How much TV do your toddlers watch/are exposed to?

I know the AAP recommends no TV before 2 years of age. But, I think most toddlers are getting exposed to at least some TV between 0-2.

Mine used to be in day care so they had no TV exposure during the day, but DH and I typically had the TV on for the several hours between when they got home and when they went to bed.

Now that we're home together during the day, I've been trying to keep the TV off during the day. But I'm finding myself turning it on throughout the day more and more. I've also discovered that A&A really like Baby Einstein videos. We've been watching one every afternoon after naps, and sometimes one other time during the day.

I feel ok with them watching an hour of BE every day because I know they enjoy it and it's developmentally appropriate for them. But I just don't know what to think about my having the TV on occasionally during the day.

Do your toddlers watch Baby Einstein or other toddler programming on TV? How much?

Do you have the TV on during the day (non-children's programming)? How much?

Do you feel good about these choices??

(I'm trying to figure out what goes on in most households so I can get control of the mommy guilt I feel over the TV situation.)

 

mine are in daycare during the day, so no tv there...other than that, probably an hour a day??

 

Mine watch one Baby Einstein video per day so that DH and I can eat dinner in peace. They rarely sit all the way through it, though.

Other than that, no tv.

 

Mine watch 15-30 minutes a day.
I will throw in a Baby Einstein or they will watch a piece of Blues Clues.
They LOVE blues clues and I feel like they need something with more langauage sometimes.
The Baby Einsteins are great but there isn't a whole lot for teaching language.We mix it up.
I am sorry but the people who say children under 2 should not watch TV do not have twins.
It is the only time our kids will stay still.

 

QUOTE(infinity62202 @ Jul 16 2008, 04:07 PM) [snapback]879511[/snapback]
Mine watch 15-30 minutes a day.
I will throw in a Baby Einstein or they will watch a piece of Blues Clues.
They LOVE blues clues and I feel like they need something with more langauage sometimes.
The Baby Einsteins are great but there isn't a whole lot for teaching language.We mix it up.
I am sorry but the people who say children under 2 should not watch TV do not have twins.
It is the only time our kids will stay still.


Amen, you said it! The Wiggles have saved me more than once in the morning when it's hectic and I'm trying to get everything ready - they LOVE that show, and the 'Go Baby' series on Disney.

 

Well, right or wrong, mine LOVE LOVE LOVE tv and they have actually learned from it. They point and say "mickey" and have danced to the music from about 6 months. THey pick up various words (one reason they don't watch adult tv! ) and try to sing along. From babies, I would turn on BE and let them watch the movement and they adored the music. In their playroom, I rarely turn off their tv which rotates different BE, Mickey Mouse, Baby Explorer, Christian music cd's (no video) and it gives them background that I feel is appropriate. I don't use it as a substitute for interaction, as I'm very involved with their play. However, when they are playing together, they will occassionally glance at it, or sit in their PBK chair and chill for about one minute at a time. Then they're up and off again. To each his own, I just know my kids love it and we let them watch it. As for other shows, no they don't see any adult tv. We aren't big tv watchers until they're in bed- IMAGINE THAT! ha ha
I don't want them to be couch potatoes, but no signs of that so far. Like I said, it's more of a background cd or whatever for us..but if they happen to watch it, at least I know it's appropriate and educational.

 

this won't be a popular post for sure but my DH just came home yesterday and told me about a study they did with toddlers and how the interacted/played with toys when tv was on in the background... they were showing jeapordy b/c it's totally incomprehensible to a toddler but the results showed that the children were distracted by the tv on and had less play interactions which could affect their cognitive and social development in the future...

i've been trying not to have the t.v. on in the background (a habit i'm definatly guilty of b/c I like the noise)...

