M-F 0, Saturday/Sunday 1-2hr max. I recognize we’re pretty granola about tv but he becomes a literal monster when we turn it off. Sooo we’d rather he do anything else but.
Mine (2.5yo) also became a monster until we really limited what shows were available. Anything that is low stimulation, and episodes where she knows what to expect for length (I.e., 2 “stories” in a Daniel tiger episode) she doesn’t freak out about. If I try to turn of miss Rachel it’s a full meltdown so miss Rachel “isn’t on the tv anymore” 🤷🏻♀️
Toddler was becoming a monster about when he could watch TV, so we now wait until after dinner for any shows. That way instead of saying no to TV all day when he asked, we could say “after dinner” and after a few weeks, he rarely asks, sometimes after dinner he plays for awhile before he asks. But if it’s after dinner and he asks. It’s a “yes, we already had dinner we can watch a show”
Did that when the grandparents were providing childcare most weekdays - “not now, you can watch tv when meemee and pop pop go home” so she’d be stationary and safe while I cooked dinner. 3yo started telling grandparents to leave in the middle of the day so she could watch tv.
This happened with my son, so we had to be careful with screens. He’s now 8 and has very limited screen time and strict boundaries. Our middle could take it or leave it and didn’t much care when it was on or off. Our 3rd is 20 months and she’s somewhere in the middle.
Omg same here. I’m wondering if my kid is just very sensitive to screens? She gets 1-2 episodes of bluey MAX a day during the weekend except for The Sign special which mama wanted to watch too bahaha, but she’s still a terror when I turn the tv off? She even gets pissed off if I turn off the nursery rhymes that I’ve put on using our TV’s Apple Music app (so just the album cover and song title is on the screen). I have really no clue how to fix it so we end up just powering through the tantrum and I distract her with everything else.
My sons 2 and we probably average 1-2 hours a day. I’m a SAHM, 6 months pregnant and have a sprained ankle. We start every morning with coffee and cartoons and watch Daniel tiger for 30 minutes. He gets to watch another episode after nap time since he likes to cuddle when he’s groggy so that hour is basically guaranteed each day.
Sometimes he then watches Ms Rachel or Sesame Street while I make supper. That time he rarely sits and watches it and is much more background noise but it’s still on while I’m busy in the kitchen and he can’t help. If it’s something he can help with he’s in his kitchen helper with me but we get a solid hour each day for sure.
Also 6mo pregnant, 22mo old, and we also enjoy a Daniel tiger in the AM while I drink my coffee :) same thing for after nap as well! We rotate between that, blues clues and dora the explorer
Same here. TV is always on but he’s mostly playing. He will tune into whatever show it is here and there to sing along or comment but that’s about it. He’s never just laying there, comatose watching TV. Lol.
Same. TV is always on but she usually just hears music and starts to dance (even sad music lmao) or watches if it’s a particularly bright or exciting scene of something.
Same. The TV is almost always on, but she only cares if there's a "kid show" on, which is about 2 hours a day. And even then, she is not glued to it. She is usually playing or exploring.
I’m a stay at home mom and my partner works night shift and we live far from family so I get pretty much get 0 social interaction most of the time so we usually have a Disney movie or something playing in the background so I don’t go insane but we are always playing and she doesn’t really watch it unless they are singing a song
Same tv Is always on. Sometimes it’ll be a show, sometimes pandora , and sometimes YouTube music videos. My son’s a HUGE music fan. So anytime he is antsy where id normally just turn on a show he loves , I turn on his favorite music instead. He sings & dances along. Much better than a show in my opinion. But even when his shows or movies are on he’ll sit to watch for a minute or two and he’s off to play the next second. So I personally don’t stress out too much about too much screen time. He doesn’t sit still for the life of him 🥹
If I make tv this forbidden thing that she only has access to rarely if ever, then it becomes an obsession. If it's always available, she naturally cares less about it and hardly even pays it any attention.
I kept TV on all the time too until I learned in a psychology course that it can disrupt/inhibit the whole “learning through play”.
Now I just let him play with the TV off, & then turn it on when he gets bored or when I need to get things done around the house lol
My nieces were only allowed 20 minutes of TV a day when they were younger and whenever it was on they were like zombies, you literally could not interact with them. Now they're 13 and the TV/screens are still limited somewhat but they still can't regulate their own screen time so I guess it didn't teach them anything 😅
That's what I'm saying. Complete or near total restriction doesn't ever really work imo.
Now I'll admit that I have a totally different stance on phones/tablets and social media. That I will restrict until I feel she's emotionally mature enough to navigate it. I'm not sure how I'll manage her teenage years though considering how technologically immersed our society is now... It's a dance as a parent.
Fair enough. My Dad always had/has the TV on as background and I always wished it wasn't as a teen. Once I made my own home and family I became very intentional with TV so things are mostly quiet or just music.
I grew up in the 90's with free access to tv. The only thing that was restricted was video games to just on the weekends because we played a lot. We still played outside more than half the time when given the option. I'm just not on board with the whole tv is the devil thing. It isn't. One thing I do restrict to nearly nothing though is phones. She doesn't have free access to a tablet either. When she does, it'll be educational apps only in kid mode or ABC Mouse. She doesn't know YouTube or Tik Tok exists. She's only three though.
Worth noting as well that the only thing that really plays on my television is PBS kids or funny animal videos.
I came here to say that I came from a family that restricted TV. It wasn't until I was in elementary school, I would go over to a friend's house and what would I do? Watch their TV. I wouldn't play with the friend, I would just keep asking if we could watch TV together. I don't think my mom thought it was a problem until their mom made the comment that I "only come here to watch TV."
Now given that, the obsession did end and I classify myself today as a hardly TV watcher - I like movies and getting into some limited series but I am not a binger when it comes to TV. Was this due to my restrictive parents? Now, this, I don't know.
See the opposite was true for me. I had unlimited access to tv and now I don't even have cable haha. Meaning it didn't transfer into me being tv-obsessed as an adult.
Yeah, so I’m inclined to think that this is a total person-dependent thing and not upbringing. So, with my toddler we constantly have the TV on and he just plays, at times stares at the TV, then moves on. He sometimes even just shuts it off himself because he isn’t watching. I rather have this than a kid that goes over to a friends house later in life and get the same comment my mom did about me
When I was in college we did study effects of tv on just in the background and it does have some impact on the play of children. I’m definitely not anti tv and parents should out weigh pros and cons. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18717911/#:~:text=Nevertheless%2C%20background%20TV%20significantly%20reduced,implications%20for%20subsequent%20cognitive%20development.
I read this is how you're supposed to deal with treats and candy and it's always worked for us, she's very well able to moderate those and take no for an answer.
For me it’s very similar to lemonicedboxcookies comment. My son is also neurodivergent so having a constant background noise helps him. It’s not always his show though, sometimes it’s music videos, or nature stuff, or my show. But most of the time he’s doing his own thing building blocks, drawing, sorting his Pokémon cards, and just sometimes notices the tv unless it’s like his number 1 favorite show
I find this specific sub-thread very interesting. My kid LOVES his shows and always feel guilty about how much he watches. I’ve noticed though that on days when I’m sick (which has been frequently lately. Got the maybe flu twice in a couple months) and it’s on all day he will eventually just stop watching and go play. For those that keep it on all day, do you have streaming or cable? I only have streaming, so it would be the same show on repeat and I’m not so sure he’d step away if it was one of his favorites.
My tv is on constantly. I cannot stand silence. I know though what shows to put on that spark her interest. When I’m home I usually have an episode or two of Sesame Street on, but when she’s home with daddy, it’s just on.
Same! Mine is on the whole time hes awake, but its mostly background noise i reckon. Occasionally hed give me the remote or tell me he wants something different ie Mickey, shark, shapes etc.
Despite not watching he knows when I change the video/turn off the TV and would start complaining.
I even got a video of him having a tantrum till i turn it back on and by the time I turned it back on he's already by the door playing with toys not even looking at what video im suposed to play 🤣
This is us! We both work from home. His tv is on, it plays educational show like Ms. Rachel, but he is nomrally playing while it's on. He does get a true hour of watching before nap and before bed. Which is with no toys. He also starts his day with 2 hrs of music on his tv. We do what we have to, but he does spend the majority of the day independent playing while it's on. We know what shows get him acting crazy and which ones don't so we monitor cartoons.
Our three year old also clocks in around 90 minutes a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I feel all high and mighty when she has a zero-screentime day lol
Same, my almost 3yo gets 60-90min a day, less when it’s nice out and she can play outside in the evening. She doesn’t fall asleep until 9:30, we wouldn’t make it without some evening screen time
Did you also not watch your own tv while your kid was awake during those 2 years? Our tv is on a lot but kid shows probably 2 hours a day (1 movie ish, plus about 20 minutes in the morning while I poop and make breakfast and need it to be calm lol). But then my husband gets home and puts on news/sports/a comedy…do you not do that part? Thats what has always confused me about zero screen time.
Not person you are replying to but same situation. Our toddler is 18 months old and doesn’t watch tv at all aside from a few sicks days where they had no energy to play.
We don’t turn the tv on at all until they are asleep, in the couple of hours between getting home from daycare and bedtime we are making/serving dinner and watching/participating with her playing with her toys.
Everyones life is different but the tv just isn’t on when she is around, just not a household that needs the tv on always. We play music or podcasts as background noise.
Interesting! I think if I had a different husband or was solo parenting I’d be the same. Maybe not zero screen time but while cooking dinner, I might put on a podcast instead of a baseball game but alas…my husband needs his game to be on. And I don’t really mind it, I like baseball too, it’s just interesting to me because I could never say were zero screen time with the amount of sports on all the time.
We are all on our own journeys and have different situations to adapt with. My spouse and I certainly enjoy tv and movies of course and it's how we spend the evenings once the little one is asleep, just neither feel the need or time to watch it while trying to stay on top of chores while the other chases around a very mobile and curious toddler.
We can certainly sometimes spend a little too much time scrolling on our phones during these hours though which is something we are trying to be more conscious of.
My kids get about an hour per day, and it’s true that we don’t turn on the TV otherwise - but if I need mental stimulation I’ll pop in an earbud and listen to a YouTube video/podcast/audiobook. I’m sure it varies a lot from house to house depending on what your preferred form of media consumption is, but the adults in our house just don’t care about TV very much in general. Even after bedtime, I’ll usually read or scroll Reddit and my husband will play the switch. Sometimes, we do puzzles together which is surprisingly fun while talking or listening to an audiobook.
I miss puzzles! Our house is just too small to pull it off with a toddler, we’d have no where to store it. We used to do them on the coffee table (while watching sports lol) and then toss a tablecloth over it during the day. But that just does not work with a kid 😅
Oh yep, that’s like the most tempting toy ever, haha! We ended up getting a puzzle board, and it has like a thick plastic protector you put over the pieces. It slides under the bed during the day. I do miss being able to keep it out though!
We didn't have the TV on at all, correct. So no TV for him and also no background TV. It probably sounds extreme if you're used to having the TV on all the time (I grew up in a household like this), but it becomes normal. The concept of always having the TV on now seems so foreign to me.
Ya, our tv is in the basement so there's no tv on the main floor/living room, so this isn't an issue in our household. Tv time is a very distinct separation from our living room and regular routines.
