Tempering television for tots

I let my daughter watch tv whenever she likes and most days we keep it on all day. We watch barney, wiggles, mickey ect. but we also have the interactive books that go along. she is almost 3 she has a huge vocabulary, she can resite her ABC's, 123 and knows most of her colors. I believe if you reinforce what they watch on tv it is ok, but if you use it as a baby sitter that's wrong.

I am a mother of 2 children, age 3 and one. I let both my kids watch TV. I do believe in a time limit. Somedays depending on what we have planned it can be as much as 2 hours or 20 mins a day. I believe in the saying "do what is best for you and your family." There are a lot of educational shows. Along with my help and some shows my 3 year old knows her letters and numbers and is starting to write her name.

I have a 17 month old daughter. I do let her watch some T.V. She has been watching baby einstein videos since she was 9 months old. She goes through phases where if I let her watch a cartoon on t.v. or baby einstein videos she will diligently watch them, then other times she wants me to put a video in (she brings me the dvd cover indicating she wants to watch), so I'll put the video in and then she's off doing other things. I do not feel guilty letting her watch the videos. I limit her t.v. time to usually one 1/2 video or cartoon in the morning and one in the evenings usually while I'm trying to prepare my family dinner. It's a tradeoff, I cook healthy home cooked meals and my child needs to be entertained while I do it I feel. There are several nights a week where I will not put in a dvd while I'm cooking and she either has to play with her toys or come in the kitchen with mommy where I put her in a chair up by the counter and she Pretend plays that she is helping me. I think watching some t.v. is fine, it should be monitored, timed & they should only be allowed to watch things appropriate for their age. I do not feel guilty, I am a full time working mother and I do the best I can. I had it tougher as a child and I know my child is given much love and has a great life.

I also want to add to the above post that if you do a variety of activities with your children you should not feel guilty if you let them watch t.v. For instance, I play & read to my daughter, we go outside, go for walks, etc. etc. It's not like we are a family who generally watches t.v. all day. I think society likes to try to dictate how we should or should not raise our kids, then you hear all this mainstream media stuff like "is watching t.v. bad for your kids?", there are professionals out their spewing their babble. I say go with your gut, what you feel good about, you are the parent, trust yourself and go with the flow.

As a mother of two who works full time, I also occasionally let the TV act as babysitter to get chores done or just catch a moment for myself. We were a little better at limiting our older daughter's TV time when she was a baby and she rarely watched TV before 18 months and only occasionally after that until 2. Unfortunately, it's been a little harder to limit TV for our younger daughter (17 months). My older daughter is 4 1/2 and we let her watch 1/2 hour (occasionally more) of TV on weekdays and more (up to 2 hours per day) on weekends. It's always "educational" programming like Blues Clues or something similar. Because of this, my younger daughter watches more than I would like, but usually only on the weekends. I keep up with all of the studies on TV viewing for young people and do feel some guilt, but hey, sometimes you just need to get things done. I know I'm a good, loving mom who interacts with her children so I don't feel too guilty.

My 2 1/2 year old watches far more TV than my 8 year old did at his age. I have always tried to limit the kids hours of programming, and they tend to watch videos or PBS. My husband and I don't tend to watch TV at all. It is definitely serves a babysitter function, no doubt about it. I do feel guilty, or maybe fearful is a more accurate term. Am I harming my child to maintain my own sanity? I did watch tons of TV as a child. I came from a big family, and it tended to be a social gathering point and had a fairly interactive nature to it, with a constant commentary about what we were watching. I don't know what the right answer is, but I do know that post 1950's life, doesn't allow for a balanced lifestyle, and something has to give.

I have a three year old and 16 month old boys, and yes I let them watch some t.v. I try not to feel too guilty about it if I limit it to 1-2 shows a day. My sixteen month old actually never pays attention to the t.v. all that much when it's on anyway, so I don't really worry about him. My three year old loves his shows and has great affinity for the characters. I only let him watch "educational" shows geared for his age group. His favorites are: Clifford (PBS), Handy Manny (DIsney) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Disney). I feel he actually learns some valuable lessons from the shows.

I do think it's a bit unrealistic for kids not to watch any t.v. before age 2, especially if they have older siblings. I think the key is moderation and making sure they are watching quality programming. Don't park you kid in front of the t.v. for hours or expose them to violent programming. But throwing on a show here or there to get a little peace and quiet during the day is actually quite refreshing, and I think makes me a better mother to get a small break during the day.

My parents were pretty strict with t.v. I think I only watched Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, and Captain Kangaroo. I did sneak in a roadrunner here or there which I loved. But again, I think my parents did a good job moderating my intake, which I try to do with my kids today.

