My toddler gets 1-2 hours of tv per night

[Anonymous]

We are pretty lenient with TV for our 2 1/2 and 4 y/o because the more we try to set strict rules around it, the more desired it becomes. Instead we’ve set a few basic rules:

No tv in the morning before daycare. We eat breakfast and get dressed as a family.

Dinner must be eaten at the table before they can watch a show (sometimes they also get a little tv before dinner while I cook, sometimes they play with toys).

We only have 1 tv in our house. It must be shared. The kids must agree on something to watch or sometimes we all choose a movie or sports game as a family (usually on the weekend).

Bad behavior causes the TV to break.

Also, we have never allowed tablets. I like to be able to monitor what is being watched. My kids can go out to a restaurant, fly on a plane, run errands, etc. without a screen.

Otherwise, I am not overly worried if they watch two back to back movies on a rainy Sunday or all day tv when they’re sick. Some days they get none if we’re really busy. So the tv time limit is more situational than a hard and fast rule.

It works for us. Every family operates a bit differently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids watch almost zero tv and no iPads. When we are on vacation in the summer they watch maybe 2 hours a day (they stay with my parenst for a couple of month every summer. I don’t think it matters at all. I watched a lot of tv when little (probably like your son) and I turned out fine (PhD and decent job)

Curious why you chose no screen time given how it didn’t impact you?

I don’t know... it wasn’t a decision. We only have a tv in our bedroom and the kids are always playing together and don’t need/ask for tv. On rare occasions (once a month or so) we watch a movie together in bed. On occasions we also go to the movie. My daughters are also always playing together... I don’t see the need to turn on the tv... as for IPads, we only own one and barely use it ourselves...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 3 year old and literally laughed out loud at the notion that she would play quietly in her room for 30-60 minutes. She's a pretty independent kid, but would 100% want me to play with her.

Sometimes she'll play with the toys she has in the kitchen/living room for 10-15 minutes, but then she'll want me to play with her.

Just want to say that the ability to do this totally varies kid to kid. I’m the PP with the newborn who has let my 2.5 year old watch WAY too much tv over the past year because of how many life changes we’ve been going though. She’s practically feral in terms of energy, attention span and climbing ability (i.e. she scales furniture and countertops if I look away for a second and is now purposefully destructive as she works through feelings about having a new sibling.) BUT she is totally cooperative for afternoon quiet time and happily takes a toy or two to her room and plays alone quietly. She usually falls asleep within 15 minutes but if she doesn’t she’ll play alone in her room for an hour or more before she starts yelling that she’s “not sleepy anymore.” So while I believe that your kid won’t do it, some 2 year olds are good about it—yet it doesn’t necessarily eliminate the “need” for the tv the other 10 wakeful hours per day since I can’t justify locking my kid in her room every time I need to pump, feed the baby, cook a meal etc.

[Anonymous]

Totally fine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would feel guilty too. Two hours a day? Why don’t you make better use of the time your toddler is napping and the other kids are in school to get things done?

That’s a great idea! OP, in the future, you should help your older children with their homework while they are in school and your toddler is napping. Why didn’t you think of that? Wait . . .

OP, your child’s day is long, if they are having other enriching experiences and getting attention throughout the day then this amount of TV is really fine.