I thinking off banning T.V for my 5 year old for a whole week.

[mummyloveslucy]

My nearly 5 year old daughter loves Cbeebies, that's the only channel I let her watch as it's free from advertising etc.
The minute she wakes up, she wants it and the minute she gets home from school, she wants to watch it. She gets very demanding after school and it does help her to relax I suppose, but I feel she watches way too much. She'll watch it from 3:30- 7pm, when it finnishes and she has to go to bed. She is now demanding her dinner in the living room so she can still watch it. If I insist she eats in the kitchen, she'll have a few mouth fulls and then run back to the T.V.

She is also wetting herself a lot recently, she'll just sit there and wet herself. She is doing this where ever we go though as well.

I'm just wondering wether we could tell her that the T.V is broken and won't be mended for a whole week.

It would be an experement to see how different things are. I'll need to be prepared before I do it. I'll buy engredients to make cakes etc, she has plenty of colouring books and toys.

I think I should do it, I'm not sure wether it'll drive me mad, but I'll have a go.
Have any of you done this before? How did it go and do you have any advice or tips?

i wou;dn't lie to her and say it was broken. but i would say to her that watching too much tv isn't great, that we'll watch a bit but then it HAS to go off, and just use a lot of distraction. have fun stuff to do

we did it with the children and it was hard work to start with, but it was soooo much better once we had it on less. ds1#'s behaviour improved a lot

Oh and the same will go for me and my DH, at least when our daughter is awake. We don't use mobiles in the house anyway, but I won't go on the computor at all or watch any T.V when I'm with her.

I would just limit the amount of time she watches it. Find out if there are particular programmes she likes and then let her watch one or two of them.

Ds sees 30 mins CBBC in the mornings and 30 mins in the evenings during the week and probably a total of a couple of hours over the weekend. I think that is plenty for a 5 yr old and I enjoy seeing Ian and Hacker's antics in the evenings .

Thank you thisisyesturday, I have tried a whole saturday without T.V before. I was all prepared, we made cakes, which she was fed up with after 10 mins, then we did colouring, sticking, dressing up, dancing to music, reading books and playing games.
She has an attention span of about 10 minutes though, so it's hard work. It would be easier to take her out for a walk if it isn't raining.
After I'd done everything I could think of with her, I was knackered and she was getting irritable and whyning for Cbeebies, so I did put in on for an hour before bed.

that's ok though i think. everything in moderation and all that. a bit each day is fine, and you may well find that once you've done a few days of it she is more keen to do other stuff.

that is too much tv imo. i would just stop it altogether if you can limit it.

The timer thing is a good idea, but I can see her hiding/sitting on it when it goes off. Especially if it's half way through a programme.
Her favourites are Charlie and Lola and waybuloo. I might tell her she can watch these on I-player.

why not see what is on each day and then say you can watch until X has finished, then we have to do whatever it is you've got for her to do.
or see how long the program is and set the timer for that amount so it doesn't go off mid-program

The DDs have been off school and nursery ill this week and I am now considering throwing the TV out of the window

BUT

When well, I limit its use because otherwise it sends them a bit mad. They become more whingey, argumentative, bored

So it's on for a bit (if they want) when they get home from school until dinner. Then off

On weekday mornings only if they are up early, then off from breakfast

Never on during mealtimes

Weekend mornings bit more lax

I think we should try to have more play dates too. When she has a friend to play with, she's not interested in T.V.
It dosn't work the same way if she only has me to play with.

She is a creature of habbit and loves routeen. She has got into this routeen now. (my fault, I know) but it'll be hard to break it. Once she's in a different routeen though she'll be happy. I think her routeens make her feel succure.

She can also turn the T.V on herself, but not if it's off at the plugs. Her arms arn't long enough to reach through the T.V stand.

She is increadibly stubborn though. I always turn the T.V off at the plug before I call her for dinner, so when she runs back, the T.V will be off. She'll just sit there staring at the blank screen and call out for me to put in on, so we can't have a relaxing dinner. Usually she'll end up being put in her room until we've finnished.
I don't want life to be one big battle with her, but it is quite stressful sometimes.

bless her! yes, she'll get used to a new routine, esp if you make it realy fun to start with.

perhaps you could take her to choose some board games and stuff? my 5 yr old is very into games atm and will spend quite a while playing them
jigsaws as well

My DS was a bit like that as well-he is also nearly 5. We had a talk about what programmes he actually wanted to watch and that he would only be watching them and not just having the tv on for the sake of it and it has really worked possibly because he felt that he was actually in control of the situation rather than me just saying that the tv wasn't going on at all.

He also still like c-beebies (probably the only boy in his class that does though lol!) so he watches Gigglebiz and Chugginton and then it goes off. He's got loads of dvd's and will happily sit and watch a dvd with me which I don't mind at all because he's actually watching something rather than it just being background noise.

I think DVDs are worse to be honest. It's the same show each time so they're learning nothing new. However I think Waybaloo is a tad young for a 5 year old and wouldn't dream of letting my dd watch it. It's just pointless drivle for a school child,great for a baby. I like C&L,The Large Family and Grandfather in my Pocket and a couple of others.

Personally I don't have a problem with TV and think it's valuable in it's right place. I think you're investing too much time in her,she's using you as entertainment like the TV,she needs to learn to entertain herself.

