[JudiAU]

We don't allow 22m DS to watch tv based on various research reports, the APA recommendation, and our own gut feeling. I don't buy branded toys or character anything and I see very little of either in our future. I like non-toxic wooden toys for the most part that have a waldorf or montessori bent. Very little plastic. I admit I am a little toy obsessed myself.

DS started to speak on the later side but it is remarkable watching him develop. He already knows his colors and alphabet. He has a great attention span for his age, has nice fine motor skills for his age, and plays pretty well with us, at the tots program he attends, and is even pretty good with having other kids over and sharing toys, etc. He is generally pretty sweet tempered.

DS was given an Elmo a few months ago and he LOVED him right away. We called him "Red Monster" until my MIL made a concerted effort to teach him the "correct" name, even though she knew our preference. It was really kind of frightening how "sticky" this character and now that he is in our home DS sees him EVERYWHERE.

We had planned on introducing some television at around 2, maybe Sesame Street or even Mr. Rodger's Neighborhood. Very occasionally we play a food show or something and he will be GLUED to the tv. (And can I just say how great my SAHD DH is for modifying is tv-watching habits to make this happen?)

The only benefit that I see to allowing him to watch tv right now is that it would give us, as a parent, some free time. That sounds, frankly delicious sometimes, but not a very good reason. We're expecting our second in August so I can see how we might need something on occasion, etc.

Question: If you did wait to introduce tv to your toddler, how did it effect you child? How do you generally feel about toddler tv watching?

 

[camahdavi]

We introduced DVDs at around 2 years old. I've tried avoid Disney but she's been given some from her relatives but frankly they are the ones she's least interested in. We don't have television, so it's pretty easy to keep a filter on what she has access to watch. When we first couple weeks we saw a huge change when it came to bed time and she seemed much more wound up than usual - we quickly cut back on it and didn't let her watch anything late in the day since it seemed to wind her up, even if it was the most quiet show (The Snowman, Night Garden ect).

6 months down the line and we still keep it a small range of DVDs - Sesame Street, Finding Nemo ect. And yes, it does help during those time when I need to have a moment to myself (for work mostly). What I've recently started doing is giving her CDs (she has a little portable toddler-friendly CD player) that either have music she likes or stories on CD and I would prefer to stick on a CD for her.

Also, as you've already touched upon, I'm keeping her away from any branding - ie the odd times when she sees commercials on tv at other people's house, she seems pretty bored. She doesn't have any branded toys/book/merchandise and we intend to keep it that way.

We don't have tv (only a DVD player) and I think that makes it easier because we can't just flick on the tv. Every time she wants to watch something or we decide to put on a DVD, it's a conscious decision instead of just grabbing the remote as a reflex action.

 

[flower01]

obviously, I know all kids are not like mine. But, we intro'd a certain hand picked DVD to my toddler at about 19 months. Our plan was to wait a little longer, but with morning sickness I was kind of desperate. Honestly, it didn't work. She became obsessed - to the point of daily tantrums and a complete disinterest in any other games or toys that she previously loved. After coming to the site for tips on how to limit it with not much success, we finally just decided to get rid of the tv. I mean we had to physically remove the TV. It was easy after that. She mentioned it a couple times, but basically out of sight - out of mind worked. Now at 2 we just spent some time with a friend who watches Pooh every day and my DD was completely uninterested. At this point I have no interest in re-introducing it - i'd much rather her enjoy her toys. And honestly, her physical skills are developing every day - it's so much fun to see her become interested in new things on her own. We just don't see any point to it. She has plenty of things to keep her busy and I can find safe things for her to do if I need to take a break.

 

[prancie]

We let ds (19 mos) watch TV in the morning and at first it was great. But over time he became more and more into the TV and seemed to need it more and more. He would throw fits and it really freaked me out. So, no more TV. Sometimes we watch a DVD together, but not in the mornings and not every day.

 

[Paeta16]

DD did watch VERY limited T.V. prior to 2 y.o. (she just turned 2) but not much at all. We were both sick recently and the T.V. was our saviour. That being said, she watched so many shows...The Backyardigans, Diego, Dora, Baby Einstein (all DVDs or On Demand no commercials) in those few days it was ridiculous IMO - about 4-5 per day. We are in the "weaning" process right now. I don't mind one 1/2 hour show a few times a week but nothing every day. She hasn't fought me too hard if I offer her alternatives...going outside, playing, reading. She'll talk about the shows over and over again..."Uniqua say I win I first" to which I will simply reply "Oh really? On the show?" and she just says "on the show" and moves on.