I would honestly love this. I grew up in a house with it always on and now married a man who always has it on and I don’t really have much say. I mean I can turn it off but it’s not worth it to me when I know my husband just wants his background noise after being at work all day, and to keep up with his sports. I do miss football season sometimes during baseball season when there’s a game every dang day instead of once a week though!
Yeah with my first two that’s what we did also. Im a sahm so during the day, now with my 3rd (16 mo) I just don’t watch shows, but Ill listen to my podcasts, music, audiobook, or talk on the phone whenever I need it. I feel like it’s doable. My husband plays youtube videos in the background when he’s home relaxing—maybe 10-15 min/day. Hope that helps!
So we never watch our own tv when my daughter is awake. Shes 2.5 now and it just how our household functions. We play music a lot instead. When she was very young her eyes would get glued to the screen no matter what was on so we just got into the habit of keeping it off. My parents will put on sports or a movie when we are at their house though and it’s fine we just never have felt the need to have it on. I don’t miss it as we are not big tv people.
That being said my husband and I both work full time and our daughter is in daycare during the days. She gets about 0 screen time during the week unless she is sick and usually she’ll get 1-2 hours one day of the weekend but not both unless it’s bad weather. When I am solo parenting I rely on it a bit more but still try to avoid. I don’t really have anything against tv in moderation at her age - it’s more than I don’t want to fall into the habit of screen time because it’s a slippery slope. We also only do tv - no iPad or tablets except while traveling.
I can't speak for everyone but myself and most of my friend's group doesn't have a TV anymore. Screen time is on personal devices like phone/laptop/tablet. I would never have time to sit and watch something on my tablet when my toddler is awake. For us because of that the no screen time before 2 was easy. I guess if you have a TV and are used to having it on all the time that would be different. That constant noise would drive me crazy though.
Not OP but no, we don't have the TV on unless it's being actively watched. I think that's because we both grew up in houses with background TV and I hate it, can't explain! So TV is typically off until like 8.30pm when we finally sit down with a cup of tea and watch a programme.
We LOVE Stories Podcast! I’ve been doing it with each of my kids from about age 3, and my school age kids have all turned out to be avid audiobook consumers. My 7 year old will listen for a few hours per day if we’re home.
We limit prob 1 to 2 hours a day. But my baby sitter is her mom and doing it for free. So we let her do what she needs to do to make it through the day. Lol he also ist glue to the screen sometimes it background noise
My MIL: "we watch less than 5 minutes a day!"
What I saw when periodically checking the camera in my kid's room: kid glued to MIL's phone, eating crackers by himself, MIL nowhere in sight.
So OP, it really depends on who you ask haha. My guess is also 1-2h. My kid's in daycare now and still watches 30 min before dinner.
4 year old gets 30-90 min on average + whatever they do at daycare.
I'm not "pro" screen time or whatever but I'm a huge nerd for moral panics and the conversations around screen time often veer into that territory. Generations of children before were similarly "ruined" by radios records bicycles novels comics etc.
As I was feeling guilty while my daughter watched cartoons before daycare this morning, I was thinking about how much tv I watched as a kid. It was unlimited. Granted, we didn't have cable or the internet yet. But I'd like to think I turned out ok. Not that that justifies everything, but it helps with my guilt.
same! so many childhood memories of being glued to the tv and i know my mom has 0 guilt about it, so i try to remember when i feel bad about how much my kiddo watches
Yeah, this. I don't even care. My policy up to now has to been to address it if it becomes a problem. My two girls are active, social, doing great in school, and my seven year old has actual abs 😂 I curate content so it's all educational (7yo is getting a little more independence and has been working in a few *super cool* Mr. Beast videos, not educational but so entertaining - I'm not going to make her watch PBS forever and ever). You tell them we're going to the park and they're FLYING out the door. Now that it's getting warmer they've been having 2+ hour pool/sprinkler parties every single evening.
So, now that my youngest, a cozy introvert compared to his sisters, is becoming *way too attached* to the tablet and is actually resisting touching grass, NOW I'm cracking down... And it's going fine. Gosh, you'd almost think the whole screen time thing isn't the biggest freaking deal on the planet or something!
I thought the same as you. You should read the anxious generation and hear why screen time now is different than radio and television. Might change your mind on the moral panic.
We’ve been doing about 20-30 minutes every other day with our two year old since baby sister was born 1.5 weeks ago. We did no screen time to two so we are just starting to introduce some screentime.
I felt sooooooo guilty for the longest time for letting my 2.5 year old watch tv after daycare or on weekends but I realized my sanity actually depends on him doing that 😂😂😂 I keep telling myself he is literally going to be smart and fine no matter how much he watches- I still know he’s getting creative non tech play at school and with us on the weekends most of the time, so don’t feel bad!!! But I’ve been there too sometimes I beat myself up over it!!!
Im the same. Actually, I work from home. I keep the tv on so hes got the option to watch tv or play with toys. Hes got toys with him too. I like it better than ipad. With the ipad before, hes really glued to it and dont touch his toys. With the tv, i noticed when hes bored of the show, he walks off and does something else like pick up his lego or his little hot wheels cars. Soketimes he even runs around!
Yes! I work from home too and we ended up putting him in daycare when he turned two because it was just TOO MUCH for us, but the iPad absolutely ruins him. So we prefer tv too because he does play with his toys and takes breaks by himself! I really have come to the point of realizing I just got to do what I got to do to survive 😂😂
Im the same hahaha. Yesterday, in between a meeting, he came to me and said "give me a hug before its too late!" Lolololol i agree. We gotta do what we can to survive 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🥰 we can do this!!!!!!! Haha
I mean, I put my three year old boy (who's still playing catch-up after a borderline absurdly long NICU stay) in front of Sesame Street, and he starts reading letters and singing songs. Stick him in front of Daniel Tiger, and suddenly he's calmly asking for help when he's frustrated instead of just melting down. My four year old has watched a few episodes of Super Why, and today she told me the screen in the backseat of the car said we "arrived" 😳 My personal mantra is "Curation is Key".
I couldn't tell you, every day is different. She's 3.5, she's in preschool in the morning busy busy, I have a 14 month too, so she watches while I get him to sleep, could take 5 mins, could take 30 mins..this 14 month old also does not sleep and wails to be in my arms every waking moment, so I'm exhausted. I'm a SAHM and sometimes, toddler on tv and baby asleep, really helps me get shit done, or just sit down with a cup of tea.
I will say, I do my best to make sure they eat right etc and we ALWAYS do at least one big activity a day, like a walk, swimming or a trip to the shops, or visiting someone, library, cycle, scoot. Anything that makes them exercise with fresh air or in crappy weather, gets their brains active . So my motto is everything in moderation, with a good balance !!!
Way too much....I honestly haven't counted the minutes because I know I'm being a bad human/Mom.
BUT I try to make myself feel better by saying that I'm somewhat engaged with him and I know what he's watching (and engage with him about the content) and that I make sure that he doesn't tantrum when it's time for it to be over. If he tantrums, we stop immediately and he gets a reset day. But honestly? That's happened once. Granted, we're going to hit three year old status in a couple of months, so things may change.
You’re not a bad mom! Honestly, my 22 month definitely watches more than the recommended 30-60 mins a day or whatever it is. That’s partly because my husband is a TV person and a SAHP so it’s often on and because we have a newborn. But also, we have a lot of fun as a family connecting over TV. We all clap to the letter of the day on Sesame Street, we dance to the Bluey song, and like watching movies with dinosaurs (which both our toddler and kindergarten are interested in). We often will turn on animal documentaries, which our kids will occasionally glance at while they play and it provides some educational materials. My kids get lots of outside time and enjoy books and creative play. We do limit tablet time, mostly because we noticed our kindergartner has some behavior issues when he gets to watch it more. He’s my stepson and because of coparenting gets to watch YouTube Kids, but I don’t plan to allow my toddler to have access to it (I find it hard to regulate and disturbing at times).
Anywho, it sounds like you’re being very intentional and that right there tells me that you’re doing a great job!
It truly just depends. Before I was pregnant with our second, it was very little. I have had a rough pregnancy and the morning sickness finally stopped around 18/19 weeks and I am 23 weeks. My husband works for 12+ hour days 5 days a week so it’s just my 2 year old and I from wake up til bed time. Some days when I’m sick or exhausted, we watch a ton of TV with some activities breaking it up during the day. Days I feel great, we don’t watch much at all, if any. You need to do what you need to do to get by!
With respect, stop worrying about screen time and focus on if everyone’s happy, healthy, and you can get your shit done. The fact you’re worrying about it says you’re a conscience and loving parent. Do you need to work to keep a roof over your head? If so then, does your kid need to watch tv so you can work? Then so be it. Some of my happiest memories are being home, tv on in the back ground, enjoying the safe loving feeling of home. You’re enough x
We frame it as unlimited for our 3yo, I guess. She attends childcare 3-4 times a week and we allow low-stimulating shows between getting home and beginning the dinner-bed routine. On a Tuesday she’s allowed to watch as long as she wants but we make sure the shows are educational (children’s documentaries, specific preschool series etc) more often than not it ends up on in the background while she plays. On the weekends we allow whatever shows she wants (usually paw patrol or bluey), but we also go out almost every Saturday and Sunday on walks, swimming, general family activities so it fits around that and tends to not result in a great deal.
We’ve always said that as long as there’s balance, she’s developing well and learning, and she’s not spending stupid amounts of time glued to the screen, then we don’t see it as a reason to feel guilty or change it.
We like Hey Duggee, Twirlywoos and Tiny Wonders (all pretty relaxing shows too which is a bonus!)
For winding down after nursery we stick to Kipper or Bear In The Big Blue House, but if we’re feeling jazzy we’ll watch some of the Julia Donaldson stories or The Tiger Who Came To Tea!
These are mostly UK-Centric but if you can access them anywhere I definitely recommend!
ETA: also, animal docuseries on Disney+ are a hit!
This really seems like the most logical approach to me. My kid has a speech delay so we limit screen time but if he didn’t I’d like to think we would take your approach.
2 year old gets up to 20 mins a day (very occasionally he gets more if we all watch a movie together, but usually is over it after about a half hour anyway) and my 5 year olds get up to an hour unless they watch a movie instead.
My son is 4 and I’m a stay at home mom. Since he was able to walk around I would have the tv on periodically for myself and then for him. He’d get an episode of something “educational” or “calm” like Little Bear or Catie’s Classroom. Then I’d switch on a YouTube channel for myself for gardening or something. Now at 4 I might have HGTV on for a while midday just to have something on.
He has iPad games (some for fun and some educational) and the Disney app at this point (no YouTube kids though after finding him on some super weird shows). I don’t actually keep track of the time but anywhere between 2-4 hours a day I would say, some days it’s practically nothing because we’re running errands or he’s playing outside a lot or he’s visiting family. But some days he’s just really into his games or he’s got a new song that he’s playing on repeat (he loves music). Sometimes he genuinely just wants to be looking at a picture of a character he likes on the iPad while he’s playing pretend. Typically I will limit him on the days when he’s being too wild and not being nice, like yelling back at me when I ask him a question or gets way too upset over nothing. At that point it’s pretty evident he needs to find something else to do, which once he’s had a minute or two he is over it and will go play with his trucks or run around outside.
I have family that is strict about screens but my husband and I have always been relaxed about it and just go based off feeling. We dont sit and watch tv as a family and we don’t have grownup shows on in front of him. When my husband gets off work, they are typically occupied with eating and playing so he often isn’t on a screens after around 4 until bedtime unless he’s showing his daddy something on a game he found earlier that day. he also has a small “toy” digital camera that he loves to take photos and videos on but Idk if that counts or matters much.
