How often does your toddler watch TV?

[Lelophants]

How often and how long for? Curious to see what everyone does.

DS is only 17 months so he doesn't watch much. He has the attention span of one short episode which I'll put on if I need to quickly get something done but not every day.

About an hour in the morning and then 30 minutes before dinner. It was more when I was newly pregnant/heavily pregnant/had a newborn.

DS gets up at silly o'clock so he watches Cbeebies first thing while I drink endless cups of tea and try to remember why I thought having kids was a good idea.

3 year old DS didn’t watch any TV until his sibling was born when he was 2.5. He watched loads in the early months but now it’s prob 30-60 mins 3-4 days per week (when I have to make dinner and DH isn’t around). All his peers watch loads more than that though.

My 22 month old watches two short programmes on CBeebies on non-nursery days, totaling about 40 mins.

She watches one before lunch and one before tea. If it's nice weather though, she'd rather be in the garden - but it's cold and wet at the moment so telly wins!

Nearly 17m, none.

15 months. Weekdays it's probably 20 minutes, weekends an hour? I never put it on for them specifically, it's just if older sibling has it on and they are in the room.

I have the TV on in the background and my toddler never ever watches it. I don’t have children’s programs on though so that might be why.

26 month old, about an hour a day in 2 30min sessions

16 months. One CBeebies episode in the morning if it's an early one, one before tea if it's been a tough day.

Occasionally more in extremis.

Have discovered that she loves the Sewing Bee (bright colours/ smiley people/ jaunty music I guess), so we've been going through that in 10 min chunks to stop my brain dissolving from too much Duggie.

Every day in the mornings and normally after nursery as well. Age 2.5

Granddaughter aged 17 months...it really depends on how the day is !!
Probably more if a rainy day and Mum or grandma feeling exhausted …all TV appropriate for her age ...thank god for Mr Tumble 😂

DC2 almost 3 years old watches an alarming / embarrassingly large amount of TV. It's on with some kind of kids TV most of the day. He'll dip in & out though & he'll ignore it if he's interested in something else. I think we've just gotten in to the habit of turning it on after the school run whilst I potter about washing up breakfast stuff, putting washing on etc then we might do puzzles or play whilst it's on in the background.

An hour in the morning whilst I do jobs and then another 40 mins/ an hour in the evening whilst I cook dinner.

Dd is 17 months and watches none, I've just never put it in for her. She has a 6 year old sister who watched from about 4 months and loved TV as a toddler, but even when dd1 has cartons on dd2 shows no interest so I haven't bothered with her at all

2.5 yr old - some days none. Other days 45 mins whilst I’m cooking dinner. I try and only use it when I know she’s hungry and tired and just needs some time to be still.

On days any of the household feels ill it’s on a lot more with zero guilt as a one off.

25 month old watches a quite a lot. Usually it’s on first thing, for a few hours, and then late afternoon for another couple of hours. On a bad day, it can be on even more.

What do people do to fill the time while at home? Do your children go and play independently?! I used to do lots of activities etc, but ran out of steam 🙈

@BeHereNowx32

25 month old watches a quite a lot. Usually it’s on first thing, for a few hours, and then late afternoon for another couple of hours. On a bad day, it can be on even more.

What do people do to fill the time while at home? Do your children go and play independently?! I used to do lots of activities etc, but ran out of steam 🙈

Imagine you had no TV. They'd be forced to do other things. Like puzzles, colouring, dolls, Lego, play outside, make dens, dress up, role play, read, cars, trains, cook/bake, paint, play dough, sorting laundry, farm animals, bike rides, walks, scooter, park, swimming, sweeping, water play, sandpits, bubbles... etc

At 2 they should be able to play independently for a while.

No need to provide "activities" all the time.

@00100001 yeah, she does all these sorts of things, and we spend a lot of time outside too. But with no naps and early waking- it’s a lot of time to fill 😅 I may look into how I have things set up for her. Thanks

I feel the same way @BeHereNowx32 I assume they have siblings? Because there is no way I can constantly fill the day it’s exhausting!

Too much but I don't care. The Telletubies, Postman Pat, and Little Baby Bum have kept me sane over the last year

@Bomchiccawick @EmergencyHydrangea your comments make me feel better 😅
I try not to have it on between 9:30-3:30... most days

We keep the telly on in the background, DD doesn’t watch much of anything. She watches a bit of bing, Peter rabbit and go jetters. But only when something catches her attention while she playing.

DS is 3.5. Actually watching it properly - about an hour per day. On in the back ground and he might watch odd bits- another hour or couple of hours on a weekend. I used to stress massively about it but have found myself more relaxed now I know he’s confidently hit milestones and now eyfs goals. I don’t feel it’s doing him any harm. We also play a lot inside and outside and have lots of days out as well as lots of stories. I feel it’s all in balance and he seems to learn a lot from what he watches (and no we don’t only watch educational stuff- he picks up all kinds of interesting things from kids YouTube!)

Out of interest why do people leave the tv on all day if not watching?

It’s usually on in the background in the playroom but she doesn’t really watch it, well apart from when Peppa is on 😂 I think she’s learnt quite a lot from some programmes, she’s a very wide vocabulary, speaks in sentences and could count to 10 at 19MO.