How much TV/DVD time for your preschooler?

[flatstanley72]

How much time do you allow your preschooler to watch TV or DVD's? My DD is 3 and I have been letting her watch about half an hour a day of DVD's or a PBS show. She doesn't nap anymore and "quiet time" has never worked for us, so it is really the only time I get a chance to get dinner started, have a few minutes to myself, or have a little one-on-one time with my younger child who is 10 months. Lately I feel like I need more time and have thought about letting her watch an additional show, but don't want her to be spending too much time watching TV.

[kirstenb]

DS1 is almost three- he will sometimes watch 30 minutes in the morning while I am getting everyone ready for daycare and myself for work, depending on his mood when he wakes up. Saturday mornings he might watch a show or two, as well. I try not to have him watch more than an hour a day, and he doesn't watch it every day. I don't mind TV in moderation.

[StrawberryFields]

I'm going to get all wild and crazy and say that I let my kids watch an hour or two. Sesame Street in the morning while I make breakfast and get everyone dressed--that is one hour. If the afternoon calls for it, I will let them watch a DVD. They are 4 and 2. They don't nap and 13 hours of awake time every day means plenty of time to play outside, run errands, read books, go to the zoo, color, play with toys, eat, and STILL watch a couple shows. As long as they aren't zoning out all day on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse I think it is fine.

[lonegirl]

We are a household that has a tv on all the time. He doesn't sit and watch all the time....just little snippets here and there. If a fave show comes on he sits to watch while doing some other activity like play-doh or puzzles. I generally have on TVO kids, CBC Kids, PBS, Treehouse or other mostly advertisement free programs. In the evening hubby and I watch our PVR faves and DS plays on the floor/in his ball pit/on the couch where ever.

[Starry-eyedMom]

This is one area I feel guilty about! I let my older son watch around 2 hours a day--he watches while his younger brother naps. Being pregnant, I haven't been feeling active or creative enough to plan more activities after I get home from work (after lunch). I do sit with him and work on grading papers, browsing MDC, etc.

[marimara]

I'll admit that my dd watches more than I would like her to. About 45 min in the morning while I drink coffee and do internet, and then another 45min-1hr while I cook dinner. She doesn't always watch that much TV but some days might watch more, say if she's sick or I am or I have a migraine or something. We don't have cable service but she watches DVDs.

The rest of the day she has plenty of a activities to keep her busy. She will amuse herself w/out TV for up to an hour either playing w/toys, puzzles, coloring/drawing, or reading books.

[Sydnee]

It varies, my 3.5 year old only sits to watch a movie during naptime (most of the time she falls asleep after a half hour or so). Othrewise she won't sit long enough, lol!

[SallyN]

TV shows are the only way I can get my 3.5 year old to stay still long enough to get her body to rest and her brain to veg out. She stopped napping at about 2 (was never a good napper anyway.) I tried "quiet play time in her room" but it very quickly became something that she felt more like a punishment (being forced to be in her room and play quietly on my terms and not her own.)

I try to limit her daily dose to four shows. Usually two in the morning and two after lunch. Lately though, she's been asking for "extra" shows in the morning, which I explain leaves fewer for quiet time. Sometimes that works out okay, sometimes not.

And sometimes I let her watch a little more in the afternoon or end of day, depending on how her behavior is. If she's going kinda crazy and not using listening ears, that means she's had more than enough tv. If she's tired and I'm unavailable to help her with some quiet reading (due to trying to get sister to nap, or making dinner), then I'll put on an extra show.

I absolutely see behavioral complications from too much screen time. So we try to find a balance. What your balance looks like may be different from what my balance looks like, kwim?

[PluggingAway]

My preschooler self-regulates tv time. Some days he doesn't watch any tv and other days he watches 3 - 5 hours! It's really a non-issue in our house.

