Anonymous wrote:OP I am 60 and grew up in Minnesota. From the earliest ages I watched a couple hours of TV a day: Romper Room, Captain Kangaroo, cartoons. So did all my friends. Our parents didn't give it a second thought.

It was fine. Today's parents are out of their minds, and raising a generation of kids who can't cope with life.

I am 33 and I agree with you! I was raised by the TV and I turned out fine, I swear. I don't even like TV now, I genuinely prefer reading.

I've read that screens and screentime themselves aren't the problem (provided it's quality stuff), it's what you DON'T do if you rely on TV. So if you're still reading to your kid, playing with them, encouraging independent creative play, getting them outside, etc, don't even worry about it. Your kid is going to be ok!!

Anonymous wrote:How old is he?

I’d try to keep it down to strictly an hour or less. I understand as I SAH w a preschooler (4.5) and toddler (2.5) and need the break sometimes too but 2 hours every day seems excessive. My 2 year old no longer naps (?) so tv time is a time for her to get a little rest too.

Why can’t your two year old simply have quiet time reading or playing in her room for an hour? Or a half hour or whatever time works for you.

How old is he?

I’d try to keep it down to strictly an hour or less. I understand as I SAH w a preschooler (4.5) and toddler (2.5) and need the break sometimes too but 2 hours every day seems excessive. My 2 year old no longer naps (?) so tv time is a time for her to get a little rest too.

Anonymous wrote:My toddler also watches around an hour or two at night. If not she will expect me to play with her or read to her. She spends around 5 hours at school and no TV in the morning

Wow, can't bother to play with your kid or read to her?
Look, I'm not judging the TV watching, my toddler watches some TV too, it's the only way I can have her still so I can get some stuff done around the house, clean kitchen, prep food etc. But, your reason of not having to play with her is ridiculous.

Mine wakes up early and watches about 30-60 minutes of Duggee or Peppa pig to ease into the day while I get things ready. Then we eat and head out to preschool. I think it’s fine and eases him into the day.

Anonymous wrote:OP I get it. Those hours are hard, especially with older kids needing your help. But I would not do this because of all the correlations to screentime and ADHD and this seems particularly prevalent in boys. I feel like in ES it’s really easy to tell who watches too much TV and who doesn’t.

Op here. My oldest said they went over screen time in health. DS said he got 6-12 hours a week of screen time. He said a lot of his classmates got 20+ hours. They are 10.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My toddler also watches around an hour or two at night. If not she will expect me to play with her or read to her. She spends around 5 hours at school and no TV in the morning

This is kind of sad. She’s at school for 5 hours but she also gets two hours of tv a night because she wants to play with you?

Exactly. It’s moms like this who give SAHM’s a bad name. 5 hours of “school” and two hours of TV for a TODDLER!

Anonymous wrote:My toddler also watches around an hour or two at night. If not she will expect me to play with her or read to her. She spends around 5 hours at school and no TV in the morning

This is kind of sad. She’s at school for 5 hours but she also gets two hours of tv a night because she wants to play with you?

OP I get it. Those hours are hard, especially with older kids needing your help. But I would not do this because of all the correlations to screentime and ADHD and this seems particularly prevalent in boys. I feel like in ES it’s really easy to tell who watches too much TV and who doesn’t.

I had a glorious month or two when my almost 3 year old would watch 20-30 minutes of tv 3-5 times a week. Now he refuses to watch. He gets screen time when he happens to watch in restaurants or similar situations, and we also FaceTime with grandparents every couple weeks. We also look at pictures and videos of him on my phone. I think an hour of TV sounds fine. Two hours sounds like too much for me if I’m being honest.

Anonymous wrote:Earlier bedtime for toddler.

This. Or hire a teen from the neighborhood to serve as a mother's helper for an hour or so in the evenings. Or change the elementary kids' homework time to the mornings, or after the toddler is in bed. Or prep dinner earlier in the day so there's not as much to do right before eating. Lots of alternatives, if you don't want to do as much TV as you're doing now.

OP I am 60 and grew up in Minnesota. From the earliest ages I watched a couple hours of TV a day: Romper Room, Captain Kangaroo, cartoons. So did all my friends. Our parents didn't give it a second thought.

It was fine. Today's parents are out of their minds, and raising a generation of kids who can't cope with life.

My toddler also watches around an hour or two at night. If not she will expect me to play with her or read to her. She spends around 5 hours at school and no TV in the morning

My toddler gets zero screen time but he's an only. Do what works for your fam bam.

Anonymous wrote:My 3 YO has no screen time. I WOH and consider it part of the trade off that I don’t get burned out on my kids and put them in front of a screen. My kid goes in the morning with kids that go home in the afternoons with their SAMS and those kids are the ones obsessed with Disney and princesses and sparkle twirly dresses from all the tv they watch.

WTH- I was home with my kids and we had no tv on for years and years.