What are your feelings about television time?
My son goes to preschool five days a week and gets a LOT of social interaction and learning time. When he gets home in the evening, I let him relax and watch as much TV as he wants (only PBS or Nick Jr, nothing bad). I often feel, though, like I let him watch way too much.
Sp tell me, how much TV can your kids watch? How do you feel about letting them watch TV?
Sp tell me, how much TV can your kids watch? How do you feel about letting them watch TV?
Views: 5
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Andrea Meyer on -
I'm in agreement with you. It would be interesting to see if we're the only two! We have tons of toys in the same room, so he often is playing with his 'guys' while the tv is on, so he is not inactive. We Watch PBS, Sprout and Nick Jr., along with some Cartoon Network. We also have tons of books, so we end the night with reading. Thanks for starting the discussion.
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Permalink Reply by Kelly at Daffodil Boutique on -
We're a little different I'll admit. When Dh and I got married, neither of us had a tv (our roommates own the ones in our residences). And being the poor college students that we were, we didn't get one after we married. And then we didn't miss it, so we just never got one. It's been years now and we recently purchased a tv to watch Netflix on. But our tiny tot almost never gets to watch it. She loves her reading time, dancing to music, and other toys. We didn't ditch cable tv and the other channels for super lofty reasons though I think it's absence is probably an overall positive for our lives. We'll keep on like this until we need to reevaluate. But truthfully I am dreading the time when our kiddo notices that the other kids have tv and we don't. I guess we'll just take it as it comes.
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Permalink Reply by Vanessa on -
My daughter is 2 and we keep the television on a good deal of the day, although its mostly for background noise. We keep NickJr or Disney on for her.
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Permalink Reply by Mon on
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i think variety is good. so we have tv (99% dvds rather than just anything, and no commercials), LOTS of reading, walks outside, toys, cuddling and talking together in bed, play in the bath, visits to friends, shopping/errands, arts and crafts. she gets plenty of time to make her own entertainment and think creatively, as well as being a passive recipient with tv, and she gets play with peers, and a ton of time with mama and daddy. ...... so i have no problem with tv for us. it's just one more thing out of many.
uninterrupted hours of it is a bit much for children and adults. and like Aimee pointed out, right before bed isn't a good idea.
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Permalink Reply by Amy T on -
I'll admit, sometimes it is such a relief for me to turn on a movie or PBS kids and let my son (3) watch for a while so that I can have some time to do things I need to do. I do try, however, to limit his tv time. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than 2 hours of viewing time per day for children over 2. (No TV for children under 2) One of the reasons for this recommendation is that the constant stimuli, in quick succession that children's TV presents can reprogram the brain (chemically, I mean) to continue to require the same sort of changing stimuli in quick succession. In other words excessive TV viewing has been linked to ADHD.
That being said, some TV viewing can be very beneficial for the cognitive development of children. When we began showing my son movies at age 2 his imaginative play skills shot way up! TV can teach tons of valuable skills and information.
If you feel like you are letting him watch too much then you probably are. Don't sweat it too much. Just try to gradually add in other activities like helping make dinner, quiet reading, or playing anything he's into.
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Permalink Reply by Torie Combest on -
Because my kids are in school all day they can watch tv from the time they get home until 7:30pm. It is video games that I limit. They do not play during the weekdays and the weekends are limited game playing time. I wouldn't worry about it. I am sure he gets plenty of exercise and social interaction everyday.
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Permalink Reply by Jenn Crowe on -
I'm with you -- I don't think small doses are a terrible thing. My daughter doesn't watch TV during the day (unless we have the news on) so I don't feel bad letting her watch a big of PBS Kids of Nick Jr in the afternoon. While she may zone out a bit at first, after awhile she often wanders away to find a toy to mimic something she saw or to get an instrument to start playing along with the music on TV. I hate to admit it but she loves to watch "Wheel of Fortune" with us and count how many of each letter she sees on the screen. We turn it off before bedtime as we start the routine of winding down, so I don't think her TV time is terrible. I think there's something to be said for small doses -- I don't want TV to be such a foreign concept for her that when she goes to a friend's house that's all she wants to do because she never gets it at home. I treat TV like candy -- moderation!
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yep, i'm with you on this. that's why i chose dvds over tv. and we have calm things like Maisy and Kipper. although recently she caught onto looney tunes, eek! lol she has watched kids tv and i was shocked at how fast paced it was.
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Permalink Reply by Rhonda "Chief Mojo Maven" on -
I don't want to be the nerdy killjoy, but I got rid of my TV 7 years a go and our library cards become our "entertainment". I'm glad I did. My daughter never missed it. She loves reading and that's how she spends a lot of her time. However, as someone said above, variety is good -- so we do watch TV shows 3 times a week via Internet. One of the best "side effects" is that we spend a whole lot more time talking.
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Permalink Reply by Joyfulprints on -
Hi,
This is an ongoing issue with me.I bounce back and forth all the time with this, Partly because my son was delayed in speaking( mostly my fault) Now , I only allow 2 hrs a day- sometimes 1 hour( PBS and Nick jr ) For the first 18 months ALL my son did was watch TV and I feel terrible about it. My son is also in preschool 5 days a week.. Personally I feel there is nothing wrong with the right kind of TV and I feel as moms we continually question our judgement because of everything we hear in the media.It seems someone , somewhere finds something wrong with something.. our food, our toys, the way we parent, the friends our children hang out with, how we discipline them... etc. I just think its all too much at times. So I really think it depends on the kid and what you feel comfortable with. Best- Margaret Mahoney
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Permalink Reply by Momma_Mina on -
Our girls watch about 2-3 hours of television when the get home from school or at least it's on while they're playing. In this day and age, I almost feel like it's the lesser of two evils, I'd rather have them glued to the tube than glued to a DS or any other multimedia device.
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Permalink Reply by Lynne Kenney on -
Lately we have found some TV programs to spark helpful discussions with our kids. We learn social lessons by watching The Amazing Race, Through the Wormhole and even Swamp People. It's helpful to learn about other cultures. TV is one way we relax together and learn at the same time. Enjoy your day all!
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