Screen Time?

Athena0809

How much TV/screen time do your LOs get?  We have never avoided it but don't encourage it either and I've noticed DS is not even interested in watching TV, but when we are in the car and he gets fuzzy I play a couple videos or a some apps or at time it's in the background and he'll glance for a few secs.

The other night we went to dinner with our friends and their 18 mo daughter, they carry a tablet and play videos for her non-stop. When DS got a little fuzzy my friend moved the tablet so that he could watch it too and DS wanted nothing to do with it, so I said thank you for sharing but we've noticed he doesn't like watching for more than a few seconds, her response? "Then how does he learn?" Apparently her videos are all "educational" but the kid had no interaction with any adult didn't even eat because she was "learning".

To each their own, I try my hardest not to judge because I've had a few raised eyebrows at some of our parenting choices, but it made me wonder, how much is too much and what do other families allow for TV/screen time.

kacelle

DD usually watches a singalong video a day (~25 minutes).  That's mommy peace time.  Haha.  I absolutely do not rely on videos to educate her, especially since studies show synapses form differently when children watch videos than when they learn in other ways.  

DD's daycare doesn't have TVs and doesn't show video to the children.  I really like that.  Our screen time is usually at like 6:30 in the morning when we're all trying to get ready before dropping her off at daycare or during fussy times in the early evenings.  She's a really musical little person (she gets that from DH), so she really likes to dance and sing to the videos (usually VeggieTales or Sesame Street).

jg_girl1

Audrey watches a 30 min show a day. I put it on so that I can make dinner. She really doesn't watch it she just listens and dances for the first few minutes than plays independently with her toys. Sometimes when I'm not feeling well I let her play with the ipad but she gets bored with it after a few minutes. She would much rather push the ipad around on the floor face down than play with the apps. 

kelly321

Steph&Harry08:

How much TV/screen time do your LOs get?  We have never avoided it but don't encourage it either and I've noticed DS is not even interested in watching TV, but when we are in the car and he gets fuzzy I play a couple videos or a some apps or at time it's in the background and he'll glance for a few secs.

We're the same way. I was never someone who said "DD's not going to watch TV until she's x years old," but we don't usually encourage it, either. A couple of times I've tried to get her to watch a Veggie Tales video or Bambi when I needed a few minutes to myself, but she's just not interested. It's not something I'm going to push.

She is obsessed with phones and remote controls, but I think that's just because she sees them in our hands. She's just as interested in pens :-)

je2161

We don't give DD any structured screen time on a daily basis right now. When she gets a bit older (maybe 2 years old), I will introduce a few educational cartoons in moderation. When we have the TV on in the background, she doesn't even seem to care.

I have shown her an educational app (maybe like 5 times ever) and she seemed moderately interested in it. However, she seems to get the most out of her books, toys, games, and real-life experiences.

toadstool

Since I'm a SAHM, I like having the tv or music on when we are home so that we can have background noises. We have a very open floor plan, so I am able to have the tv on in a different room while I still listen to it and watch here and there. DD goes to the baby gate and watches occationally. I also let her watch Sesame Street about a few times a month. She loves it and, while I don't really think she is "learning" much from it, I thinks it's fine to let her enjoy it every once in a while.

2BlackCats

Abby just started noticing the TV, but she only pays attention to the music parts and she dances around.  She LOVES the hotdog song at the end of The Mickey Mouse Club.  She will hand me the remote and say hotdog!

She like to push buttons on my phone, but could care less for any of the apps on it.  I did download Disney Jr so we can play the hotdog song for her. 

pinkflipflops44

She doesn't watch tv. It's on either playing music or for the news/sports when she is awake. But it's mostly music. She only recently even showed interest in it and it was for commericals with songs. She knows the remote changes the tv so if she wants a different song to play she takes the remote and points it at the tv which means for me to take it back and change the music station ha. We did just get an IPad and my husband downloaded 2 different apps for her and she likes those but only gets to play for like 5 minutes or so at night if that because the children at restaurants attached to their technological devices gives me anxiety and I fear for people who cannot hold conversations with others.

dbadura01

DS will watch Sesame Street with me in the morning while I eat my breakfast, so only for about 10 minutes.  The only other time he watches anything is if he wakes up super early and won't go back to sleep.  In that case, he comes into our bed and watches either the PBS or Disney Jr app on our phone, but he never watches for more than 5 minutes.  The only other time he watches tv is when we are watching football.  He LOVES it.... cheers, yells at the TV (we don't do this, so I still don't know where he gets that from), and then says "Touchdown" and runs around the kitchen doing his touchdown dance.  But again, he doesn't watch for more than 5 minutes at a time.  He's more interested in playing, running, and dancing. 

oooCarrieB

LO doesn't watch TV. I've tried to put kids stuff on for her, but she's not interested for more than 5 minutes. She does LOVE football like PP and loves saying touchdown and putting her arms up in the air when a game is on or she sees anything related to football.

I also let her play with my phone and she sometimes will play a game on it or listen to music.  

MainSt

DS watches cartoons while he eats his breakfast (usually Cat in the Hat) and he loves Elmo.  I love Elmo too because he gives me time to clean up, make supper etc without DS in my feet.  He doesn't care for anyother shows on TV. We travel a lot (to see family) and if I don't want him to fall asleep in the car (not long enough for a decent nap), we will put Elmo on the iPad for him.

As far as other screen time, he also loves to look at pictures on the computer.  We do this a lot because we don't have any family that lives close to us and want him to know who they are (if that makes sense).  We also watch laughing baby videos on youtube because they make us both laugh hysterically. All of this stuff is done with me.

Long story short, he watches 1 hr of TV and has probably 30-60mins of screen time 4 out of 7 days.

JMU_Bride09

DS gets to watch TV while I shower in the morning...it's a big help!  The only other times he gets to watch TV is in the evening while I try to make dinner if he's in a super cranky mood.  Other than that, he doesn't get much screen time.  I have the news on all day long, so he does watch a commercial every so often, but I'm honestly not concerned.  He's a very active kid and barely sits still for five minutes even when he watches something he loves.