mean business.

@LeGrandBleu

Unplug the tv, and pretend it is broken . Screens will make any other activity harder as none will be as attractive and full of adrenaline. So you need a week of screen free, add this mean all the other screens in the house (phone, iPad, ....) Just say there was a storm and it caused electrical damage to everything that was plugged in. Going screen free as a family might be an interesting week!

Or instead of lying to your children you could, y'know, actually parent them? If you want them to have a week of no screens, own it and tell them. People are such cowards when it comes to saying no to their children, i fucking swear.

Mine watch tv first thing on weekend mornings too. Gives us all a nice slow start. I drink coffee and read my phone, they watch. It goes off when they eat breakfast and then we get started with the day. They don't watch on school mornings (or at all on school days actually).

Take the batteries out of the remote and just say no. I have no problem with the t.v. at all but if dc have been naughty or chat back they know where is no t.v. for a while. It's the best deterrent.

Glad to hear it’s not uncommon!! She’s such an early riser (6am max) so it’s hard not to give in for an extra hour of sleep)

I forgot to mention, we generally have a “no tv on weekdays” rule except for Friday family movie nights, although that’s been more relaxed in recent months.

I think I just need to own it and enjoy the peace with a cup of tea rather than stew in guilt.

Absolutely. No need for guilt.

It’s such a pointless construct. If she watched nothing else for 12 hours straight you might have a point but a few programmes in the morning is hardly neglect.

My 4 year old does!
She watches a few episodes of paw patrol and has her breakfast!
It gives me time to clean up the kitchen and have a cuppa!
She turns into a bit of a zombie watching telly so I can actually do stuff because she is a bit a million miles a minute, so much energy!
I remember being young and doing the same thing, especially on the weekends me and my sister would watch Disney channel it was the best. Dont worry to much about it :)
Some TV shows are quite good for them too I think, numberblocks is such a good one my daughter is obsessed with and she loved to talk about what she watches after.

Crikey, other people have so many rules about TV...

Yeh honestly tv isn’t crack ....

On weekend mornings they watch TV - just like I did when I was small.

If you’re worried about screen time do other stuff in the daytime. CBeebies at 6am is fine

We've never allowed TV before breakfast. Not a big deal, they just know it's play time (build a train track, set up a picnic, play vets etc) while we make breakfast and then eat. If they've really got into the game, they won't ask for TV for a while, but quite often they watch straight after breakfast. I'm happy with this, as they have great imaginations and often go on to set-up games based on what they've watched.

If you're really bothered about it, you could consider getting something like a Tonie story-telling box or subscribe to Audible so she could listen to stories in bed for a bit. But ultimately go with what works for you and pick your battles!

The CBeebies podcasts are good - we often listen to those at breakfast if the 4 year old is feeling talkative and the baby’s had me up all night.

I think that it's quite normal tbh.
And if she has such restricted access the rest of the time, it's understandable.
My lo can be the same. But I impose time limits for tablet and TV. But they're less so than yours.

Nobody was suggesting tv was crack
OP said she felt guilty and wanted dc to watch less.

Sounds like my husband..if he's awake the TV is on. I went away with just my dc recently and we didnt have the TV on at all for the first 4 days.

My kids are the same, I don't really mind but I have one rule - no screens until fully dressed including socks, and teeth brushed. This means when we do go out there's no delay apart from shoes on. I was having battles getting them to get ready once TV went on, so it seemed a good compromise.