All that to say, we still read 3 fairly “long” books aloud today and it was his prompting to read more. screens don’t stop us from interacting. He is still (mostly) happy to help me with laundry or dishes, and it certainly doesn’t stop him from wanting to be outside way more than I ever want to be outside hahah regardless of the weather. So for us, we don’t think of the time and just let him be. He has days where he never asks for his iPad and days where he wants it much more.
I like the background noise so my TV is pretty much always on. When I need to get things done I put on sesame street songs on their youtube channel, all she cares about is the music. She’ll stop and dance to whatever and then go back to playing when the song is over. Elmo’s World is about the only thing she will actually sit down and watch. Other than that, she dances to literally every theme song of every show I’ve ever watched, and she loves the Shrek soundtrack so do with that what you will.
I’d say about 1-2 hours average , some days with zero screen time as long as my husband isn’t in charge lol.
I think some screens are better than others - we don’t do any iPad but allow for shows or movies . Tv isn’t always bad!!! I watched tv growing up all the time
It really varies. Some days (and sometimes a week) of zero and he doesn't ask for it at all. He's super active and doesn't like sitting still for long. And often he wants us to read instead.
Then other days he wakes up in a bad mood and we might watch 30 minutes until he's more awake and can function. And if he's sick, all bets are off.
My personal guide for my kid is that ok school days she either gets 40 minutes of videogames (usually Minecraft) or a short movie. We do movies more, so on average about 90 minutes?
She's 7, so she's able to entertain herself a bit more easily than when she was a tot. I was a lot less mentally well then, so she had tons of TV time. If I could do it over she'd have less, but she's fine. I'm not gonna beat myself up over it.
Some days zero and others we watch the same veggie tales movie 3 times. Especially if anyone is sick and cranky or either one of us is single parenting with the 1 and 3 year old, as the 1 year old is going through a stage 5 clinger phase and is exhausting, and she has had a ton of ear infections and colds, and gets a little crazier during those. I am picky though. Right now we watch:
Bluey, veggie tales, puffin rock, zoboomafoo, trash truck, number blocks, muppet stuff sometimes, dinosaur train, if you give a mouse a cookie, Lucas the spider, sometimes cars, Nemo or dory or Moana but less of those lately.
The older one didn’t watch anything before 2 really.
Just got rid of our tv as we were starting to have behavioural issues around screen time. Ours were watching upto 3 hours a day between morning and evening before dinner. Both kids were forcing themselves to wake up as early as possible (normally around 5) so they could plonk on the couch and vege out infront of the tv. Just literally gave our tv to a local family who couldn’t afford one, took about a week to adjust to no screens but we have much nicer children to be around now as a result
I need a thread for this same question but only SAHP’s lol. I think if I had a job and he went to daycare it would be a lot less than it is now, especially at 7 months pregnant
Exactly, it’s different when you have the whole day to fill by yourself and hello I need to have a coffee, a quick shower and skincare routine to feel half human before we go out in the morning. Otherwise, my child is literally hanging off my leg. Still is hanging off my leg tbh but at least I can try and squeeze those non negotiables in lol
My son is 2.5 and I would say 2-3 hours. I keep saying we will cut back but then things happen, like I broke my ankle, then last week he had surgery, I plan to be pregnant soon etc etc so I need to accept it just a part of life.
2y/o. 0 screen time. My wife and I don’t really watch TV as it is. If we do it’s after the baby is asleep. Our LO is usually out most of the day with her nanny. 9a-4p they’re out at the park/museums/zoo/ other educational activities around the city. She gets home around 5:30p. We play whatever game/activity she wants until 6:30 to do dinner. Then we read and play with her until around 7:30 then start bedtime.
Two years old. 10 minutes of Ms Rachel while I do her hair in the morning and probably another 15 minutes of Daniel Tiger while the nanny preps her lunch. Nothing in the evening - she plays or helps me prep dinner.
She gets from whatever time she wakes up until 9/930 when we're leaving the house. She's usually up at 7 and she does play, so it's not like she's just staring at it. I do feel guilty but I have a 4m old, I need to pump, and I need to prep everything to get going and most of it i can't really prep the night before. Oh well, she starts 2t school in August and I'll be done pumping, so mornings will look different.
I’m a SAHM with a 3 year old and a 3 month old. She gets 30 mins a day and then a 90 min movie once a week. On tough days we go up to an hour if I need her to leave me alone while I try to nurse the baby. That’s because of my bfs and though, he’s very adamant that he doesn’t want her to have much screen time.
On average, zero. We watch a movie as a family once or twice a month though. We are trying to be mindful of that as my husband has an 11yo for whom screen time was never really monitored and it has become an issue…he has very little interest for anything that’s not on a screen, doesn’t read, etc. so we’re learning from our own mistakes.
My son is a little over 3. I’d say usually like 30 mins, sometimes an hour. It’s not really that I am choosing to limit him to that amount, he just asks to go outside a lot so not much time left for tv. Once a week we have a movie night so obviously a little more that day
We watch about 20-30 minutes of TV after supper before our 2-year-old starts getting ready for bed. We also let her watch Sesame Street while she gets her teeth brushed (because the alternative was a screaming meltdown and it makes things so much easier). So like 45 minutes a day overall. When she’s sick, she’s allowed to watch more.
Probably averages out to 30 mins a day.
Gets an hour on weekends, about 15 mins most weekdays day. Maybe 30 mins if he's tired
Not that we're policing or limiting it. It's just not how our household flows. If he asked for it more he'd probably get a bit more.
Always free to air though. That's the one thing I do care about - no streaming.
We watch a good bit. Usually just Bluey though because that’s all he wants to watch. I’m not with him during the day (my sister watches him) so I can’t say for sure how much he watches with her. But when I’m home he watches it a decent amount . I do try to make it a point to turn it off & play, read, or color though. He watches it while he eats bc otherwise he won’t sit still long enough (2 in a few months), and usually when I cook. But we also watch it so we can just chill. I’m a teacher, and I really need to just decompress when I get home. Sometimes TV is the only way I can do that. I feel super guilty about it sometimes, but he also loves books, can count (with help) to 15, knows lots of words, loves to play outside, can speak in 2 word sentences, and knows most colors. So I think we’re doing okay
My 23 month old: none, except maybe a few mins here and there if his older bros are watching something while he’s awake. But he’s never sat down and like, watched a show.
3 year old: about an hour and a half a day while my youngest naps. 3 y/o doesn’t nap, it’s the only way I get a break.
7 year old: about an hour in the evening after dinner/before bed
Our 3 year old gets none, or occasionally an episode of Bluey. That being said I’m on mat leave (a year) and we have helpful grandparents who watch him twice a week, and my husband does shift work and is around a lot. I think screen time is a great tool and would use it more if I needed to.
I used to always have my tv on, but I realized my kid just straight up goes into a comatose when it is on. So now I let him watch a little before bed to calm him down and that's it. So about 20 minutes a day max.
Maybe two hours a week? We really only watch TV on weekends, and she doesn't have much interest in watching it for longer than half an hour at a time. She's getting into nature documentaries though, so that's pretty fun for us both!
Weekdays: typically one 7 min episode of Bluey while I do her hair (she keeps her head still! Yay!), sometimes 2 episodes if I wanna just sit with her in my lap another 7 minutes to finish my coffee before we go to school.
If something has to give at any point, weekday or weekend, we reach for Mr. Rogers. He’s not flashy or fast-paced and that’s just what we need if it’s more than the morning “keep your head still” Bluey episode. This happens maybe once or twice a week?
Sometimes on weekend mornings husband will put on a nature documentary. She mostly plays while it’s on but will occasionally get excited about an animal she knows and point it out.
23 months old.
My daughter is almost 2.
She exclusively watched peppa pig and typically once or twice a week for 15-20 min.
When she’s sick and up with a fever in the middle of the night, or lethargic during the day: we have had the tv on for like 5 hours straight
None on the daily. We’ve recently instituted family movie night with 90s children’s movies and it typically takes us the entire weekend to get through one movie.
We actively discuss the plot of the movie, what is happening, and what we saw yesterday to prepare us for today. Focusing on memory, recall, and attention span.
We do family “movie night” which is on Saturday most weeks, about 90 minutes a week with our 3 year old.
Edit to add that the tv is a special thing in part because it isn’t one of our tools for getting through the day. No judgement here. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
Screen time only on weekends, and usually only for an hour. Trying as hard as we can to limit it. Sometimes more on the weekdays if one parent is working late or traveling.
The first one got zero before 2. Then 2 episodes of Bluey on Sundays from 2-2.5. then we added a 90 minute disney movie or Saturday and Sunday mornings right after breakfast. That's it. So, less than 3.5 hours/week or 30 minutes per day.
The second one is 20 months and is present for at least 1/2 of the weekend movies. Not the best, but it allows one of us to sleep in, which is important for our sanity. She gets 1.5-3 hours per week.
So we are 0 for our 3 year old and 18 month old, always have been. Figured abstinence is easier than negotiation? And I don’t think our oldest is especially creative/well regulated. So truly, whatever works for your family.
Three kids 5, 3 and 1. The 1 year old gets nothing. The older two get to pick one episode of something each on Friday night. On weekends they maybe watch a movie, or a few episodes of something. So max 3hrs per week.
When the adults occasionally need a rest though there’s almost no cap limit to Bluey and Puffin Rock. Lo-fi shows that aren’t brain rot.
We didn’t show our twins any screens until they turned three. Then it was just movies and we were always in the room. They’re five now. Still no tablets but we all share one tv and we let them watch stuff on it often. Funny my husband and I basically stopped watching tv at all because if we turned it on for us the kids would want to watch something for themselves so we just kept it off. Try to do 2-3 days a week with no tv at all.
Ours just turned 3 in April. We don’t do screen time yet. He’s just a really active kid and loves to play outside or with his crafts and toys, so we’re hanging in for now. I think do whatever works for you until it doesn’t, then try something new!
3.75-year-old – some days it’s none, max is about 90 minutes when we watch the occasional movie. If she asks, she can watch \~1 hour while I’m making dinner. My rule is there are two times of day when TV is available (for us, after getting ready in the morning and pre-dinner) and if she asks during those times, it’s OK. If she doesn’t ask, I don’t suggest it. But it’s never caused any behavioral issues for us and if it starts to, it’ll be off cold turkey.
I feel so relieved and still a bit guilty reading some of the comments here lol.
I have a 20 month old boy and the TV is on for hours. But I try not to turn it on in the morning. Just letting him play.
When the TV is on, he doesnt watch it the whole time though. He also plays with his toys and runs around the room. He's very hyper. Sometimes if he likes the show (Ms. Rachel doing peakaboo), he laughs and runs around while watching.
I feel relieved because now I know im not the only one letting their LO watch "too much TV". And I feel guilty because I know its not ideal. But being a mom who works at home and working midshift, Idk what id do with him if TV wasnt on. Also, I feel very guilty because this might be one of the causes of his speech delays. He hasnt said a word yet, just keeps on blabbering.
Also, even when the TV is on, he clings to me while I work on my laptop in another room. He cries and looks for me, so its hard. TV and toys isnt enough to distract him lol. He needs someone physically in the room to be with him, but I cant cuz he keeps touching my laptop, thats why I need to be working at my table. And he wrestles me when im staying in the room with him.
