Now that the weather is nicer and we will have a bigger yard to play in, I want to cut back tv time.
I admit, I usually have the tv on. I am used to it and listen for the noise. Lately, it's been mostly kid shows and Audrey wanders in and out of the living room while she plays or whatever.
How, do I do this without meltdowns?
Re: How do you begin to cut back/limit tv?
We are out a lot now that the weather is nice. Even though I work FT, when I get home at 5pm, I usually take her to the park or by the house with the other kids for about 2 hours.
One way I cut is to not put it on as soon as I walk in the door. Like you, we always just have it on. Now when we come in, I just don't put it on right away and B goes directly to play in the kitchen while I cook in there.
Ditto this. I find that if I just don't turn the TV on or suggest it, DS finds something to occupy himself.
Alex (11/14/06) and Nate (5/25/10)
"Want what you have, do what you can, be who you are." - Rev. Forrest Church
Just don't turn it on. If she asks for it, distract her with a book, going outside or coloring/craft. Consider cutting off the cable. We did the latter to save money, and the kids almost never ask for TV at our house, because our selection pretty much sucks. Saves us $40-$60 a month *and* gets them to do something else.
DH would have a stroke if I did this. lol. I probably would go through Food Network withdrawl myself.
I guess I will have to keep it off during the day and turn the radio on for noise.
DS is used to having TV shows only at certain times of the day. Even then, he just gets to watch something we have tivoed or a DVD for a certain amount of time. He know that when the show stops or the timer goes off that it's time to turn it off.
He will usually ask for the music channels at that point, so I will change the channel to that or turn on one of his CDs.
We have been playing music. There is a toddler music channel on cable and we have an ipod so we listen to the Laurie Berkner "channel" on Pandora. That helps.
One day I just declared that it was a no TV day. They grumbled, but we made it through it. We had been reading "Too Much TV" from the Bearenstain Bears so that helped I think.
They have a ton of toys outside, though, so lately they haven't really wanted to be inside. It's bad in a way b/c DS is way too tired at school from never taking a rest lately.