s/o TV in the car

CallMeKel · July 2010

I'm not talking about on a long trip....that's kind of a given....I'm talking about for just average, everyday driving around town.

OK, or not OK?

[Poll]

ayersfam20 · July 2010

Some of the best conversations we've had have been in the car - so I'm a no tv in the car person. Even on long trips we don't take one unless I'm the only other one in the car with her.

darva · July 2010

We have one... quite frankly it's the only thing that saves my sanity some days. For short trips, it's not normally on... But driving out to Katy to my SILs we use it quite frequently, it keeps the girls from arguing and yelling and driving me crazy. lol We also have a 'no tv after school' rule, so we talk when they get picked up and they aren't immediately watching.

IMFun · July 2010

I wanted one for a long while and then DH and I got to talking about it and we like that Joe has to use his imagination and chat with us while we drive and we do long trips almost every weekend. (four hours and up).

I am afraid if we had a dvd player he would want it even for the short trips and for us... we just don't want to let that camel's nose under the tent.

MrsMGR · July 2010

I just got a new car and we added the DVDs to the headrests in the back seat. It was a 'must have' for me because we plan on using it for lots of roadtrips. I haven't used it while we are running errands or short trips, but we went to Kemah 2 weekends ago and used it and did a day trip to and from Austin on Sunday and used it both ways. Joe was quiet as a mouse and quite content....as was mommy who got to nap in the car while DH drove....ahhhh relaxing day on the road ;-)

Katieraye09 · July 2010

I'm not a fan of tv's in the car. I don't care if other people have them but I just don't care for them for my family. Some of my BEST memories of growing up were riding in the car talking to my parents, goofing off, playing "office" using the fold-down tray in the back of my dad's truck, etc. I know for a fact DH would flip if I ever mentioned a tv in the car. We are in the car a lot now and I don't see it slowing down....I'm hoping DS will have fun with his trips like I used to.

aprilprincess · July 2010

we orginally bought one for road trips. Then it was getting left in the car and on all the time. A even told Matt he needed a tv in his car. yikes. we just talked about it and while it does keep her entertained in traffic we don't want it on all the time anymore. So the new car will not have one in there unless it's over a 2 hour drive.

anna_j · July 2010

I didn't answer because G is too little to care about TV right now, but I already told DH that we are getting a TV in our next vehicle. We live in a small town so traffic is rare so I don't think I'd use it around town but on roadtrips---omg yes. We rode to Florida (10 hrs) with some friends and their 3 year old and she would have crawled out of her skin if she didn't have TV to watch.

kat.in.the.hat · July 2010

we have one, and our next car will have it too. But since she's still rear facing, she can't see it. I do let her watch Elmo on my i-Phone though. There's really just a limited amount of time a 22 month old can spend in the car without going bonkers, so I think it's entirely appropriate for certain ages.

starlettedir · July 2010

Nope. Books with a tape worked for me. We played all sorts of games in the cars as well. I don't think we would even have them for long trips.

monkaloo · July 2010

Our new car has them, and we use them only if our destination is at least 45-60 minutes away. It's really more of a treat for the kids (and for us!) We definitely encourage talking and using their imagination (and they do a lot of both, believe me!), but after my kids have been at each other's throats all day - putting them in a car together for a couple hours is not a fun prospect. A movie is a nice distraction.

They know TV is a "sometimes" thing, so they don't even bother asking to watch when they know we're only driving around town for errands, trips to school, etc.

I don't judge those who do use them all the time. If a parent feels they engage their kids enough during the rest of the day - enjoy some quiet drive time to the grocery store!

rayskit10 · July 2010

We intentionally did not get them in our new cars. When we went on vacation last summer, we had one in the rental and it was awesome when we drove from Denver to Boulder, but when we were driving thru Rocky Mountain National Forest and all T wanted to do was watch a movie, it pretty much cemented our opinion that we do not want them. You don't have to watch it, I know, but fighting about it is just even more tiring. We have a portable DVD player for road trips if we need it but we just drove back and forth to Corpus 2x in July (3.5 hours each way) and never needed it. If he really needs to be entertained, he has Tag books or a Leap Frog learning game he can play. I also let him do flashcards and music games on my phone.

BritanyV · July 2010

We have a dvd player in the minivan we just got in June and DH's truck has one too. I mainly use it for long trips but some days ds throws a fit to watch tv going just 10 miles down the road. Sometimes I give in and let him watch, it's Leap Frog videos, which he learns a lot from, so I don't mind.

However, some days I fib and tell him it's broken or just flat out say no because he won't use the headphones, which means the whole car has to listen to his video and some days I just want to listen to the radio!

lilycat · July 2010

We bought the van and made sure to get the model without the TV on purpose.

Besides being old fashioned, we are also thinking that a couple of Kindles, a couple of iPads, and a couple of laptops tethered to our phones better suit our in-car/road trip entertainment needs.

mom2ll · July 2010

we made sure NOT to get them in my car (not an option in our other car when we bought). We have a portable DVD player for plane trips. The kids get plenty of TV. We feel like we don't need it in the car too.

longhorngal · July 2010

don't have one in the car we have the ipad for his "movies" but i am pretty strict on making sure he gets no more than 20 minutes of screening time for toddlers....so i don't even pull out the "movie" until its my ultimate last resort...

Nanner · July 2010

Absolutely not. Ugh, TV is everywhere these days. In the elevators, doctors' offices, on grocery carts, on buses, in taxis... I can't escape it!

However, I can see the benefit of using it sporadically on a long trip, as long as their are headphones. Especially because Sam NEVER STOPS TALKING AND ASKING QUESTIONS in the car! I can barely deal with it for 30 minutes, but I think I might go mad after that.

MrsMGR · July 2010

monkaloo:

Our new car has them, and we use them only if our destination is at least 45-60 minutes away. It's really more of a treat for the kids (and for us!) We definitely encourage talking and using their imagination (and they do a lot of both, believe me!), but after my kids have been at each other's throats all day - putting them in a car together for a couple hours is not a fun prospect. A movie is a nice distraction.

They know TV is a "sometimes" thing, so they don't even bother asking to watch when they know we're only driving around town for errands, trips to school, etc.

I don't judge those who do use them all the time. If a parent feels they engage their kids enough during the rest of the day - enjoy some quiet drive time to the grocery store!

Diito this.

CallMeKel · July 2010

Nanner:

Absolutely not. Ugh, TV is everywhere these days. In the elevators, doctors' offices, on grocery carts, on buses, in taxis... I can't escape it!

Ain't that the truth? It's frankly annoying that it's imposed on us so much in just the general public! Ugh!

We're in the car a LOT, going all over town, and I still don't feel the need. Usually we'll sing, or talk about the scenery or she'll just rest. I have twice allowed her to watch a movie on the iPad as a special treat......but luckily she doesn't even ask normally.

kreeper611 · July 2010

I can't answer this with the options given. First, Cooper doesn't watch TV yet. Second, our car didn't come with it, but I'm not against getting a portable one.

However, I'm one to "never say never." My mom was always against it...until she had a 9yo step son. They have a DVD player in her car and it's saved their sanity. It cuts down on the "dad...dad...dad" and "Ms. D...Ms. D...Ms. D" that 9yos do every 3.2 seconds. Plus, they can have a conversation. With him being an only child he has a lot of alone time on long car trips.

I'm ok with it for long trips, but I am not a fan for the 2 min trip to school. I mean, really? You can't sit still for 2 min and either look out of the window or talk? I plan on trying to do the rule that it's only for trips longer than 1 hour...but who knows. I may have 2 boys that are in danger of killing each other without a good tv distraction and I'll cave if that's the case.

CindyandScott · July 2010

We do not have one now nor do we plan on it. We do have a portable dvd player for plane rides and long car trips. It's not on the whole time usually but when they get to an antsy stage a movie definitely helps.

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