There is definitely an addiction/obsession factor with toddlers where you have to walk a thin line.

 

[waiting2bemommy]

my ds must be the youngest kiddo watching TV! I have on occasion let him watch nick jr DVD's in the car during long car rides (around 10-14 months) and now when we have access to cable, he seems to like the stuff on PBS/noggin like word world, sesame street, barney (blech) and so forth. But his attention span is still pretty short for TV....he will watch for 15 minutes or so and then he's done. I don't believe in having the TV on constantly in the background, so I enjoy my few minutes of free time to get dressed or whatever, and then the TV goes off and we get on with the day.

 

[Amylcd]

My 24 month old dd is not interested in t.v. If she notices it, she will stop and watch for a minute or two but gets bored with it easily.

 

[Mama.Pajama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by prancie We let ds (19 mos) watch TV in the morning and at first it was great. But over time he became more and more into the TV and seemed to need it more and more. He would throw fits and it really freaked me out. So, no more TV. Sometimes we watch a DVD together, but not in the mornings and not every day.

Same here.

 

[momasana]

My DS is not quite two yet but he doesn't watch television or DVDs. Sometimes in the evening DH and I will have the tv on to see a program we like and DS may pause to glance at the television for a moment, but he doesn't actually sit and watch TV.

He was sick once and we spent the day hanging out in the chair watching shows (Wild Kingdom, etc.) but that was an exception.

 

[mommariffic]

I was anti-television until 17-18 months

My daughter watches Little Bear, and that's really it. We use the Little Bear dvds, and sometimes she'll watch Babe, or Milo and Otis --- something with talking animals.

TV in moderation is fine, but my number 1 rule is that I watch it with her. Normally I'll use that time to read while she watches, but I explain what's going on, and we "talk" about the show.

She's now 20 months, and she adores Little Bear. On really beautiful days we are normally outside, or playing, and on those days we don't watch any TV. Some days, we end up watching a few shows in a row if it's rainy, or we are feeling pooped.

She's not too obsessed, and if she asks and I say no we move on. She's incredibly bright, and loves to play outside, read, and she knows her colors, ABC's etc. Like I said, I personally think everything in moderation is fine, and I struggled with that for awhile, but balance is great and as long as she's not watching commercials or inappropriate things, I'm cool with it.

 

[hipmummy]

Ds is 2.6 and we let him watch Tv if I am sick. Which during the forst tri was alot. By alot I mean one Curious George a day and maybe a clifford. He is fine on the days he does not watch it and he goes weeks with it. I think Sometimes after 2 it is ok for 15 minutes 2-3 times a week. We were not allowed to watch tv growing up and my brother and sister are the biggest couch potatoes. It is like the can't get enough. Me I have gone years without a TV. We did try watching a Thomas video just to brush teeth (at about 2) and that backfired. ds was crazy abd his behavior and bedtime were effected. We never watched the video again.

 

[eireann]

we let DD watch sesame street/elmo and baby einstein DVDs, but no TV. if its on, she isnt really interested anyway. she'll watch a little Elmo in the morning and before dinner if daddy isn't home and i need to her just be still (she's 18 MO.) as she gets older, that will become less and less but right now she is literally climbing up anything dangerous and proclaiming "yay!" when she does. her verbal skills are really good and she started speaking pretty early. she actually learns some things on elmo dvds that we talk about and apply to the outdoors and everyday life.

 

[Tari Mithrandir]

We watch hockey, which DD loves, and occasionally turn on SpongeBob (more as a distraction for me when she or I are cranky, and don't watch much, she just likes the theme song). Aside from our hockey games, the TV really isn't on much at all, and I doubt it ever will be.
I don't find she has ever glued herself to it... she more looks at it for a minute here and there, really likes seeing people or hearing music. Mostly she ignores it!

 

[nikkiethridge]

DS is 14 months. We let him watch maybe 25 mins, every to every other day. He really likes the show 'Jacks big music show' and I don't really mind it because it's mostly just music and puppetry and moves at a much slower pace than some of the other things I've seen out there. I don't think I would ever do DVD movies (don't most children's movies go for an hour to 1 1/2 hours?) for anyone under the age of 3 though...That's just too much stimulation at one time. My 14 month old has a 20-25 word vocabulary, so I don't think it's slowed his speech one bit.