 

QUOTE(2BUSYGs @ Jul 16 2008, 04:21 PM) [snapback]879542[/snapback]
Well, right or wrong, mine LOVE LOVE LOVE tv and they have actually learned from it. They point and say "mickey" and have danced to the music from about 6 months. THey pick up various words (one reason they don't watch adult tv! ) and try to sing along. From babies, I would turn on BE and let them watch the movement and they adored the music. In their playroom, I rarely turn off their tv which rotates different BE, Mickey Mouse, Baby Explorer, Christian music cd's (no video) and it gives them background that I feel is appropriate. I don't use it as a substitute for interaction, as I'm very involved with their play. However, when they are playing together, they will occassionally glance at it, or sit in their PBK chair and chill for about one minute at a time. Then they're up and off again. To each his own, I just know my kids love it and we let them watch it. As for other shows, no they don't see any adult tv. We aren't big tv watchers until they're in bed- IMAGINE THAT! ha ha
I don't want them to be couch potatoes, but no signs of that so far. Like I said, it's more of a background cd or whatever for us..but if they happen to watch it, at least I know it's appropriate and educational.



I did find this link after the PP....http://www.inplainsite.org/html/dangers_of_television.html#Children

 

I am lucky because I hate having the TV on in the background. I find it very distracting. So mine is off during the day, unless the girls are watching something specific (normally a PBS show). They did watch a limited amount (20-60 mins) before they were 2, though. I agree with a PP, that can just be critical when you have twins, if for no reason other than to take a shower.

 

QUOTE(1stTimeMom26 @ Jul 16 2008, 04:30 PM) [snapback]879564[/snapback]
this won't be a popular post for sure but my DH just came home yesterday and told me about a study they did with toddlers and how the interacted/played with toys when tv was on in the background... they were showing jeapordy b/c it's totally incomprehensible to a toddler but the results showed that the children were distracted by the tv on and had less play interactions which could affect their cognitive and social development in the future...

i've been trying not to have the t.v. on in the background (a habit i'm definatly guilty of b/c I like the noise)...


Interesting. I would have to say that if you are using the tv as a babysitter, and all day long, yes that could be a problem. If we are all keeping them actively engaged and they look at it once in a while, I don't see the harm, but who knows! We probably won't know the effects for another 40 years. First it teaches them "how" to learn, then it "distracts"- geez...I think it's like everything else in the world, no one really knows! Do what works for your family! ardon:

 

the TV is on in my house all morning long generally - age appropriate PBS stuff - Sesame Street, Arthur, Zoobamafoo etc...they've learned sooooo much - from 20 months both kids knew their entire alphabet by sight and could count to 10...they know colors, shapes, a vast variety of animals etc...sometimes they'll watch Food Network with me (generally the only other thing on unless its PBS or Sprout)...when DH is home or they go to my moms they play outside (I just can't chase after them myself very well) and they play hard! Yesterday we got to my moms around 12:30 and they played outside in the yard and the kiddie pool till DH picked them up at 5 pm -

so I think the right TV is not only NOT detrimental I think it can be educational and helpful!

 

:clapping:

QUOTE(AmynTony @ Jul 16 2008, 04:39 PM) [snapback]879582[/snapback]
the TV is on in my house all morning long generally - age appropriate PBS stuff - Sesame Street, Arthur, Zoobamafoo etc...they've learned sooooo much - from 20 months both kids knew their entire alphabet by sight and could count to 10...they know colors, shapes, a vast variety of animals etc...sometimes they'll watch Food Network with me (generally the only other thing on unless its PBS or Sprout)...when DH is home or they go to my moms they play outside (I just can't chase after them myself very well) and they play hard! Yesterday we got to my moms around 12:30 and they played outside in the yard and the kiddie pool till DH picked them up at 5 pm -

so I think the right TV is not only NOT detrimental I think it can be educational and helpful!

 

I'll just throw my two cents in: the girls do not watch TV. (except for the Packers!) I have read the studies and there are some good studies that show an increase in ADD and obesity relative to the amount of screen time (TV, computers, etc) kids get - it mostly has to do with the quick movements on the TV and never actually getting to concentrate on one thing for a time period before it moves on (for the ADD).

We have our TV downstairs and the girls don't play down there. DH and I watch after they are in bed, if we want to.