My 3 6,6 and 5 have a strict no TV ban in the mornings. I really think TV before school isn't good. I childmind too so often have 6 kids in the house for the school run. I lay the table up with colouring,stencils etc and have jigsaws out so the kids can automatically go to them instead of wondering what to do. The playroom has roleplay things out and they all play in the bedrooms too(dollies,Lego etc). I'm in the process of making all our craft stuff more accessible so they can access it better.

When they get home from school I let them watch Ooglies,Backyard Science, something about the worlds deadliest creatures on Pop and a couple of others. We've just discovered Blue Peter. I think some TV after school is no bad thing,there are some fab shows out there and they need to chill. My 3 have a Oggy and the Blasted Cockroaches obsession though which I'm trying to wean them off so I've been letting them see far less,some nights after school I haven't switched it on at all and they haven't even missed it.

I am firm though,DP and I are the TV bosses in our house and the DC have always known it. We have full control over the remote, if they complain(which they rarely do) they know they'll miss out completely for a looooong time. I certainly don't expect to be entertainment officer when it goes off. We have a house full of lovely toys, I play with the baby or sort bookbags,shoes,packed lunch boxes so they're well used to sorting themselves out. I support their play but don't constantly lead it.

At the weekend we've started banning TV until the evening when dp and I are on our knees. If they say they're bored they get a flea in their ear and we've seen some lovely play as a result. We find if we stick out the temptation at 7am to stick it on they play better the entire day.

I think you just need to decide what you want,lay out the new ground rules and stick to them,she will be a pita to begin with but you have to stick it out. I'd make some play suggestions only occasionally,make sure everything is accessible then leave her to it,do this regularly so she gets used to it. If she approaches you give her a hug but say sorry I'm busy. After a while she'll get used to amusing herself without TV.

I think it's a great idea and have come very close to trying it with my DD several times!

I also think that telling her the TV is broken is a great idea - she'll know there's no point in whingeing about it and it won't be easy for you to back down (sorry).

For a softer option you could always tell her that it's a problem with the Sky/Virgin/Freeviw box, and that she can only have DVD's. That way she could still have maybe an episode of Charlie & Lola in the morning (so you can sort yourself out) and Waybuloo in the evening (while you;re making tea).

Assuming you're a f/t mum - I'd make sure you arrange a couple of playdates too - otherwise you will go insane....!

I think that I would tell her that she is watching too much and that she has to choose the programmes in advance. Look at the schedule together and let her pick one or two programmes-for the rest of the time it stays off.

Every now and again when I think we watch to much TV I put it in the loft for a while, sometimes just a week sometimes a month. Was once about four months.

I let mine watch if there is something on they want to see. They both have a few favourites but they aren't on every day.eg. Ooglies popular but only 10 mins long. We check when its on, switch it on at the right time and then switch it off afterwards. If we are in, that is.

I think the best way forward for you would be to get out more - are there any after school activities she can do? As Spring approaches, can you go to the park on the way home from school? Or playdates as you say are great. Its all well and good to play with you all the time, but it is very hard work for you then. Try to find some different things that are varied that you'll both enjoy.

My kids aren't allowed tv during the week. It is the BEST rule I ever made. They are so much happier - play much more imaginatively, art and craft has soared, I don't see them when they get home from school, they vanish upstairs and get on with their games. In the summer they go out in the garden.

They are 8, 6 and 3 and they themselves have commented that they have been 'freed from the screen' because they know they can't have it, so there's no point asking. And they like the clear boundary. Their friends all think I'm really mean (especially because they don't have games systems/nintendo ds etc), but my kids don't mind too much.

They are allowed to watch tv at the weekend, and they enjoy the weekend being 'different'.

Once school went back in January we banned all screen time totally. I had got really fed up with how the dc had stopped thinking about what they wanted to do and just assumed they could play on the computer or watch tv. The older ones are 7 and 5. I decided it was easier to ban it altogether.

My criteria for letting screen time start again was when they had completely stopped asking for it, and were being creative and using the piles of toys that they have.

This weekend they were allowed to play on the Wii again and watch tv and they chose not to.

Thanks everyone. I think it's easier for children who have siblings to play with. When my daughter has a friend around, she never wants the T.V. She can amuse herself for a little whyle. I think we need to work on increasing that time.
I think I'll start with, no T.V before school.
She can be very demanding and sometimes refuses to get dressed, eat her breakfast etc. I think I tend to use it as a bribe, so that I can actually get her out of the door on time.

I think that sounds like a LOT of television. Before I had DDs 2 and 3 (prior to age 2 1/2), my DD1 used to watch too much television. Then I read "The Plug In Drug" by Marie Winn, and banned TV. Best decision I ever made. I very much notice it when we go and visit my parents (I have a 12 yo step-brother) and he puts Cbeeebies on for them. They are absolutely transfixed by it.

Working on icreasing the time sounds like a good idea. And I agree with you about it prob being easier for children with sibs.

Totally shocked at how much you have been letting her watch.
don't lie, just reduce.
you say attention span, but she is fine at school ?
ds1(6) would watch tv 24/7 given the chance. but i only let him have 45 mins or so per day.
when i have a diabetic hypo, it could be on for 8 hrs, but thats different.
I think you need to re-gain control here. why are you letting your 5 yr old dd dictate to you, and give you the run around ?
you are the parent, she is the child here. she needs you to be loving, but firm.