But yeah, sometimes he won't be so interested in it and will just go off and play with toys instead. He isn't addicted to it, has not effected his behavior. We go to parks, playgrounds and playdates every week and we read all the time. So I would say as long as your toddler is doing other things to develop those pathways in the brain, I wouldn't stress with a little time in front of the tv. Everything in moderation.

 

[Aufilia]

We introduced the TV between 2 and 2.5. Until then DD only saw TV occasionally if some big important sports thing was on, and she didn't really care about that at all. We started to TiVo Mister Rogers Neighborhood for her and let her watch it once a day on weekdays. At first of course she wanted to watch it alll the time, but after awhile she got into the groove of only watching it for a half-hour after her nap.

What's funny is that so far Mister Rogers is the only thing we've tried recording for her that she really likes. Lately we realized she simply doesn't LIKE cartoons. She will watch them for maybe 5 minutes, tops. The only movie she's put up with all the way through is Sleeping Beauty, and even then we sorta watched it in bits.

She does like watching clips from the Muppet Show on YouTube. Too bad it doesn't actually seem to be on TV anymore! I haven't been keen on trying Seaseme Street because there's so much commercialization around it now. Anyhow, the only other thing on TV she'll sit all the way through is Wheel of Fortune. She loves it.

 

[rzberrymom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by prancie We let ds (19 mos) watch TV in the morning and at first it was great. But over time he became more and more into the TV and seemed to need it more and more. He would throw fits and it really freaked me out. So, no more TV.

This is why we've held off with my DD too.

 

[Snuzzmom]

We didn't let DS watch hardly any videos or TV prior to 2 years (except for the Olympics when they were on... he did not care).

He did learn who Barack Obama was and became obsessed with him.

After the Olympics were done, we got rid of the Dish so TV isnt' even an option any more.

Now, we are very selective about what videos he can watch. He gets Shaun the Sheep, one of two Sesame Street videos (one is mostly songs), some Baby Einstein or Schoolhouse Rock. He watches anywhere from none-two hours per week TOPS.

At daycare, they do watch more video. I don't love it, but we're limited at home, so that helps.

He does ask for it more now that he's allowed to watch it, but if we don't want him to we just suggest another activity instead and start doing it.

We tried an experiment when he and DH were sick a few weeks ago and tried watching a full-length movie, but it didn't really work. We tried "Finding Nemo" and "The Iron Giant" (because he loves giants) and I turned them both off pretty quickly because they had some scary elements right away... "Nemo" more than "Giant," actually. Plus, his interest waned. Which is fine with me.

Also, I can think of maybe twice when we've put in a video for the sole purpose of keeping him busy because we needed to do something else. Otherwise, we watch with him and talk to him or sing along or whatever... we keep it interactive if possible.

I can't really think of how he's changed, other than asking to watch it. He did have a tantrum once because he wanted to watch a video and we wouldn't let him, but nothing since then (until tonight, I'm sure, because I've just written that out and jinxed myself

).

As I said, we're selective. I think it's cute to hear him randomly start singing "Put Down the Duckie."

 

[littlelentils]

i notice a change in my daughter's behavior right away. and not in a good way. our life is much more calm without it. when she gets older i dont mind a movie once a week.

 

[lemurik]

DS started watching some videos around 2y. But its always with an adult (me, or ILs). He watches Diego and Dora, some taped animated films and figure skating. We usually keep the watching pretty random, and only a little bit on the weekends, so there is no addiction. DS will occasionally ask to watch tv, but he knows that if its not the usual time or his grandparents are away (we live with them, tv is in their bedroom) then he can't.

 

[mamadelbosque]

I started letting DS watch some TV a month or two ago, right about the time he turned 2, maye a little beforehand. I haven't seen a difference in his behavior since then. We only really watch PBS and Veme (spanish-language channel). Mostly we watch Sesame Street and occasinally other shows (Word World, Clifford, Curious George). DS doesn't watch it every day, nor the same show(s) every day. Probably it averages out to ~1-2 hours a day.

TBH, I started letting him watch TV because I just needed some 'me' time, and some peace while making dinner (sesame streets on at 5:30pm here, with clifford just before... which is about when I'm often making dinner). He very rarely watchs TV on the weekends, cause' I have help then. And theres just not that much quality programming on.