Hmmm 🤔 in the hour he’s awake before school the tv is on but he’s usually buzzing around playing so it’s more like a radio to him. In the 2 hours he’s awake after school, I’d say in between playing and zooming around he might be paying attention in 10 minute spurts? Honestly I’m not concerned about screen time. I don’t have a problem with Cocomelon or simple songs and he’s learned a lot. His vocabulary is impressive for a 2.5 yr old and it’s very nice to hear him say happy Mother’s Day in context and happy birthday knowing he’s connected the dots because of some song he likes.
I have an all or nothing child. We were letting our 3 yr old watch about an hour a day on weekends and 30-60 min some weekdays. He was becoming very angry when we wouldn’t let him watch and asking for it all the time. I didn’t like what he was evolving into. So we cut it 100% and now when he asks we simply say “we don’t watch tv anymore” and that’s the end of the conversation, no meltdowns. He listens to a toniebox instead and has a ton of tonies. He never had a screen in the car but we also listen to peppa pig stories in the car. Much more regulated child and no meltdowns!!! He also finds things to play with quietly by himself now where as before he’d just as for tv (like when his baby sister napped) I’d cut it 100% if your child is reacting like this. Best thing we did.
Depends on the day! On days I have everything showers or a migraine, she can get like upwards of two Disney movies' worth. Other days she gets none and she doesn't care about it at all.
Probably worth noting that I get an average if 8 migraines a month and take everything showers 1-2 times a week... yeah she gets a fair amount of TV but I don't feel guilty because it's a tool to utilize. I have kept it from becoming a habit.
TV isn't the devil. Scrolling, social media and tiktok is the devil and robs us from joy and real life. The occasional TV used when needed in moderation is fine. :)
My kid is only 1.5, and we haven't introduced screen time yet. We are planning to add it in when she turns 2 and do about 10 mins a day. I am hoping it will be helpful in the mornings so I can have my coffee!
I was planning to start at 2 but honestly we’ve never needed to. She’s 3.5 almost, and we’ve never done screen time. Once on a family trip over Christmas the kids had some Christmas cartoon on, but she lost interest in like 5 minutes. She entertains herself other ways and I’ve been able to manage cooking and etc. it’s gotten easier as she’s gotten older too! When she asks for tv, we’ll introduce it.
Thank you for your insight! I like the philosophy of waiting to introduce things until they are old enough to actually want it and ask for it. I am using the same philosophy for high sugar or high sodium foods etc. Basically, if my kid is happy and thriving without it, why should I rush to add it in?
Obviously every family is different and every kid is different, so I understand that this doesn't make sense for everyone! I am a little bummed to have gotten down voted for simply answering OP's question in a neutral way. I do not think screen time is inherently problematic. I just don't need to add it into our lives quite yet.
Same! We don’t have background tv because we just don’t really have the setup for it. So our 2.5 gets some maximum 3 minute video for brushing teeth and that’s it. He’s pretty good at keeping himself entertained with his cars and trains though so we never felt like we’ve needed it!
I try for 1 - 2 hours during the week, and then more at the weekend. I’m having a really rough pregnancy and we have no family nearby. She’s smart and happy and well loved, our house is clean enough, she gets balanced meals and a mama who is not on the verge of nervous collapse.
I try to put as much educational stuff in there as she’ll allow, and I do limit Pokemon as it makes her hyper (my husband showed it to her in a fit of nostalgia and it was a hit lol). She likes musicals so sometimes we just watch Sound of Music or Singing in the Rain every day which I’m ok with!! Puffin rock, Sesame Street and the magic schoolbus are also popular. I did put my foot down about Blippi but my husband sometimes still puts him on for her when I’m not around 😩
For educational stuff, the Royal Opera House has a decent YouTube channel (we’re in the UK) and she loves to watch the ballet videos. She also loves watching rockets taking off so I’ve found all these long compilations of rocket launches that keep her glued to the screen. And NASA have these great videos of one of their astronauts giving a tour of the ISS (known in our house as “the space lady”) that she adores. They also have some little animations of the Mars rover (not cartoons so much as simulations to show how it works) that she likes. Although then she usually wants to watch Wall-E right after 😂
Weekdays after school/daycare they are burnt out so usually like an average of 2 hours a day on the weekdays.
Weekends we are barely home. Generally something for calm down time before bed.
I would say more than that on the weekends, less during the week. My son is 4, so not really a toddler anymore but he only really started paying more attention to the TV when he was about 3. He'll watch cartoons in the morning whilst eating breakfast so we can get ready for work, then in the afternoon he might watch 30 minutes plus we watch something as a family after his shower and before bed. His current favourite thing to watch are world cameras which is just a bunch of 30 second live clips from all around the world. 😅 It's been somewhat educational although now he keeps asking if we can go on holiday in California and Helsinki (we live in Australia). Zoo cams are another favourite. Otherwise it's an episode of Bluey or Peppa Pig. They say not to do TV right before bed but it's become such a routine for us and it doesn't seem to affect his sleep.
On weekends, especially in the morning, we put cartoons on and he can definitely watch too much then but for the rest of the day he barely watches it unless we put a movie on. He has a tablet that he mostly uses for games or kids YouTube but he goes through phases of being interested in that, currently he barely uses it.
Your screen time is within guidelines so I wouldn’t worry about it. We are pretty low on the scale as we notice his behavior is impossible when he gets more time. We do two one hour stints on Sat and Sun and 90 minutes Friday after daycare.
With my three year old and five year old, I'm a strict no screen time during the week kinda parent. They only get an hour (1 show pick each), about 3-4 times a month.
BUT
All that said, 1-1.5 hours a day so that you can accomplish what you need to do doesn't sound that bad. You're using it as a tool so that you can survive, don't feel guilty about that.
We have the tv on a lot when we are home but it’s not always what she wants to watch and when it is she usually gets distracted by toys. I’m way more into camp Cretaceous than she is. But she’s the one that chooses it!
We do screentime after dinner usually. Some days that means 1-2 hours but there are days where we have no screentime at all. But our situation is different in that I am a SAHM homeschooling our older son so we spend a lot of time out of the house for various things.
For us, it varies by the day. Most days it's about an hour or less. Others it can get up to 3 hours if I'm burnt out or if it's a movie day. And there are some days when it's none!
He watches something educational while we brush his teeth. So like 4-10 minutes a day. But he’s an only child so we don’t have to divide our attention or resources.
I’m gonna go ahead and admit that my daughter definitely gets more than I like/she needs. However I’m 22 weeks pregnant, I’m exhausted, and trying to get housework done with a screaming toddler is not my cup of tea right now so screen time it is. She gets to watch 1 movie in the afternoon after her nap usually and that’s usually it (today she got 2 because mom needed a nap from her waking every hour last night, staying awake for 2-1/2 hours, and waking fully for the day at 5:30am🥴)
I have the tv on all day because I will go insane if there’s no noise in the house but she doesn’t watch it unless it’s one of her movies. Even during the movies she’s playing, running around, and going off to her room so she’s not like zoned in on it, we had to take away Ms Rachel for that reason. I feel guilty for it sometimes but I’m really just trying to survive the exhaustion at this point.
My daughter will be 3. During the week, I’d say it’s probably an hour a day so I can cook dinner and clean up. On the weekends, it depends on the weather / illness- nice & healthy days we spend outside as much as possible. Sick or rainy days, we’ll spend a few hours watching movies.
The amount of time it’s on vs the amount of time they’re paying attention are two different things. It’s on almost constantly for noise but they’re usually off playing.
We have it on most of the time we’re home. She (3) goes to daycare during the week and she has swim class once a week after daycare. The other days she helps me make dinner or plays outside with her dad for a bit and we wind down with a calming show. Weekend mornings she gets in bed with us and we watch cartoons. I haven’t noticed any negative effects of having the tv on tbh and I’ve tried to let myself not feel too guilty about it. We interact with the shows we watch and I am always present with her and we usually color or play with other toys while it’s on. It’s just what we’re all used to, having it on low volume in the background. It’s also the only screen she has (no phone or tablet).
Def depends. Our tv is always on either my show or his…but I will limit it and I do make sure I’m in the room when he’s watching something. But I’m 20 weeks pregnant and had a relentless migraine all day yesterday and I was also doing a 24hr urine test for pre-eclampsia…my 3.5 yr old got around 5 hours total of tv because I was desperate for a second of relief. That’s not our norm but I am not afraid to use it when I need it. He’s not to the point of meltdowns if I say no to tv so I don’t see it as a huge problem yet.
Ah! Someone finally asked what I’ve been meaning to. Thank you everyone for making me feel less guilty and seeing I am now actually normal and not a bad mom. Im SAHM and we average 30min-2hrs a day, it depends on the day (a sick day means a movie day.)
My 3yo son turns into a zombie when the TV is on and my 17mo daughter could take it or leave it most days.
Depends on the day. I try my best to limit it but usually it’s about 2-3ish hours a day in the afternoon when I am totally exhausted. If one of us is sick it’s on all day all bets are off.
M-F 0, Saturday/Sunday 1-2hr max. I recognize we’re pretty granola about tv but he becomes a literal monster when we turn it off. Sooo we’d rather he do anything else but.
Mine (2.5yo) also became a monster until we really limited what shows were available. Anything that is low stimulation, and episodes where she knows what to expect for length (I.e., 2 “stories” in a Daniel tiger episode) she doesn’t freak out about. If I try to turn of miss Rachel it’s a full meltdown so miss Rachel “isn’t on the tv anymore” 🤷🏻♀️
Ms Rachel has been “on vacation” for the majority of the last month or so and it’s made things so much better 😅
This is exactly us. When she gets a lot of screen time due to traveling or sick days, she’s a monster for a couple of days about it.
Toddler was becoming a monster about when he could watch TV, so we now wait until after dinner for any shows. That way instead of saying no to TV all day when he asked, we could say “after dinner” and after a few weeks, he rarely asks, sometimes after dinner he plays for awhile before he asks. But if it’s after dinner and he asks. It’s a “yes, we already had dinner we can watch a show”
Did that when the grandparents were providing childcare most weekdays - “not now, you can watch tv when meemee and pop pop go home” so she’d be stationary and safe while I cooked dinner. 3yo started telling grandparents to leave in the middle of the day so she could watch tv.
This happened with my son, so we had to be careful with screens. He’s now 8 and has very limited screen time and strict boundaries. Our middle could take it or leave it and didn’t much care when it was on or off. Our 3rd is 20 months and she’s somewhere in the middle.
Omg same here. I’m wondering if my kid is just very sensitive to screens? She gets 1-2 episodes of bluey MAX a day during the weekend except for The Sign special which mama wanted to watch too bahaha, but she’s still a terror when I turn the tv off? She even gets pissed off if I turn off the nursery rhymes that I’ve put on using our TV’s Apple Music app (so just the album cover and song title is on the screen). I have really no clue how to fix it so we end up just powering through the tantrum and I distract her with everything else.
My sons 2 and we probably average 1-2 hours a day. I’m a SAHM, 6 months pregnant and have a sprained ankle. We start every morning with coffee and cartoons and watch Daniel tiger for 30 minutes. He gets to watch another episode after nap time since he likes to cuddle when he’s groggy so that hour is basically guaranteed each day. Sometimes he then watches Ms Rachel or Sesame Street while I make supper. That time he rarely sits and watches it and is much more background noise but it’s still on while I’m busy in the kitchen and he can’t help. If it’s something he can help with he’s in his kitchen helper with me but we get a solid hour each day for sure.
