So, oh Mumsnet Jury, how much telly is ok for a 2 year old? And how much do your DCs watch, honestly?

[LittleMy34]

Our DS1 didn't watch any TV until recently (just turned two) and now he watches maximum of 45 mns a day (Charlie and Lola after tea through to the Bedtime Song on Cbeebies) unless he's ill....or I'm ill.....or it's a very bad day.....or Daddy's in charge....etc etc

So how much is too much? And how much do your DCs watch?

I use it as a babysitter

I don't have it on all day as it makes my kids moody adn argumentative when they watch too much telly

there's always a fuss when it goes off then they all find somethign else to do - including the 2 year old.

ds probably watches too much. Milkshake or Cbeebies is on from 6 when he gets up to 7.30 when we go up to get dressed. He has 15 mins after lunch and then it's on from 5 til 6 in the afternoon. I don't have the tv on myself at all during the day though so he only sees age appropriate programmes. He is only 2 though and has learned his numbers from numberjacks and loads of animal names from mama mirabelle so it's not all bad imo

I think it depends more what they watch than how much they watch at this age and actually at any age.

I wonder that madamez, as while my dd does watch a lot of beebies she has never seen any grown-up telly.

I won't have the news on, as I don't think it's appropriate for her to hear about deaths etc etc, and she'd be horrified (and probably scared) to see people yelling at each other on Jeremey Kyle.

dd wathes it a lot, loves peppa pig, have lots saved on sky plus. doesn't bother me, she does lots of other things too.

I love Peppa Pig too.

television is the devils work - you can only be a perfect parent if you get rid of your telly and read chaucer to your 2 year old

ps
pingu rocks

DS 1&2 (7 and 3) watch maybe an hour a day, sometimes none, they are far more interested in playing outside, not sure long that will last though!

A little bit in the morning which helps me get them ready and do their hair. They are 3 and 2.

Maybe some Peppa Pig at 3.30pm if they are starting to get a bit grumpy we have quiet TV time for half an hour.

Half an hour at 5pm whilst I sort out dinner they are getting grumpy by this time too.

However, it has been creeping up since I have been pregnant and will whilst I'm BFing but hopefully with some good weather it won't be on at all as they will be outside a lot.

Television!! We ceremoniously burned ours as soon as I conceived!

Custardo isn't Chaucer a bit rude for a 2 year old?! Don't forget the toddler Gregorian chanting at 10am, invaluable!

blimey this thread suddenly revived, didn't it? thanks for all your inputs - seems we're about average for MNetters. DS is certainly bright, lively, talkative and outgoing, and does loads of other stuff, so I'm not too worried. He also loves listening to stories and songs on CD, so it's not all about the watching.

As for Chaucer, he's struggling with the old fashioned language, but his Anglo Saxon has improved loads since we started Beowulf....

DS (3) watches between 30 minutes and two hours a day. Usually about an hour.

Unlike some of his peers who potter about while the telly is on, DS becomes mesmerised, and I noticed a shift towards arsy behaviour when it was turned off: not just cross about it being switched off, but almost a struggle to readjust to reality.

I'd previously been a telly-after-lunch person. Then, after separating, I'd put it on in the morning while I got ready. Ds would watch up to an hour, not play in that time, and would wake up asking for it, which I didn't like. So I imposed some limits!

No telly until the afternoon. He is now playing while I have a shower, making up all kinds of fab games, chatting through the shower door, etc. Great to see. He understands the rule, and sometimes by about 4pm will ask, "Is it the afternoon now?" We pre-record the shows he likes (all on CBeebies), and have some DVDs, and he chooses what he wants to watch for his telly time. I'm relaxed about him having an hour of it later in the day - as opposed to by 9am - and he seems to appreciate the TV more.

This is what works for us, based on DS's particular relationship with the telly.

My kids watch loads too. We live in a flat and dont have a garden but we go to the park and do an activity like baking, sorting out our plants, play dough etc and reading together every day - we even go to the park on Christmas Day. I have been to a park for an hour or more every single day for the past 5 years. I have park fatigue.

What on earth else am I supposed to do with them?