My son is very active and has never been into TV. Hoping he will settle down one day and watch something. He will sit for 30 minutes max if it is something related to sports.

Too many hours to count for my 3 year old. It's just on all day or at least when we're home. I'm not actually sure how much time he spends actually looking at the screen - maybe an hour in the morning and two in the evening, but it could be more. We do a lot of stuff, go a lot of places, he goes to preschool, and so on. But in the am and pm when I'm here I need to work, so I turn it on and he plays by himself with his toys and watches TV. I'm a mediocre mom, but I'm just too tired to worry about it.

Anonymous wrote:So much for honesty.

I'm sure people are being honest, I'm also sure the ones who aren't proud of their child's TV watching habits aren't posting.

I think my kids are on about their third hour today.

Two and a half year old. Maybe 10min worth of music videos on YouTube daily with DH or me. Once a week an episode of Sesame Street or 1/2hr of Thomas the Train.

During the Olympics or football season we'll have it on so she'll see more if she's paying attention, but unless she's sick we don't turn it on specifically for her on a daily basis.

2 hours. Ages 2 and 6. Oh well. They'll live.

Our 8 y.o. rarely watches on school days (with homework and activities there's little time) but logs anywhere from 1-3 hours/day on weekends (this includes family movie night). We don't have any set limits, but if I see her sitting there for show after show I'll tell her this is her last one for while. When she's sick, tv is usually on much of the day.

I SAH with a mentally-ill 5 year old, a non-napping 3 year old and an 18 month old.

The five year old cannot be dropped off at any kind of camp or left with non-family. He also frequently stays up late at night, wakes up in the middle of the night and can't sleep, wakes everyone ELSE up, etc etc. He has to be closely supervised when playing with his little brothers and of course has no friends for playdates.

They watch several hours of TV a day. Easily 3-4 hours a day. I'm not happy about it but I really need the crutch, especially to keep them quiet while the youngest naps. Before I had my first, I was totally the "no-TV-ever-let's-just-buy-organic-toys" type.

The toddler has 5 words and one of them is "remote".

Anyone want to start a "how much do you drink?" thread?

3 year old watches 2-3 hours each weekend day, 1/2 hr to one hour on weekdays. He only naps at daycare, so when he is home on weekends, he has TV time to decompress and relax during the time that would have been naptime. He's a monster by 6 pm if we don't do this.

Anonymous wrote:So much for honesty.

Here's honesty. I SAH with 4.5 and 1.5 yr old DD's. Older one watches 1-2 hours while little one naps (depends on length of nap, if we do a craft that day, etc.) and together they will watch a 20-30 minute "concert" or singalong DVD around 5:30 while I prep dinner. This is most days. Weekends are usually less, rainy or sick days are more.

5 and 7 yo watch 30 min in the morning before school, 1 hour after school, few hours on the weekend, movie Saturday night.

3-year old watches 2-3 hours per day on weekends (Sat & Sun only). He wakes up at 6 am, so there is plenty of time for TV and outdoor activities on weekends. No TV during the week. 3-year-old is in full time preschool, so he is only home about 5 waking hours a day during the week.

1-year-old twins glance at the TV once in a while while it's on. I'm desperately trying to train them to watch TV!!!!

Our kids watch a movie about every weekend. No tv during the week. Endless tv/movies when sick enough to be in bed or while on roadtrips.

I'll be honest.

We have no limits on "screen time". We don't restrict it unless it starts to cause problems in other areas (like with school work). 8 year old watches TV or plays games whenever he's not playing with friends; sometimes he's watching all day. 3 year old will watch when he's tired. 7 year old barely touches the TV. Anecdotally, I would say my 7 year old, who doesn't watch TV, has more ADHD tendencies than any of the others.

Almost two year old gets zero TV, likes to look at family pictures on iPad. No computer, no movies. But he's pretty low-key, he's an only, I SAH, and I'm not pregnant - which is the point at which my mother, who was violently ill with me, gave the hell up and let my big sister watch TV - so it's not that difficult to avoid it. Ask again if we have a second one.

Although, I've been reconsidering given the fact that the neighborhood über-mommy who won't even give her snowflake graham crackers because they're "too sweet" let's her kid watch Elmo videos.