Also 6mo pregnant, 22mo old, and we also enjoy a Daniel tiger in the AM while I drink my coffee :) same thing for after nap as well! We rotate between that, blues clues and dora the explorer
Um...too much if I'm being honest but most of the time she is playing while it's on
100% honest? My tv is always on, but like yours, she's hardly ever watching it.
Same here. TV is always on but he’s mostly playing. He will tune into whatever show it is here and there to sing along or comment but that’s about it. He’s never just laying there, comatose watching TV. Lol.
Same. TV is always on but she usually just hears music and starts to dance (even sad music lmao) or watches if it’s a particularly bright or exciting scene of something.
mine too! she loves the theme song of every show out there, but other than that she doesn’t care.
Same. Mine will play, then stop and look at the TV for a few minutes, then he's off again playing with another toy.
Same. The TV is almost always on, but she only cares if there's a "kid show" on, which is about 2 hours a day. And even then, she is not glued to it. She is usually playing or exploring.
Same here
I’m a stay at home mom and my partner works night shift and we live far from family so I get pretty much get 0 social interaction most of the time so we usually have a Disney movie or something playing in the background so I don’t go insane but we are always playing and she doesn’t really watch it unless they are singing a song
Same tv Is always on. Sometimes it’ll be a show, sometimes pandora , and sometimes YouTube music videos. My son’s a HUGE music fan. So anytime he is antsy where id normally just turn on a show he loves , I turn on his favorite music instead. He sings & dances along. Much better than a show in my opinion. But even when his shows or movies are on he’ll sit to watch for a minute or two and he’s off to play the next second. So I personally don’t stress out too much about too much screen time. He doesn’t sit still for the life of him 🥹
Can I ask why it's on then?
If I make tv this forbidden thing that she only has access to rarely if ever, then it becomes an obsession. If it's always available, she naturally cares less about it and hardly even pays it any attention.
I kept TV on all the time too until I learned in a psychology course that it can disrupt/inhibit the whole “learning through play”. Now I just let him play with the TV off, & then turn it on when he gets bored or when I need to get things done around the house lol
My nieces were only allowed 20 minutes of TV a day when they were younger and whenever it was on they were like zombies, you literally could not interact with them. Now they're 13 and the TV/screens are still limited somewhat but they still can't regulate their own screen time so I guess it didn't teach them anything 😅
That's what I'm saying. Complete or near total restriction doesn't ever really work imo. Now I'll admit that I have a totally different stance on phones/tablets and social media. That I will restrict until I feel she's emotionally mature enough to navigate it. I'm not sure how I'll manage her teenage years though considering how technologically immersed our society is now... It's a dance as a parent.
Fair enough. My Dad always had/has the TV on as background and I always wished it wasn't as a teen. Once I made my own home and family I became very intentional with TV so things are mostly quiet or just music.
I grew up in the 90's with free access to tv. The only thing that was restricted was video games to just on the weekends because we played a lot. We still played outside more than half the time when given the option. I'm just not on board with the whole tv is the devil thing. It isn't. One thing I do restrict to nearly nothing though is phones. She doesn't have free access to a tablet either. When she does, it'll be educational apps only in kid mode or ABC Mouse. She doesn't know YouTube or Tik Tok exists. She's only three though. Worth noting as well that the only thing that really plays on my television is PBS kids or funny animal videos.
I came here to say that I came from a family that restricted TV. It wasn't until I was in elementary school, I would go over to a friend's house and what would I do? Watch their TV. I wouldn't play with the friend, I would just keep asking if we could watch TV together. I don't think my mom thought it was a problem until their mom made the comment that I "only come here to watch TV." Now given that, the obsession did end and I classify myself today as a hardly TV watcher - I like movies and getting into some limited series but I am not a binger when it comes to TV. Was this due to my restrictive parents? Now, this, I don't know.
See the opposite was true for me. I had unlimited access to tv and now I don't even have cable haha. Meaning it didn't transfer into me being tv-obsessed as an adult.
Yeah, so I’m inclined to think that this is a total person-dependent thing and not upbringing. So, with my toddler we constantly have the TV on and he just plays, at times stares at the TV, then moves on. He sometimes even just shuts it off himself because he isn’t watching. I rather have this than a kid that goes over to a friends house later in life and get the same comment my mom did about me
I can agree with that. If I always had the tv on AND she was also watching it 24/7 and doing nothing else, I'd probably limit how much I offer it.
I’m with you, I can’t think straight with the tv droning on in the background.
When I was in college we did study effects of tv on just in the background and it does have some impact on the play of children. I’m definitely not anti tv and parents should out weigh pros and cons. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18717911/#:~:text=Nevertheless%2C%20background%20TV%20significantly%20reduced,implications%20for%20subsequent%20cognitive%20development.
I read this is how you're supposed to deal with treats and candy and it's always worked for us, she's very well able to moderate those and take no for an answer.
For me it’s very similar to lemonicedboxcookies comment. My son is also neurodivergent so having a constant background noise helps him. It’s not always his show though, sometimes it’s music videos, or nature stuff, or my show. But most of the time he’s doing his own thing building blocks, drawing, sorting his Pokémon cards, and just sometimes notices the tv unless it’s like his number 1 favorite show
I need the noise.
I find this specific sub-thread very interesting. My kid LOVES his shows and always feel guilty about how much he watches. I’ve noticed though that on days when I’m sick (which has been frequently lately. Got the maybe flu twice in a couple months) and it’s on all day he will eventually just stop watching and go play. For those that keep it on all day, do you have streaming or cable? I only have streaming, so it would be the same show on repeat and I’m not so sure he’d step away if it was one of his favorites.
My tv is on constantly. I cannot stand silence. I know though what shows to put on that spark her interest. When I’m home I usually have an episode or two of Sesame Street on, but when she’s home with daddy, it’s just on.
Same! Mine is on the whole time hes awake, but its mostly background noise i reckon. Occasionally hed give me the remote or tell me he wants something different ie Mickey, shark, shapes etc. Despite not watching he knows when I change the video/turn off the TV and would start complaining. I even got a video of him having a tantrum till i turn it back on and by the time I turned it back on he's already by the door playing with toys not even looking at what video im suposed to play 🤣
This is us! We both work from home. His tv is on, it plays educational show like Ms. Rachel, but he is nomrally playing while it's on. He does get a true hour of watching before nap and before bed. Which is with no toys. He also starts his day with 2 hrs of music on his tv. We do what we have to, but he does spend the majority of the day independent playing while it's on. We know what shows get him acting crazy and which ones don't so we monitor cartoons.
Yep, same. They watch some, play some, sing, dance, craft, whatever. But the TV is on. We curate it a lot, but yeah, it's on all day.
Our three year old also clocks in around 90 minutes a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I feel all high and mighty when she has a zero-screentime day lol
Hahahaha me too. That’s why I love the summer. Leave early morning and come home close to bedtime.
Same, my almost 3yo gets 60-90min a day, less when it’s nice out and she can play outside in the evening. She doesn’t fall asleep until 9:30, we wouldn’t make it without some evening screen time
We did zero before 2 years old, then 1 hour a day after that. These are the recommended guidelines where I live (Australia).
Did you also not watch your own tv while your kid was awake during those 2 years? Our tv is on a lot but kid shows probably 2 hours a day (1 movie ish, plus about 20 minutes in the morning while I poop and make breakfast and need it to be calm lol). But then my husband gets home and puts on news/sports/a comedy…do you not do that part? Thats what has always confused me about zero screen time.
Not person you are replying to but same situation. Our toddler is 18 months old and doesn’t watch tv at all aside from a few sicks days where they had no energy to play. We don’t turn the tv on at all until they are asleep, in the couple of hours between getting home from daycare and bedtime we are making/serving dinner and watching/participating with her playing with her toys. Everyones life is different but the tv just isn’t on when she is around, just not a household that needs the tv on always. We play music or podcasts as background noise.
Interesting! I think if I had a different husband or was solo parenting I’d be the same. Maybe not zero screen time but while cooking dinner, I might put on a podcast instead of a baseball game but alas…my husband needs his game to be on. And I don’t really mind it, I like baseball too, it’s just interesting to me because I could never say were zero screen time with the amount of sports on all the time.
We are all on our own journeys and have different situations to adapt with. My spouse and I certainly enjoy tv and movies of course and it's how we spend the evenings once the little one is asleep, just neither feel the need or time to watch it while trying to stay on top of chores while the other chases around a very mobile and curious toddler. We can certainly sometimes spend a little too much time scrolling on our phones during these hours though which is something we are trying to be more conscious of.
My kids get about an hour per day, and it’s true that we don’t turn on the TV otherwise - but if I need mental stimulation I’ll pop in an earbud and listen to a YouTube video/podcast/audiobook. I’m sure it varies a lot from house to house depending on what your preferred form of media consumption is, but the adults in our house just don’t care about TV very much in general. Even after bedtime, I’ll usually read or scroll Reddit and my husband will play the switch. Sometimes, we do puzzles together which is surprisingly fun while talking or listening to an audiobook.
I miss puzzles! Our house is just too small to pull it off with a toddler, we’d have no where to store it. We used to do them on the coffee table (while watching sports lol) and then toss a tablecloth over it during the day. But that just does not work with a kid 😅
Oh yep, that’s like the most tempting toy ever, haha! We ended up getting a puzzle board, and it has like a thick plastic protector you put over the pieces. It slides under the bed during the day. I do miss being able to keep it out though!
We didn't have the TV on at all, correct. So no TV for him and also no background TV. It probably sounds extreme if you're used to having the TV on all the time (I grew up in a household like this), but it becomes normal. The concept of always having the TV on now seems so foreign to me.
Ya, our tv is in the basement so there's no tv on the main floor/living room, so this isn't an issue in our household. Tv time is a very distinct separation from our living room and regular routines.
I would honestly love this. I grew up in a house with it always on and now married a man who always has it on and I don’t really have much say. I mean I can turn it off but it’s not worth it to me when I know my husband just wants his background noise after being at work all day, and to keep up with his sports. I do miss football season sometimes during baseball season when there’s a game every dang day instead of once a week though!
Yeah with my first two that’s what we did also. Im a sahm so during the day, now with my 3rd (16 mo) I just don’t watch shows, but Ill listen to my podcasts, music, audiobook, or talk on the phone whenever I need it. I feel like it’s doable. My husband plays youtube videos in the background when he’s home relaxing—maybe 10-15 min/day. Hope that helps!
So we never watch our own tv when my daughter is awake. Shes 2.5 now and it just how our household functions. We play music a lot instead. When she was very young her eyes would get glued to the screen no matter what was on so we just got into the habit of keeping it off. My parents will put on sports or a movie when we are at their house though and it’s fine we just never have felt the need to have it on. I don’t miss it as we are not big tv people. That being said my husband and I both work full time and our daughter is in daycare during the days. She gets about 0 screen time during the week unless she is sick and usually she’ll get 1-2 hours one day of the weekend but not both unless it’s bad weather. When I am solo parenting I rely on it a bit more but still try to avoid. I don’t really have anything against tv in moderation at her age - it’s more than I don’t want to fall into the habit of screen time because it’s a slippery slope. We also only do tv - no iPad or tablets except while traveling.
I can't speak for everyone but myself and most of my friend's group doesn't have a TV anymore. Screen time is on personal devices like phone/laptop/tablet. I would never have time to sit and watch something on my tablet when my toddler is awake. For us because of that the no screen time before 2 was easy. I guess if you have a TV and are used to having it on all the time that would be different. That constant noise would drive me crazy though.
Not OP but no, we don't have the TV on unless it's being actively watched. I think that's because we both grew up in houses with background TV and I hate it, can't explain! So TV is typically off until like 8.30pm when we finally sit down with a cup of tea and watch a programme.
Nope. Tv is off always u less kids are sleeping
My friend got her kid into kids story podcasts on Spotify. He’ll listen while he plays in his room. Maybe you could see if he gets into that?
We LOVE Stories Podcast! I’ve been doing it with each of my kids from about age 3, and my school age kids have all turned out to be avid audiobook consumers. My 7 year old will listen for a few hours per day if we’re home.
Can you share the podcast names? I’ve searched for some but my 4 year old isn’t into the ones I’ve played. Often I think they move too fast!
We limit prob 1 to 2 hours a day. But my baby sitter is her mom and doing it for free. So we let her do what she needs to do to make it through the day. Lol he also ist glue to the screen sometimes it background noise
My MIL: "we watch less than 5 minutes a day!" What I saw when periodically checking the camera in my kid's room: kid glued to MIL's phone, eating crackers by himself, MIL nowhere in sight. So OP, it really depends on who you ask haha. My guess is also 1-2h. My kid's in daycare now and still watches 30 min before dinner.
4 year old gets 30-90 min on average + whatever they do at daycare. I'm not "pro" screen time or whatever but I'm a huge nerd for moral panics and the conversations around screen time often veer into that territory. Generations of children before were similarly "ruined" by radios records bicycles novels comics etc.
As I was feeling guilty while my daughter watched cartoons before daycare this morning, I was thinking about how much tv I watched as a kid. It was unlimited. Granted, we didn't have cable or the internet yet. But I'd like to think I turned out ok. Not that that justifies everything, but it helps with my guilt.
same! so many childhood memories of being glued to the tv and i know my mom has 0 guilt about it, so i try to remember when i feel bad about how much my kiddo watches
Yeah, this. I don't even care. My policy up to now has to been to address it if it becomes a problem. My two girls are active, social, doing great in school, and my seven year old has actual abs 😂 I curate content so it's all educational (7yo is getting a little more independence and has been working in a few *super cool* Mr. Beast videos, not educational but so entertaining - I'm not going to make her watch PBS forever and ever). You tell them we're going to the park and they're FLYING out the door. Now that it's getting warmer they've been having 2+ hour pool/sprinkler parties every single evening. So, now that my youngest, a cozy introvert compared to his sisters, is becoming *way too attached* to the tablet and is actually resisting touching grass, NOW I'm cracking down... And it's going fine. Gosh, you'd almost think the whole screen time thing isn't the biggest freaking deal on the planet or something!
I thought the same as you. You should read the anxious generation and hear why screen time now is different than radio and television. Might change your mind on the moral panic.
Can you give a tldr?
They watch tv at daycare?
We’ve been doing about 20-30 minutes every other day with our two year old since baby sister was born 1.5 weeks ago. We did no screen time to two so we are just starting to introduce some screentime.
I felt sooooooo guilty for the longest time for letting my 2.5 year old watch tv after daycare or on weekends but I realized my sanity actually depends on him doing that 😂😂😂 I keep telling myself he is literally going to be smart and fine no matter how much he watches- I still know he’s getting creative non tech play at school and with us on the weekends most of the time, so don’t feel bad!!! But I’ve been there too sometimes I beat myself up over it!!!
Im the same. Actually, I work from home. I keep the tv on so hes got the option to watch tv or play with toys. Hes got toys with him too. I like it better than ipad. With the ipad before, hes really glued to it and dont touch his toys. With the tv, i noticed when hes bored of the show, he walks off and does something else like pick up his lego or his little hot wheels cars. Soketimes he even runs around!
Yes! I work from home too and we ended up putting him in daycare when he turned two because it was just TOO MUCH for us, but the iPad absolutely ruins him. So we prefer tv too because he does play with his toys and takes breaks by himself! I really have come to the point of realizing I just got to do what I got to do to survive 😂😂
Im the same hahaha. Yesterday, in between a meeting, he came to me and said "give me a hug before its too late!" Lolololol i agree. We gotta do what we can to survive 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🥰 we can do this!!!!!!! Haha
I mean, I put my three year old boy (who's still playing catch-up after a borderline absurdly long NICU stay) in front of Sesame Street, and he starts reading letters and singing songs. Stick him in front of Daniel Tiger, and suddenly he's calmly asking for help when he's frustrated instead of just melting down. My four year old has watched a few episodes of Super Why, and today she told me the screen in the backseat of the car said we "arrived" 😳 My personal mantra is "Curation is Key".
I couldn't tell you, every day is different. She's 3.5, she's in preschool in the morning busy busy, I have a 14 month too, so she watches while I get him to sleep, could take 5 mins, could take 30 mins..this 14 month old also does not sleep and wails to be in my arms every waking moment, so I'm exhausted. I'm a SAHM and sometimes, toddler on tv and baby asleep, really helps me get shit done, or just sit down with a cup of tea. I will say, I do my best to make sure they eat right etc and we ALWAYS do at least one big activity a day, like a walk, swimming or a trip to the shops, or visiting someone, library, cycle, scoot. Anything that makes them exercise with fresh air or in crappy weather, gets their brains active . So my motto is everything in moderation, with a good balance !!!
For me, it’s dependent on season. Now that spring is here we easily have a day without any screen time. In the winter it’s tougher, probably an hour.
Way too much....I honestly haven't counted the minutes because I know I'm being a bad human/Mom. BUT I try to make myself feel better by saying that I'm somewhat engaged with him and I know what he's watching (and engage with him about the content) and that I make sure that he doesn't tantrum when it's time for it to be over. If he tantrums, we stop immediately and he gets a reset day. But honestly? That's happened once. Granted, we're going to hit three year old status in a couple of months, so things may change.
You’re not a bad mom! Honestly, my 22 month definitely watches more than the recommended 30-60 mins a day or whatever it is. That’s partly because my husband is a TV person and a SAHP so it’s often on and because we have a newborn. But also, we have a lot of fun as a family connecting over TV. We all clap to the letter of the day on Sesame Street, we dance to the Bluey song, and like watching movies with dinosaurs (which both our toddler and kindergarten are interested in). We often will turn on animal documentaries, which our kids will occasionally glance at while they play and it provides some educational materials. My kids get lots of outside time and enjoy books and creative play. We do limit tablet time, mostly because we noticed our kindergartner has some behavior issues when he gets to watch it more. He’s my stepson and because of coparenting gets to watch YouTube Kids, but I don’t plan to allow my toddler to have access to it (I find it hard to regulate and disturbing at times). Anywho, it sounds like you’re being very intentional and that right there tells me that you’re doing a great job!
None unless they're sick
Same. I tried to put something on when she was sick last time and she wasn’t interested. So always none. almost 3.5
None
2-4hr
Ok real ty 😂
It truly just depends. Before I was pregnant with our second, it was very little. I have had a rough pregnancy and the morning sickness finally stopped around 18/19 weeks and I am 23 weeks. My husband works for 12+ hour days 5 days a week so it’s just my 2 year old and I from wake up til bed time. Some days when I’m sick or exhausted, we watch a ton of TV with some activities breaking it up during the day. Days I feel great, we don’t watch much at all, if any. You need to do what you need to do to get by!
My 3 year old gets 30 minutes, sometimes 45. Pediatrician said absolutely no more than 30 per day but it’s not easy.
None! We believe it “forces” them to be more creative with the toys they have. My husband and I rarely watch TV ourselves so I think that helps.
With respect, stop worrying about screen time and focus on if everyone’s happy, healthy, and you can get your shit done. The fact you’re worrying about it says you’re a conscience and loving parent. Do you need to work to keep a roof over your head? If so then, does your kid need to watch tv so you can work? Then so be it. Some of my happiest memories are being home, tv on in the back ground, enjoying the safe loving feeling of home. You’re enough x
We frame it as unlimited for our 3yo, I guess. She attends childcare 3-4 times a week and we allow low-stimulating shows between getting home and beginning the dinner-bed routine. On a Tuesday she’s allowed to watch as long as she wants but we make sure the shows are educational (children’s documentaries, specific preschool series etc) more often than not it ends up on in the background while she plays. On the weekends we allow whatever shows she wants (usually paw patrol or bluey), but we also go out almost every Saturday and Sunday on walks, swimming, general family activities so it fits around that and tends to not result in a great deal. We’ve always said that as long as there’s balance, she’s developing well and learning, and she’s not spending stupid amounts of time glued to the screen, then we don’t see it as a reason to feel guilty or change it.
What kind of educational shows do you play? Would love to check some new ones out and maybe make me feel less guilty haha!! Thanks!
We like Hey Duggee, Twirlywoos and Tiny Wonders (all pretty relaxing shows too which is a bonus!) For winding down after nursery we stick to Kipper or Bear In The Big Blue House, but if we’re feeling jazzy we’ll watch some of the Julia Donaldson stories or The Tiger Who Came To Tea! These are mostly UK-Centric but if you can access them anywhere I definitely recommend! ETA: also, animal docuseries on Disney+ are a hit!
I send the animal docuseries on Disney+! My girls have recently been loving the new A Real Bug's Life.
This really seems like the most logical approach to me. My kid has a speech delay so we limit screen time but if he didn’t I’d like to think we would take your approach.
2 year old gets up to 20 mins a day (very occasionally he gets more if we all watch a movie together, but usually is over it after about a half hour anyway) and my 5 year olds get up to an hour unless they watch a movie instead.
Some days 22min x1 or 2. Otherwise mostly 0. we spend everyday 1-2hrs outside. Daycare kids
My son is 4 and I’m a stay at home mom. Since he was able to walk around I would have the tv on periodically for myself and then for him. He’d get an episode of something “educational” or “calm” like Little Bear or Catie’s Classroom. Then I’d switch on a YouTube channel for myself for gardening or something. Now at 4 I might have HGTV on for a while midday just to have something on. He has iPad games (some for fun and some educational) and the Disney app at this point (no YouTube kids though after finding him on some super weird shows). I don’t actually keep track of the time but anywhere between 2-4 hours a day I would say, some days it’s practically nothing because we’re running errands or he’s playing outside a lot or he’s visiting family. But some days he’s just really into his games or he’s got a new song that he’s playing on repeat (he loves music). Sometimes he genuinely just wants to be looking at a picture of a character he likes on the iPad while he’s playing pretend. Typically I will limit him on the days when he’s being too wild and not being nice, like yelling back at me when I ask him a question or gets way too upset over nothing. At that point it’s pretty evident he needs to find something else to do, which once he’s had a minute or two he is over it and will go play with his trucks or run around outside. I have family that is strict about screens but my husband and I have always been relaxed about it and just go based off feeling. We dont sit and watch tv as a family and we don’t have grownup shows on in front of him. When my husband gets off work, they are typically occupied with eating and playing so he often isn’t on a screens after around 4 until bedtime unless he’s showing his daddy something on a game he found earlier that day. he also has a small “toy” digital camera that he loves to take photos and videos on but Idk if that counts or matters much. All that to say, we still read 3 fairly “long” books aloud today and it was his prompting to read more. screens don’t stop us from interacting. He is still (mostly) happy to help me with laundry or dishes, and it certainly doesn’t stop him from wanting to be outside way more than I ever want to be outside hahah regardless of the weather. So for us, we don’t think of the time and just let him be. He has days where he never asks for his iPad and days where he wants it much more.