I think that tv is ok if checking the content and not all children's shows are good. I prefer nonfiction in my own life but for a child a certain amount of fiction is useful if done right. They can identify with some funny character in a cartoon. But nature shows are great too!
I feel the parent should watch a few to make sure of the content. Some kids shows are truly dangerous in their content. But if the parenting stops there, sure there are problems.
We have to teach the kids to think for themselves, to filter the crap to find the beauty and truth. When they go out into the world it's the same thing...lots of crap and diamonds tossed into it.
Around Christmas it's endless the toys that the kids are being coerced into begging their parents for. I taught this little 3 year old to just say, I like that. And not, I want that.
We all have to learn to think for ourselves and seek the truth, beauty and goodness of life. There's a lot of muck to wade through to get there. If the parent is with the child while watching, comments can be made to guide the thinking.

Our youngest is 15 months old and we have not let her watch TV.

She has a language delay (so much for them saying that too much TV causes that!) so I bought her some of the toddler sign language DVDs a few weeks ago. "First Signs" by Baby Einsteins with Marlee Matlin is excellent, as is the "My Baby Can Talk" sign language series. In just three weeks of watching them, she can sign to us over 20 different things, which is more than most children her age can speak... I can only imagine if we had started sooner with her! It helps her communicate her needs to us, and she has learned it from watching these DVDs in my lap. We do not use TV as a babysitter, we use it as an educational tool.

The comment in the blog post that says they mimic what they see on TV is true... but isn't that how we learn things? By mimicking what we see and hear?

My daughter learned to read using a DVD series called Your Baby Can Read. She was reading her first words at 1 and read her first book before she turned 2. She is 3 now and reads at a 2nd grade level. So, I don't agree that kids under 30 months can't learn from TV. I think more studies are needed on that because it definitely was not true with my child. She also has a very long attention span.

It is impossible to know if TV is causing problems in children or if it simply indicates the existence of problems in the home. Children who watch a lot of TV are more likely to be in dysfunctional homes, impoverished homes or have parents who don't know how to stimulate a young child. They are probably more likely to have parents with a low educational level. The more TV a child watches, the more indicative of overall problems in the home. It is important to determine if these factors, rather than TV watching itself, are responsible for later problems in children.

In my view, 30 minutes of TV a day won't do any harm to an infant or toddler.

I struggle with my son and TV all the time. My husband and I committed to no TV before two, but my (now two year old) really loved programs he would see while at his grandmas' house and ask for them at home. Around 18 months I stopped beating myself up about turning on the TV for him once or twice a week. Since he's turned two it's become a more regular an entertainment option (three or four mornings a week). I know research shows it's detrimental, but he is engaged when he's watching, and it is a godsend at times. We also talk about some of the stories at other times during the day and sing the songs often. I guess only time will tell what (if any) negative impact it's had on him.

I let both my kids watch small amounts of non-violent, non-commercial tv even when they were under 2 (especially the second child with the older sibling) and both are in gifted ed programs and love learning and reading books. I mostly watched tv all the time when I was growing up (with no limits) and it is how I learned English and moved on to higher education and loving books.

I am currently a certified preschool teacher and a busy mother of a five year old and two year old twins . I am usually disappointed with many of the programs, materials and toys marketed for young children. Especially the commercials! By the time my son was 3, he did not even know who all the characters on lunchboxes & bags were. As he gets older we've been able to allow and enjoy with him a variety of shows, but the only things my 2 year olds have seen have been the opening theme songs as I usher them out of the room for bedtime or naptime. And when I say educational I do not mean "abc's and 123's. That stuff is NOT what preschoolers need – they need REAL experiences, hands on activities, LOTS of stories (oral, books & music) and uninterrupted play. My husband and I are our children's favorite toys. We find ways to include them in many activities such as household chores, cooking and shopping as well as play – music, books, building, nature walks, art, etc. And yes, it is exhausting! We are not mean or strict about this rule any more so than when it comes to our children's needs for healthy food, plenty of sleep and appreciation of treats in any form (food, toys or special movie nights) Our first son did not watch television until he was 2 and then it was a "special" half hour video that we would enjoy together. I am able to take him to the store without a meltdown over a toy because he just doesn't understand that the newest thing on the shelf is what he's supposed to want. He didn't know about Dora or Cocoa Puffs cereal. I do not believe that exposing children to television at an early age gives them any lasting gains in education and it may even allow them to miss out on the more simple things that a person's early life should be evolved around – PLAY, JOY and WONDER.

I was a stay at home mom for four years. I watched my son and my nephew. We did watch tv, we watch Sesame street and Blue's Clues. I never thought I was a bad mom because of that, and I never will. It's not being bad to let your child watch tv. It's bad if you let the tv watch your child. My son is now 10, he was reading when he was four, and he is the top student in his class. Even though we watch tv, together, we also did a lot more.

come on i'm from generation x and we grew up watching television practically around the clock from a distance of two feet away and look how great we turned out.

"sean in santa rosa"

Our daughter is 19 months old and we've commited to the no TV rule for her.