How much TV....

DCKate

Are your LOs really watching? dD doesn't watch tv in the house, though I always have MSNBC on in the background. She's watched maybe 5 episodes of Daniel Tiger on Netflix, all in the same week she was pretty sick and housebound.

However, I have the PBS Kids app downloaded, and I feel like whenever we are in the car or in the store and losing patience, it had become my go to tool. I mean maybe in a week, she watches 1.5 or 2 hours in total. What about all of you?

DCKate

@teds1chic‌ ok, glad we aren't the only ones:). My husband said the same about needing to veg out, and she's so busy reading and playing all day that I don't feel too bad.

RN2011

Maybe 2-3 hours at most?  I know my mom will let her watch an episode of Doc McStuffins, Dora or Mickey Mouse clubhouse during the day.  She watches 1/2 hour of Bubble Guppies before her bath time.  On Saturday and Sunday mornings I'll put on Sprout while I'm getting her breakfast ready.  Sometimes she watches them sometimes not.

littleheaven

we have it on all the time...girl is obsessed with disney jr...esp sheriff callie....we have the app on during breakfast for her on the weekends sometimes, and in the bath....and pull out in emergencies on my phone or her ipod in the car

one dr visit, her 18month well visit she was freaking out, so we were watching callie to keep her calm, and the dr was going through all the dos and donts for babies, and she's like "i see she's watching there, you don't let her watch a lot of tv do you?" and i'm all "uhh no...this is just to keep her calm" yeah big lie...the tv is always on in our house....so she was saying she should only be watching 1-2 hrs at most of tv...

then she also said she shouldn't be having crunchy salty snacks like goldfish...whatever lady....i'm not too concerned...she's hitting all her milestones, and saying lots of words thanks to mmch....

and if you ask her how callie goes? she says "ee haw" (yee haw- very cute)

brachysira

We watch a lot of TV.  She learns words from it and turns it on herself and I am too pregnant to play with her all day so I don't want to object too often.  She is very good at entertaining herself with toys without TV but gets bored so unless I am up to getting out some play dough or something, I let her watch TV.  We do go to the pool, the park, storytime, a baby class, playdates, the splashpad, and play outside and do organized and unorganized things inside, but in between those things, I do think she needs to relax.  My mom was just describing a study to me that said MRIs of baby's brains showed differences between babies who watched TV and those who didn't, and that babies who watched TV had lower vocab scores...but for one thing, that doesn't sound super compelling, journalists oversimplify and misstate, and my mom can't remember things very accurately.  Plus, my baby says several hundred words and understands complicated things I tell her, so I think she may be past the point where it is super bad.

ConstanceGoodspeed

Zero. I don't turn it on for him and we don't have it on in the background. DH and I occasionally watch Netflix/Hulu but not in front of DS, usually after he is in bed.

Our pedi recommended no TV until age 2. He probably won't even watch it after that because we just aren't TV people. 

ETA: I did just discover "Signing Time," a show to teach kids ASL, so yesterday I pulled up a few clips on youtube. DS didn't really care.

luvindanimals

The tv stays on Disney jr while we are home (since I am off this summer) because I like background noise. DS watches it when music comes on and when he cuddles because he's tired but he is usually too busy for the tv and will often turn it off. (Usually when I am in the middle of an episode of something I haven't seen on Disney jr and wanting to see the end LOL!!!)

AshleyDehaven

We have kids shows or movies on in the background most of the time. Sometimes he needs something familiar to calm him down, but most of the time he only watches when a favorite part comes on. He learned his first words from Despicable Me 2 and anything that is going to help us break through and get him talking i view as acceptable. We play, we go out, he goes to the park, and is doing well, so i'm not concerned.

spainy17

Maybe an hour? And not every day. They don't do TV at daycare. And when I am home I'll do a little in the morning (the news or catch up on something I dvr that DH won't watch) and maybe fifteen minutes here and there for snack time or if I need to cook dinner. I have it on in the background sometimes but we have never sat and watched TV together except when we all had the stomach flu. I'm not against it but I try not to encourage it too much because I figure it will be begged for soon enough. :-) Thankfully I'm technologically slow so three most she had ever seen on my phone are videos of puppies on you tube when crying during diaper changes.

Myaflowers

We have the TV on Nick Jr most of the time or else on the Direct TV music channels. I have to have the background noise. DD doesn't usually slow down enough to watch unless she's tired and wants to snuggle. She also stops and looks up and starts dancing whenever music comes on, especially if it's Bubble Guppies or Yo Gabba Gabba. I swear the kid has a crush on DJ Lance...she smiles so big whenever she sees him. Lol. 

This thread has made me feel much better about TV. I figure I watched some TV as a toddler and I made As and had high test scores in school. I don't think it really matters much unless parents use the TV as a babysitter.

court115

DS is really not interested. I've put on a few shows (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Doc McStuffins, The Wiggles, Thomas, Barney, etc.). He'll watch for maybe 5 minutes and then he'll go on with his day. Sometimes, if they're singing, he'll dance along but he never really watches it.

DCKate

Indeed! She's limited in her tv time (she's not interested in the house tv but loves my iPhone) but sometimes I need 15 minutes to get lunch ready or pack for us to go to the park! Or pee. Just for a minute.

babygirlva2013

DD will watch Disney jr in the mornings but that is really it. She doesn't even pay attention that often...mostly just during the songs. Sometimes we have something else on in the background, but she doesn't really watch it if it isn't a Disney jr show. I'm glad she isn't showing much interest yet.

Hollylb3

jcar2 said:

DS doesn't really watch any tv. We may have it on in the background (such as right now the World Cup is on) but DS doesn't pay much attention.

This. I've gotten him DVDs from the library about his favorite things (dogs and trucks), and he'll watch for 2 minutes and go on to something else.

gagirl2004

Ok on our 5 hour car trip Jacey found a deep love for Frozen, and really watched the whole movie, and even sang let it go. DH teared up, she maybe watches 1-2 hours a day. To much but she talks tons and is on track and/or ahead on her milestones. I watched tv as a child, and graduated 3rd in my class. SO im not to worried about it.

URMySunshine77

We don't have a TV. I'm going to wait until two for TV shows on the iPad. Once in a while I'll show him a five-min Youtube video of Elmo on my phone or computer.

littleheaven

after re-reading what i wrote i made it seem like she's a couch potato...i mean there are times where i can't break her concentration on the tv, but for the most part, she is really good at independent play....when disney jr is not on, or she is just not in the mood, she's good at just playing and doing what she wants that's not tv related....

plus she's at daycare all day playing and running around and doing normal kid stuff there too....interacting with other kids etc

jobiann

We have it on pretty much the entire time we are home. DH is a TV hog, but DS isn't watching it all the time. On a daily basis, he'll watch it while he eats his breakfast while DH is in the shower and I'm getting ready for work. And in the evenings I usually let him have 30-60 minutes, usually while we are cooking dinner or cleaning up from dinner. He very rarely just sits and stares at the tv, usually he will watch it a bit, then go pick up a book or play with his kitchen, etc. 

He will actually sit and watch Mickey Mouse Club House, maybe Bubble Guppies but I think he is kind of over that show now...thankfully. Oh, and he does love Daniel Tiger.

court115

teds1chic said:

gagirl2004 said:

Ok on our 5 hour car trip Jacey found a deep love for Frozen, and really watched the whole movie, and even sang let it go. DH teared up, she maybe watches 1-2 hours a day. To much but she talks tons and is on track and/or ahead on her milestones. I watched tv as a child, and graduated 3rd in my class. SO im not to worried about it.

Henley will sit for the whole Frozen movie too. It's crazy

I wanted DS to love Frozen because I wanted so badly to see it but DH made fun of me for wanting to watch it. I thought if I was watching with DS, then I could say we were just watching it for him. He was interested for .5 seconds. I ended up making my 17 year old nephew watch it with me so that I could say I watched it with "one of the boys" hahaha

AshleyDehaven

amcourt09 said:

teds1chic said:

gagirl2004 said:

Ok on our 5 hour car trip Jacey found a deep love for Frozen, and really watched the whole movie, and even sang let it go. DH teared up, she maybe watches 1-2 hours a day. To much but she talks tons and is on track and/or ahead on her milestones. I watched tv as a child, and graduated 3rd in my class. SO im not to worried about it.

Henley will sit for the whole Frozen movie too. It's crazy

I wanted DS to love Frozen because I wanted so badly to see it but DH made fun of me for wanting to watch it. I thought if I was watching with DS, then I could say we were just watching it for him. He was interested for .5 seconds. I ended up making my 17 year old nephew watch it with me so that I could say I watched it with "one of the boys" hahaha

Pff.. DS hates Frozen, I on the other hand an a disney addict, and my H learned long ago not to stand between me and my musicals lol. I LOVE frozen.

this decaf life

DD watches zero TV.