[Llyra]

My kids are 3, 3, and 5. I allow one "show" a week for each for each of them, and they all watch each other's shows, so it winds up being three "shows" a week each. I don't get into the length of whatever they're watching-- it might be a 20 minute video, or a 90 minute video, or a half-hour program on PBS. When they're older and have a better sense of time, I'll put an actual time limit on it, but this works for now.

Most weeks, actually, they wind up watching even less. And I don't limit TV when somebody's sick (beyond something mild like a cold; I mean sick enough to be in bed.)

I don't allow any screen time at all during July and August, unless somebody's sick enough to want to stay in bed.

Mine were no-screen until 2. We only have one little TV in my bedroom, and that's it, so the TV isn't a big feature of their lives. They mostly just entertain themselves.

[AmyKT]

Originally Posted by PluggingAway

My preschooler self-regulates tv time. Some days he doesn't watch any tv and other days he watches 3 - 5 hours! It's really a non-issue in our house.

This is often how it works out for us, though we do turn off the TV if it seems to be interfering with other daily tasks and activities.

[mom_2_carson]

I feel much better now. On average it's about 1hr per day, 30min in the morning before school and 30min late afternoon while I'm cooking dinner. There are days that they'll watch a movie or a few extra shows but I try not to get caught up on the time as long as they don't zone out in front of the TV for an entire afternoon.

[columbusmomma]

Depends on what I need to get down around the house lol! Somedays DD watches no tv, otherwise I'd say about an hour.

[ShadowMoon]

My 3 yr old probably watches about an hour or two a day. Mostly PBS stuff or a movie.

[flatstanley72]

Originally Posted by SallyN

TV shows are the only way I can get my 3.5 year old to stay still long enough to get her body to rest and her brain to veg out. She stopped napping at about 2 (was never a good napper anyway.) I tried "quiet play time in her room" but it very quickly became something that she felt more like a punishment (being forced to be in her room and play quietly on my terms and not her own.)

This is us exactly. "Quiet time" stresses both of us out and turns into a power struggle, so I just stopped doing it.

I also notice problems if she watches too much and that when she watches more she starts asking to watch DVD's all day long.

I think we are going to try watching up to an hour (about 2 shows) after lunch and see how that goes. If it is too hectic towards dinner time, I might split it up and do 1 show after lunch and 1 before dinner time. I always thought we would watch less TV than this, but it hasn't worked out that way. DD is just not a self-entertainer and with two, I can't figure out any other way to get dinner ready and have a little time for a breather during the day.

[flatstanley72]

Originally Posted by StrawberryFields

As long as they aren't zoning out all day on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse I think it is fine.

My DD loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It is one of the only things she likes watching that I don't like too much. For some reason, when she watches it or reads the books with the Mickey Mouse characters, she acts all wild and crazy afterward.

[IntrovertExtrovert]

On a typical day he watches anywhere from 20-30 minutes. 20 minutes being one recorded Nick Jr show without Puzzle Time, 30 minutes being with Puzzle Time. Some days he watches one show in the morning while his father is showering (after I've gone to work), and another while I'm making dinner if he doesn't want to help.

But it's so much easier to limit TV now that we're almost never home. I mean, frankly I don't get to see him that much on Tu/Thur as it is. It's easy to keep him from watching too much TV when he's only in the house for about 4.5 hours, and I only get to see him for 3 of those. On days that it's just us, if I don't have a plan for something to do then 1 hour is the low end of TV watching. Really bad days when one of us is feeling really cranky or sick and we can't go out for whatever reason it's more like 2 or 3 hours.

[hopefulfaith]

TV started at age 3 around here; screen-free before then.
We do 30 minutes a day of PBS (we only have basic cable, so that means Curious George or Super Why) or a Mr. Rogers DVD x 1 episode perhaps 4-5 times a week. We have started a family "Friday Night Movie Night!" on Fridays, where we'll watch up to an hour. It's fun.

[MJB]

My boys are 4 and 7 and they get half an hour a day of either TV or Wii.