That being said, when they get older, I'll let them watch PBS or VeggieTales or something, but it will still be in moderation.

 

The girls don't watch tv everyday, but there are some days that I need it on. I usually put on PBSkids and they like Sesame Street ("EL-MOOOO!") and Miffy (I actually like Miffy too). During the day they are too busy for tv. At the sitter's house they play play PLAY! And on the days I'm home with them we are usually outside or running errands. If I need to make dinner I'll turn on the TV and this is usually right after their nap time so their pretty tired still.

Sometimes DH watches in the mornings with them- usually something with music because they love to dance!

 

See this is where my guilt comes in... I haven't read the studies, but I've heard them reported in the mainstream news, and I know they say TV exposure is not good for development, etc. I guess I'm just not a confident enough mommy to say, "My kids like BE, and I know what is best for them. It's ok for them to watch an hour of BE a day."

And for those of you who have no adult TV in front of the kids, how did you get your DH on board with that? Mine comes home and turns the TV on, and has it on all weekend long. He watches movies on TV, sitcoms, etc. I was shocked last night because a sitcom rerun on Fox used two bad words. It was 6 pm for goodness sakes! My DH just doesn't believe any of the studies about media and kids. He thinks violent video games are fine for when they're older, etc. He's very bull-headed about this so I don't feel like I can reason with him.

(He actually was surprised when he realized I kept the TV off during the day. He asked me, "What do you do all day? I'd be so bored." I answered, "Take care of and play with the babies.")

 

We watch tv/movies here. The only time I will not put it on is before breakfast (generally 30 minutes after they wake up). They do get bored at certain times throughout the day so when they get whiny because they are so bored, I put a movie in or turn on a fav show of theirs and then they are good after that. I think my boys have learned a ton from some movies they have seen. If I had to say how much they watch, I would estimate 2 movies a day (movies being 30 minutes average length) and 2 tv shows.

The movies they watch are:
Baby Einstein
Baby Signing Time
Letter Factory
Walt Disney World Sing Along
Thomas Sing Along


Tv Shows they watch:
Barney
Little Einsteins
Nina and Star
Dragon Tales

 

i am a baaadddddd mommy.....ok i admit it i have the t.v. on all day long. we have noggin on all day long. they watch it and play with their toys. when something catches their eye they watch it. do they sit there like mesmerized couch potatoes no they don't. they play with their toys and play games with me, get into justy about anything they can possibly try to sqeeeze into. and they are talking. they laugh hysterically at some of the shows too. my DD loves sprinkles from blues clues. MY DS loves the moose guy and ZEE so yes we are t.v. watchers and i also play music for them and they try to dance to it. oh that is so cute to see. they wiggle their butts and bounce around

 

My twins are a little bit older than a majority of those who have commented but I don't think that our habits are very different. We do have TV on for a good portion of the morning but the kids do not watch it constantly. Most of the time they are playing together and they could care less what is on TV. I agree with a pp that my kids have learned so much from the shows that we allow. They LOVE sesame street and have learned so much! I think their communication skills are stronger because they have reinforcement that is intended for children. I love PBS and sprout and no amount of statistical reports will change how I view my children's learning and lifestyle. I think my kids are doing great and no one can take that away from me (especially the government statistics!)

 

I use to watch LOADS of TV while pregnant. Now that the twins are a year old, they only watch their age appropriate DVD's from 10min to 30min every other day. Their tastes vary. Dd loves all Dvd's with music & songs she can sit through a whole program if I let her. Ds quickly loses interest & gets irritated. He prefers music Cd's. But then again he's more active than dd.
But to note, when I see they're getting absorbed in a DvD I put it off. Meaning if they're doing nothng but getting mesmerized...make sense?

As for adult Tv. Both Dh & I don't watch any during the week. On weekends we will catch a PBS show. But generally we're so knackered at nght to sit infront of TV. I do watch the Florida Outpouring online though. But this is only after they go to sleep.

I use to find Dh rather boring not wanting to watch Tv when we married, but now it's actually a blessing!