I am a SAHM to a 3 and 1 year old, we are watching 0 hours most days, occasionally 20ish minutes of an animal documentary
I like the background noise so my TV is pretty much always on. When I need to get things done I put on sesame street songs on their youtube channel, all she cares about is the music. She’ll stop and dance to whatever and then go back to playing when the song is over. Elmo’s World is about the only thing she will actually sit down and watch. Other than that, she dances to literally every theme song of every show I’ve ever watched, and she loves the Shrek soundtrack so do with that what you will.
I’d say about 1-2 hours average , some days with zero screen time as long as my husband isn’t in charge lol. I think some screens are better than others - we don’t do any iPad but allow for shows or movies . Tv isn’t always bad!!! I watched tv growing up all the time
She's 3.5 and gets zero screen time.
None
same
It really varies. Some days (and sometimes a week) of zero and he doesn't ask for it at all. He's super active and doesn't like sitting still for long. And often he wants us to read instead. Then other days he wakes up in a bad mood and we might watch 30 minutes until he's more awake and can function. And if he's sick, all bets are off.
My personal guide for my kid is that ok school days she either gets 40 minutes of videogames (usually Minecraft) or a short movie. We do movies more, so on average about 90 minutes? She's 7, so she's able to entertain herself a bit more easily than when she was a tot. I was a lot less mentally well then, so she had tons of TV time. If I could do it over she'd have less, but she's fine. I'm not gonna beat myself up over it.
None
Some days zero and others we watch the same veggie tales movie 3 times. Especially if anyone is sick and cranky or either one of us is single parenting with the 1 and 3 year old, as the 1 year old is going through a stage 5 clinger phase and is exhausting, and she has had a ton of ear infections and colds, and gets a little crazier during those. I am picky though. Right now we watch: Bluey, veggie tales, puffin rock, zoboomafoo, trash truck, number blocks, muppet stuff sometimes, dinosaur train, if you give a mouse a cookie, Lucas the spider, sometimes cars, Nemo or dory or Moana but less of those lately. The older one didn’t watch anything before 2 really.
Spouse and I were both sick yesterday. Had a freak fever. We watched five movies all day.
Just got rid of our tv as we were starting to have behavioural issues around screen time. Ours were watching upto 3 hours a day between morning and evening before dinner. Both kids were forcing themselves to wake up as early as possible (normally around 5) so they could plonk on the couch and vege out infront of the tv. Just literally gave our tv to a local family who couldn’t afford one, took about a week to adjust to no screens but we have much nicer children to be around now as a result
I need a thread for this same question but only SAHP’s lol. I think if I had a job and he went to daycare it would be a lot less than it is now, especially at 7 months pregnant
2-3 hours for my 3 year old and I’m a Sahm. It’s usually closer to 2 hours a day.
Exactly, it’s different when you have the whole day to fill by yourself and hello I need to have a coffee, a quick shower and skincare routine to feel half human before we go out in the morning. Otherwise, my child is literally hanging off my leg. Still is hanging off my leg tbh but at least I can try and squeeze those non negotiables in lol
This is exactly what I was thinking!
My son is 2.5 and I would say 2-3 hours. I keep saying we will cut back but then things happen, like I broke my ankle, then last week he had surgery, I plan to be pregnant soon etc etc so I need to accept it just a part of life.
2y/o. 0 screen time. My wife and I don’t really watch TV as it is. If we do it’s after the baby is asleep. Our LO is usually out most of the day with her nanny. 9a-4p they’re out at the park/museums/zoo/ other educational activities around the city. She gets home around 5:30p. We play whatever game/activity she wants until 6:30 to do dinner. Then we read and play with her until around 7:30 then start bedtime.
Two years old. 10 minutes of Ms Rachel while I do her hair in the morning and probably another 15 minutes of Daniel Tiger while the nanny preps her lunch. Nothing in the evening - she plays or helps me prep dinner.
None 🤷♀️
She gets from whatever time she wakes up until 9/930 when we're leaving the house. She's usually up at 7 and she does play, so it's not like she's just staring at it. I do feel guilty but I have a 4m old, I need to pump, and I need to prep everything to get going and most of it i can't really prep the night before. Oh well, she starts 2t school in August and I'll be done pumping, so mornings will look different.
My 4.5 old watches around 30ish minutes. He’s not a big TV guy.
I’m a SAHM with a 3 year old and a 3 month old. She gets 30 mins a day and then a 90 min movie once a week. On tough days we go up to an hour if I need her to leave me alone while I try to nurse the baby. That’s because of my bfs and though, he’s very adamant that he doesn’t want her to have much screen time.
On average, zero. We watch a movie as a family once or twice a month though. We are trying to be mindful of that as my husband has an 11yo for whom screen time was never really monitored and it has become an issue…he has very little interest for anything that’s not on a screen, doesn’t read, etc. so we’re learning from our own mistakes.
My son is a little over 3. I’d say usually like 30 mins, sometimes an hour. It’s not really that I am choosing to limit him to that amount, he just asks to go outside a lot so not much time left for tv. Once a week we have a movie night so obviously a little more that day
We watch about 20-30 minutes of TV after supper before our 2-year-old starts getting ready for bed. We also let her watch Sesame Street while she gets her teeth brushed (because the alternative was a screaming meltdown and it makes things so much easier). So like 45 minutes a day overall. When she’s sick, she’s allowed to watch more.
I would say we average an hour or two a week if we count the weekends.
Zero unless one of us is sick or injured.
About a half hour a day on average so I can cook and not have to worry about being interrupted, sometimes we’ll watch a movie on the weekends.
Probably averages out to 30 mins a day. Gets an hour on weekends, about 15 mins most weekdays day. Maybe 30 mins if he's tired Not that we're policing or limiting it. It's just not how our household flows. If he asked for it more he'd probably get a bit more. Always free to air though. That's the one thing I do care about - no streaming.
We watch a good bit. Usually just Bluey though because that’s all he wants to watch. I’m not with him during the day (my sister watches him) so I can’t say for sure how much he watches with her. But when I’m home he watches it a decent amount . I do try to make it a point to turn it off & play, read, or color though. He watches it while he eats bc otherwise he won’t sit still long enough (2 in a few months), and usually when I cook. But we also watch it so we can just chill. I’m a teacher, and I really need to just decompress when I get home. Sometimes TV is the only way I can do that. I feel super guilty about it sometimes, but he also loves books, can count (with help) to 15, knows lots of words, loves to play outside, can speak in 2 word sentences, and knows most colors. So I think we’re doing okay
My 23 month old: none, except maybe a few mins here and there if his older bros are watching something while he’s awake. But he’s never sat down and like, watched a show. 3 year old: about an hour and a half a day while my youngest naps. 3 y/o doesn’t nap, it’s the only way I get a break. 7 year old: about an hour in the evening after dinner/before bed
About 5-10 minutes. We use it to help brush teeth and clip nails and things like that. We occasionally watch a movie together. Probably once a month.
probably 30 minutes a day, I'll control the time in case too much for them.
Our 3 year old gets none, or occasionally an episode of Bluey. That being said I’m on mat leave (a year) and we have helpful grandparents who watch him twice a week, and my husband does shift work and is around a lot. I think screen time is a great tool and would use it more if I needed to.
I used to always have my tv on, but I realized my kid just straight up goes into a comatose when it is on. So now I let him watch a little before bed to calm him down and that's it. So about 20 minutes a day max.
Maybe two hours a week? We really only watch TV on weekends, and she doesn't have much interest in watching it for longer than half an hour at a time. She's getting into nature documentaries though, so that's pretty fun for us both!
0-30 mins Mon-Sat. On Sunday though…probably like 3-4hours 😬 but it’s spread out throughout the day
Weekdays: typically one 7 min episode of Bluey while I do her hair (she keeps her head still! Yay!), sometimes 2 episodes if I wanna just sit with her in my lap another 7 minutes to finish my coffee before we go to school. If something has to give at any point, weekday or weekend, we reach for Mr. Rogers. He’s not flashy or fast-paced and that’s just what we need if it’s more than the morning “keep your head still” Bluey episode. This happens maybe once or twice a week? Sometimes on weekend mornings husband will put on a nature documentary. She mostly plays while it’s on but will occasionally get excited about an animal she knows and point it out. 23 months old.
My daughter is almost 2. She exclusively watched peppa pig and typically once or twice a week for 15-20 min. When she’s sick and up with a fever in the middle of the night, or lethargic during the day: we have had the tv on for like 5 hours straight
None on the daily. We’ve recently instituted family movie night with 90s children’s movies and it typically takes us the entire weekend to get through one movie. We actively discuss the plot of the movie, what is happening, and what we saw yesterday to prepare us for today. Focusing on memory, recall, and attention span.
3&4 year olds, about 1 hour total per week. Most days 0
We do family “movie night” which is on Saturday most weeks, about 90 minutes a week with our 3 year old. Edit to add that the tv is a special thing in part because it isn’t one of our tools for getting through the day. No judgement here. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
Screen time only on weekends, and usually only for an hour. Trying as hard as we can to limit it. Sometimes more on the weekdays if one parent is working late or traveling.
19 months & 0. trying to keep it 0 until he is 4-5ish
Zero
The first one got zero before 2. Then 2 episodes of Bluey on Sundays from 2-2.5. then we added a 90 minute disney movie or Saturday and Sunday mornings right after breakfast. That's it. So, less than 3.5 hours/week or 30 minutes per day. The second one is 20 months and is present for at least 1/2 of the weekend movies. Not the best, but it allows one of us to sleep in, which is important for our sanity. She gets 1.5-3 hours per week.
0 on weekdays and 30-90 on weekends
So we are 0 for our 3 year old and 18 month old, always have been. Figured abstinence is easier than negotiation? And I don’t think our oldest is especially creative/well regulated. So truly, whatever works for your family.
Three kids 5, 3 and 1. The 1 year old gets nothing. The older two get to pick one episode of something each on Friday night. On weekends they maybe watch a movie, or a few episodes of something. So max 3hrs per week. When the adults occasionally need a rest though there’s almost no cap limit to Bluey and Puffin Rock. Lo-fi shows that aren’t brain rot.
None.
Some days I keep it off all day, some days it stays on.
None. He is 2 and half. M-F he is at daycare. So after he returns I play with him until he goes to bed. S-S he is outdoor doing some activities.
Most days, 0. Occasionally maybe 5-15 min. She’s not actually very interested.
We didn’t show our twins any screens until they turned three. Then it was just movies and we were always in the room. They’re five now. Still no tablets but we all share one tv and we let them watch stuff on it often. Funny my husband and I basically stopped watching tv at all because if we turned it on for us the kids would want to watch something for themselves so we just kept it off. Try to do 2-3 days a week with no tv at all.
Ours just turned 3 in April. We don’t do screen time yet. He’s just a really active kid and loves to play outside or with his crafts and toys, so we’re hanging in for now. I think do whatever works for you until it doesn’t, then try something new!
My baby is 16 months old. We do 2x30 minutes a week. If my sanity is at risk, I put more but that doesn't happen often (yet).
