TV policy at your house?

parkit2010 · August 2011

My guys are 10.5 months and are taking more notice of the TV. I have it on about half the day, for background noise for myself and am starting to think about its effect on the boys. What is your TV policy? What do you wish it was? How old are your children? Do you plan to make changes as your children get older?

UsedToBeGoldie · August 2011

we pretty much don't have anything on but Nick Jr or kids DVDs or shows from DVR when they are in the room --- i don't like them to see anything on the news... and no other adult tv is OK either - I esp hate them watching any commercials- hence, why i love Nick Jr and DVR.

they watch too much TV in general-but it's all kids shows from Nick Jr or sprout - all have educational value... and we talk about them when we're watching.

So, my rule is no commercials... and no adult TV.... and only shows that are good for kids (ie- no spongebob)

togagirl · August 2011

I used to have it on all the time but once they were a few months old I stopped. Now, since I like the background noise too, I put the radio on and the boys love it. They watch a few shows on PBS or Nick Jr. Usually they like to watch something first thing in the morning while I make breakfast and then when the youngest naps I let them relax and watch something for 30 minutes or so while I try to get some cleaning or computer stuff done.

MagPie08 · August 2011

We don't have a policy per se, but in general the kids Sesame Street every morning from while they have their milk, we change diapers, etc. Usually they're super interested for the first 10 minutes, and then it just sort of stays on in the background for the hour while we're getting ready for work and they pull out all their toys.

They also watch one baby Einstein or Sesame St DVD after baths before bed. They absolutely LOVE those and would seriously watch them all day if we allowed them to. (DS especially). We don't have cable, so the TV isn't really ever on during the day otherwise..

I do worry about winter time though....it's so much harder to get out and do stuff, and I worry we'll rely on more TV. I'm curious to know what everybody else says . . .

kafunder · August 2011

We have a no TV policy in our house for the LOs. Other than last weekend during the hurricane, I couldn't tell you the last time we had the TV on while the LOs were awake. We also don't do DVDs or anything like that for the LOs. We're trying to make it until 2 years old with that rule. It's not hard for us though b/c even before the LOs were born, we generally only had the TV on when we were sitting to watch for an hour or so at night. For background noise, especially when I was on maternity leave, we listen to a lot of NPR or I'll put on a children's station on Pandora.

violaplayer · August 2011

We haven't set a policy yet. But we really don't watch much TV to begin with.

ougrad1 · August 2011

Nick Jr is on pretty much all day. Emerson has school until noon and I do have it on most of the day when she gets home.

As she gets older and her schedule gets fuller, I will scale back the TV time. Right now I honestly don't mind her watching TV while she does crafts or plays with her toys.

The babies don't pay a bit of attention to it right now.

Temp6313048411121614 · August 2011

UsedToBeGoldie:
we pretty much don't have anything on but Nick Jr or kids DVDs or shows from DVR when they are in the room --- i don't like them to see anything on the news... and no other adult tv is OK either - I esp hate them watching any commercials- hence, why i love Nick Jr and DVR.

they watch too much TV in general-but it's all kids shows from Nick Jr or sprout - all have educational value... and we talk about them when we're watching.

So, my rule is no commercials... and no adult TV.... and only shows that are good for kids (ie- no spongebob)

This only we always have Disney on or DVR. I will say that Baby Einstein is worse for DS1 than any commercial, he loves all of the toys on there.

MrsLnt · August 2011

No Elmo, no Dora, or anything else that is shrill and irritating. I hate characters that scream (Dora) or speak improperly (Elmo, Wonder Pets). I also don't like Disney stuff (too much marketing) so we don't watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (it also falls under the "shrill and irritating" label).

I TiVo Yo Gabba Gabba and Blue's Clues and we watch those because I like them and think they are cute. We also watch Baby Einstein DVDs. I'll sometimes put on the Today show in the morning and they don't really pay attention.

I'm very much of the "everything in moderation" school of thought. TV, if used properly, can be educational (I know I learned a TON from TV) so long as it's not used as a substitute for interaction. I'm just very picky about what I show them.

macchiatto · August 2011

At that age, they watched Baby Einstein and Pocoyo occasionally and that was about it. They started watching a little more when they were around 15-18m old. Now at 2.5 they watch up to 1-2 hrs of TV a day (sometimes less; or more on certain days like if we're all sick!). We rarely have adult TV on when they're up; it's usually PBS kids or one of their kids' DVDs--Little Einstein, Thomas, Bob the Builder, Elmo in Grouchland, Veggie Tales, Toy Story, etc.

Mrs.NGM · August 2011

MrsLee04:
We didn't let our kids watch any tv until after they turned 2.

This will be us. Honestly though, even now that I'm home all day we very rarely have the tv on during the day. It probably helps that the only tv's are in our bedroom and downstairs in the family room so they're not where we tend to hang out during the day.

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