 

My guys watch about 2-3 1/2 hour kids shows in the morning and maybe a movie if they are good. Movies are Thomas, Nemo or CARS these days.

The TV is on a lot though because my DH comes home and watches reruns etc and my oldest watches his hour in the evening before bed, so sometimes they are there for that!

 

DH is a SAHD 3-4 days a week while I teach during the school year and he had anything on TV just for the background noise when the girls were small. "Little House on the Prairie" re-runs were his constant companion lol. We have cheap cable-basically just reception for local channels and Hallmark and C-span, so it was soaps, court shows, or Little House. We had a big discussion about it and turned the TV off once the girls started looking at the screen. We did start playing Baby Einstein videos around 9 months but that was 2-3 times a week for 30 mins. They also have a Musical Baby video they love and will still dance to. Now, they watch an hour a day max-usually 30 mins in the am and 30 mins in the pm so I can make dinner. Some days, we watch no TV. Other days, it might be more if we're sick for instance. The girls' playroom has no TV, so disctracting them from play isn't an issue. They watch a PBS show and focus on it for the time. My girls have no ADD issues-Jessica will play with her Little People for an hour straight on her own and concentrates beautifully. Katelyn loves the new lacing shapes I bought and will spend ages focused and concentrating on them.

 

I'm one of those moms who doesn't let her kids watch TV. I did a lot of research after hearing about the studies from my mom (an elementary school principal) and just don't see the value of childrens TV. I know it works for a lot of parents, and most kids who watch TV do so in moderation. However, for my family, it's just not necessary and doesn't add anything, so we don't expose the girls to it. That said, they have seen a few hours worth of football games - we took them to a Superbowl party, and plan to turn on a few football games on weekend afternoons in the fall. They do watch 1/2 hour of Signing Times DVDs perhaps twice a week.

I'm not a big TV watcher and neither is my DH, so this hasn't been a struggle. We actually have our TV in the living room but spend most of our time in the family room, so we have to make a conscious decision to walk to the other side of the house and turn the TV on. There are no kid toys in the room with the TV, so the girls rarely go in there.

 

I am embarrased to say that my two probably watch way too much TV. They are in daycare during the day and don't watch it at all there, but at home, that is another story. The TV is always on and the one in the playroom is always playing Wiggles, Blue's Clues or Elmo. The have even started singing along and doing the motions. And their newest fav thing to watch is Kid Rock's All Summer Long video. :blush:

 

Around their 2nd birthday they started watching about 20 minutes a day (right after daycare). They watched occasionally before that (starting around 18 months), but not every day.

We rarely have adult TV on in front of the kids, simply because we watch TV after they're in bed. During football season, there did tend to be football on on Sundays. (Me, not DH!) But I only did that if I really cared about the game, because it was too frustrating to try to pay attention while dealing with the kids too. When it's not football season, we tend to watch some Food Network on weekend afternoons, but that's about it (and Amy loves "cooking shows," anyway).

I don't think small amounts of TV hurts them, but I do believe the studies that say it's not good for their brains if they're exposed to it for hours a day (even if they're not really paying attention). I am also just easily overstimulated myself (it drives me crazy if DH has the radio or the TV on for hours and hours), and I sense some of that in Amy & Sarah too, so I try to protect them from it.

 

Mine won't sit for more than five minutes watching TV - never have. My daughter would watch Baby Einstein like crazy! My in-laws showed me all these reports about how it does nothing for them but I know it did - I can see the result and the speed (and age) at which she picked up shapes, colors, recognized certain classicaly music, and said particular words - it was from the four Baby Einstein DVD's we had (and partly, too, our work with her reinforcing what she saw - which is recommended with those videos).

I watched TV as a child (monitored and not too much) and have amazing concentration skills. My husband was not allowed to watch TV at all and cannot sit in a quiet room for more than five minutes without something going on.

I think it is what works best for each family and learning like everything else, in moderation and not mistreated/misused, it isn't so bad.