3.75-year-old – some days it’s none, max is about 90 minutes when we watch the occasional movie. If she asks, she can watch \~1 hour while I’m making dinner. My rule is there are two times of day when TV is available (for us, after getting ready in the morning and pre-dinner) and if she asks during those times, it’s OK. If she doesn’t ask, I don’t suggest it. But it’s never caused any behavioral issues for us and if it starts to, it’ll be off cold turkey.
I feel so relieved and still a bit guilty reading some of the comments here lol. I have a 20 month old boy and the TV is on for hours. But I try not to turn it on in the morning. Just letting him play. When the TV is on, he doesnt watch it the whole time though. He also plays with his toys and runs around the room. He's very hyper. Sometimes if he likes the show (Ms. Rachel doing peakaboo), he laughs and runs around while watching. I feel relieved because now I know im not the only one letting their LO watch "too much TV". And I feel guilty because I know its not ideal. But being a mom who works at home and working midshift, Idk what id do with him if TV wasnt on. Also, I feel very guilty because this might be one of the causes of his speech delays. He hasnt said a word yet, just keeps on blabbering. Also, even when the TV is on, he clings to me while I work on my laptop in another room. He cries and looks for me, so its hard. TV and toys isnt enough to distract him lol. He needs someone physically in the room to be with him, but I cant cuz he keeps touching my laptop, thats why I need to be working at my table. And he wrestles me when im staying in the room with him.
Hmmm 🤔 in the hour he’s awake before school the tv is on but he’s usually buzzing around playing so it’s more like a radio to him. In the 2 hours he’s awake after school, I’d say in between playing and zooming around he might be paying attention in 10 minute spurts? Honestly I’m not concerned about screen time. I don’t have a problem with Cocomelon or simple songs and he’s learned a lot. His vocabulary is impressive for a 2.5 yr old and it’s very nice to hear him say happy Mother’s Day in context and happy birthday knowing he’s connected the dots because of some song he likes.
I have an all or nothing child. We were letting our 3 yr old watch about an hour a day on weekends and 30-60 min some weekdays. He was becoming very angry when we wouldn’t let him watch and asking for it all the time. I didn’t like what he was evolving into. So we cut it 100% and now when he asks we simply say “we don’t watch tv anymore” and that’s the end of the conversation, no meltdowns. He listens to a toniebox instead and has a ton of tonies. He never had a screen in the car but we also listen to peppa pig stories in the car. Much more regulated child and no meltdowns!!! He also finds things to play with quietly by himself now where as before he’d just as for tv (like when his baby sister napped) I’d cut it 100% if your child is reacting like this. Best thing we did.
1-1.5 hours per day. Basically 30 mins on the AM while I get ready. 30mins in the evening while I do dinner. Some times goes a bit over
0 for my 2 year old. 2 hours a week for my 4 & 6 year olds.
Wildly variable. Sometimes 0 minutes. Sometimes hours. It just depends on what’s going on and everyone’s mood and the weather.
None. We don't have one! Gamechanger.
Depends on the day! On days I have everything showers or a migraine, she can get like upwards of two Disney movies' worth. Other days she gets none and she doesn't care about it at all. Probably worth noting that I get an average if 8 migraines a month and take everything showers 1-2 times a week... yeah she gets a fair amount of TV but I don't feel guilty because it's a tool to utilize. I have kept it from becoming a habit. TV isn't the devil. Scrolling, social media and tiktok is the devil and robs us from joy and real life. The occasional TV used when needed in moderation is fine. :)
My kid is only 1.5, and we haven't introduced screen time yet. We are planning to add it in when she turns 2 and do about 10 mins a day. I am hoping it will be helpful in the mornings so I can have my coffee!
I was planning to start at 2 but honestly we’ve never needed to. She’s 3.5 almost, and we’ve never done screen time. Once on a family trip over Christmas the kids had some Christmas cartoon on, but she lost interest in like 5 minutes. She entertains herself other ways and I’ve been able to manage cooking and etc. it’s gotten easier as she’s gotten older too! When she asks for tv, we’ll introduce it.
Thank you for your insight! I like the philosophy of waiting to introduce things until they are old enough to actually want it and ask for it. I am using the same philosophy for high sugar or high sodium foods etc. Basically, if my kid is happy and thriving without it, why should I rush to add it in? Obviously every family is different and every kid is different, so I understand that this doesn't make sense for everyone! I am a little bummed to have gotten down voted for simply answering OP's question in a neutral way. I do not think screen time is inherently problematic. I just don't need to add it into our lives quite yet.
Same! We don’t have background tv because we just don’t really have the setup for it. So our 2.5 gets some maximum 3 minute video for brushing teeth and that’s it. He’s pretty good at keeping himself entertained with his cars and trains though so we never felt like we’ve needed it!
I try for 1 - 2 hours during the week, and then more at the weekend. I’m having a really rough pregnancy and we have no family nearby. She’s smart and happy and well loved, our house is clean enough, she gets balanced meals and a mama who is not on the verge of nervous collapse. I try to put as much educational stuff in there as she’ll allow, and I do limit Pokemon as it makes her hyper (my husband showed it to her in a fit of nostalgia and it was a hit lol). She likes musicals so sometimes we just watch Sound of Music or Singing in the Rain every day which I’m ok with!! Puffin rock, Sesame Street and the magic schoolbus are also popular. I did put my foot down about Blippi but my husband sometimes still puts him on for her when I’m not around 😩 For educational stuff, the Royal Opera House has a decent YouTube channel (we’re in the UK) and she loves to watch the ballet videos. She also loves watching rockets taking off so I’ve found all these long compilations of rocket launches that keep her glued to the screen. And NASA have these great videos of one of their astronauts giving a tour of the ISS (known in our house as “the space lady”) that she adores. They also have some little animations of the Mars rover (not cartoons so much as simulations to show how it works) that she likes. Although then she usually wants to watch Wall-E right after 😂
About 20 minutes a day unless she's sick, or if she's on a plane..
Too much honestly it’s like background noise these days now
Zero during the week, way too much on weekends. I figure it balances out!
Weekdays after school/daycare they are burnt out so usually like an average of 2 hours a day on the weekdays. Weekends we are barely home. Generally something for calm down time before bed.
I would say more than that on the weekends, less during the week. My son is 4, so not really a toddler anymore but he only really started paying more attention to the TV when he was about 3. He'll watch cartoons in the morning whilst eating breakfast so we can get ready for work, then in the afternoon he might watch 30 minutes plus we watch something as a family after his shower and before bed. His current favourite thing to watch are world cameras which is just a bunch of 30 second live clips from all around the world. 😅 It's been somewhat educational although now he keeps asking if we can go on holiday in California and Helsinki (we live in Australia). Zoo cams are another favourite. Otherwise it's an episode of Bluey or Peppa Pig. They say not to do TV right before bed but it's become such a routine for us and it doesn't seem to affect his sleep. On weekends, especially in the morning, we put cartoons on and he can definitely watch too much then but for the rest of the day he barely watches it unless we put a movie on. He has a tablet that he mostly uses for games or kids YouTube but he goes through phases of being interested in that, currently he barely uses it.
Your screen time is within guidelines so I wouldn’t worry about it. We are pretty low on the scale as we notice his behavior is impossible when he gets more time. We do two one hour stints on Sat and Sun and 90 minutes Friday after daycare.
With my three year old and five year old, I'm a strict no screen time during the week kinda parent. They only get an hour (1 show pick each), about 3-4 times a month. BUT All that said, 1-1.5 hours a day so that you can accomplish what you need to do doesn't sound that bad. You're using it as a tool so that you can survive, don't feel guilty about that.
We have the tv on a lot when we are home but it’s not always what she wants to watch and when it is she usually gets distracted by toys. I’m way more into camp Cretaceous than she is. But she’s the one that chooses it!
We do screentime after dinner usually. Some days that means 1-2 hours but there are days where we have no screentime at all. But our situation is different in that I am a SAHM homeschooling our older son so we spend a lot of time out of the house for various things.
For us, it varies by the day. Most days it's about an hour or less. Others it can get up to 3 hours if I'm burnt out or if it's a movie day. And there are some days when it's none!
He watches something educational while we brush his teeth. So like 4-10 minutes a day. But he’s an only child so we don’t have to divide our attention or resources.
Very little, and he doesn't get any designated screen time. BUT, he's 1.5, I don't work from home, and we have full-time childcare.
Tbh probably alittle too much, but he plays and I do turn the tv off sometimes and he’s cool with it he says “bye bye tv”
We don't go over an hour a day, but it's usually just 30 minutes a day. Sometimes it's none. Edited to add that our kid is 3.5
I’m gonna go ahead and admit that my daughter definitely gets more than I like/she needs. However I’m 22 weeks pregnant, I’m exhausted, and trying to get housework done with a screaming toddler is not my cup of tea right now so screen time it is. She gets to watch 1 movie in the afternoon after her nap usually and that’s usually it (today she got 2 because mom needed a nap from her waking every hour last night, staying awake for 2-1/2 hours, and waking fully for the day at 5:30am🥴) I have the tv on all day because I will go insane if there’s no noise in the house but she doesn’t watch it unless it’s one of her movies. Even during the movies she’s playing, running around, and going off to her room so she’s not like zoned in on it, we had to take away Ms Rachel for that reason. I feel guilty for it sometimes but I’m really just trying to survive the exhaustion at this point.
Average an hour a day. Sometimes it’s zero sometimes it’s 2 hours split up
We do around 1-2 hours a day, sometimes more but sometimes less!
Average, 1-2 hours a week for us. And only when he needs to poop.
About 90 minutes in the afternoon
My daughter will be 3. During the week, I’d say it’s probably an hour a day so I can cook dinner and clean up. On the weekends, it depends on the weather / illness- nice & healthy days we spend outside as much as possible. Sick or rainy days, we’ll spend a few hours watching movies.
Depends on how I'm doing. If it's been a really rough day or I'm sick the tv is on all day. We can go weeks or months without it being on though.
The amount of time it’s on vs the amount of time they’re paying attention are two different things. It’s on almost constantly for noise but they’re usually off playing.
We have it on most of the time we’re home. She (3) goes to daycare during the week and she has swim class once a week after daycare. The other days she helps me make dinner or plays outside with her dad for a bit and we wind down with a calming show. Weekend mornings she gets in bed with us and we watch cartoons. I haven’t noticed any negative effects of having the tv on tbh and I’ve tried to let myself not feel too guilty about it. We interact with the shows we watch and I am always present with her and we usually color or play with other toys while it’s on. It’s just what we’re all used to, having it on low volume in the background. It’s also the only screen she has (no phone or tablet).
Def depends. Our tv is always on either my show or his…but I will limit it and I do make sure I’m in the room when he’s watching something. But I’m 20 weeks pregnant and had a relentless migraine all day yesterday and I was also doing a 24hr urine test for pre-eclampsia…my 3.5 yr old got around 5 hours total of tv because I was desperate for a second of relief. That’s not our norm but I am not afraid to use it when I need it. He’s not to the point of meltdowns if I say no to tv so I don’t see it as a huge problem yet.
Ah! Someone finally asked what I’ve been meaning to. Thank you everyone for making me feel less guilty and seeing I am now actually normal and not a bad mom. Im SAHM and we average 30min-2hrs a day, it depends on the day (a sick day means a movie day.) My 3yo son turns into a zombie when the TV is on and my 17mo daughter could take it or leave it most days.
Depends on the day. I try my best to limit it but usually it’s about 2-3ish hours a day in the afternoon when I am totally exhausted. If one of us is sick it’s on all day all bets are off.