 

Oh man, add me to the guilty Mommy list. I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately. Ours watch about 10-30 min when they first wake up and maybe a little when I'm trying to cook dinner. I feel guilty because in the morning we watch a Wiggles DVD or Baby Einsten or Noggin so we can all wake up. I can't imagine getting them up and going right to the kitchen for breakfast or right into playing. I do try to just snuggle with them on the couch, but they go and get the remote!

I have the DH problem too. He is the type who always has the TV on. Nothing inappropriate--usually just home improvement. But, I've told him I'd like to cut back on this b/c rather than playing with them, he'll sometimes be on the couch watching his show while they play alone .I want to get out of that habit.

 

QUOTE(PetiteFleur @ Jul 16 2008, 03:28 PM) [snapback]880058[/snapback]
I have the DH problem too. He is the type who always has the TV on. Nothing inappropriate--usually just home improvement. But, I've told him I'd like to cut back on this b/c rather than playing with them, he'll sometimes be on the couch watching his show while they play alone .I want to get out of that habit.


This is exactly what me DH does. He watches TV and they crawl all over him. Every few minutes, he interacts with them. But mostly, he's watching TV.

Thanks for being honest and sharing your habits. I'm trying to shake the mommy guilt and just do what I feel is best regarding children's TV and videos.

 

My girls will watch TV in the morning, about an 1 1/2, less if we have alot going on, and then I let them watch another hour while I am fixing supper. We will also watch TV with them at around 7 (wish I could get more TV time in myself) but they don't pay any attention to it at all b/c they are so busy tearing up the place. So, I would say about 3 hours a day on a normal day. But there are lots of days where we don't get to watch any tv because we're so darn busy.

 

Too much

 

My boys watch the Baby Einstein sign language DVD about once a week. So I guess that's only 20 minutes a week. Not very much, I suppose.

 

TV has been on since they were born our shows, their shows hasn't hindered their growth in the least. Like another poster said they actually learned a lot of letters, animals, numbers, abc's etc. from the shows.

 

Our tv is on from the minute we wake up until we go to bed. Most times they aren't even paying attention. Some days I'll put a baby einstein dvd in to see if they will watch it. Sometimes they do sometimes they don't. No one, no study, nothing will ever convince me that tv is bad for children. I don't feel the slightest bit guilty about it.

 

Usually one or two 20-30 min shows a day. However if they are sick or it's a crappy day, then sometimes they will watch more, or watch an entire movie like Curious George. I absolutely cannot stand to have the TV just on for background noise. It drives me up the wall. I used to watch the Today show when they were younger as my drink coffee and wake up time, but now that they are older, they sit there and pay attention, and let's face it, everything on the news is not appropriate. The TV only gets turned on during the day if it's for one of their shows. Some days, they don't watch anything.

 

Our girls didn't watch any TV until they turned 19mos. We then introduced Baby Einstein (Baby McDonald or Noah) which they watch 1 X per week - specifically on Sunday morning.

So, to answer your question, ours watch 30minutes per week. Then when they are 2 we may increase that a bit more - not sure yet what they will watch or how much.

 

Do your toddlers watch Baby Einstein or other toddler programming on TV? How much?
Yes. About 1.5-2 hours per day. They "watch" Sesame Street in the a.m. for some down time and then an episode of Jack's Big Music Show or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I'm getting dinner ready. In the wintertime and on rainy days, it's sometimes on a bit more. Mine don't sit and stare the entire time a show is on, it's simply a little diversion for a little while to focus on something else.


Do you have the TV on during the day (non-children's programming)? How much?
Yes, but only when they are sleeping.


Do you feel good about these choices??
Yep!



QUOTE(rubyturquoise @ Jul 16 2008, 12:36 PM) [snapback]879574[/snapback]
I am lucky because I hate having the TV on in the background. I find it very distracting. So mine is off during the day, unless the girls are watching something specific...

Same for me.


QUOTE(brandycaviness @ Jul 16 2008, 03:09 PM) [snapback]879936[/snapback]
And their newest fav thing to watch is Kid Rock's All Summer Long video. :blush:

:rofl: