TV - How much do you let them watch?

Okay, I am curious how much TV/DVD's we all let our kids watch. I have 15 month old girl/girl twins and over the past month or so we've started watching DVD's more...particularly because they have this amazing effect to settle any fights that were occurring or any ailment that was making them unhappy and a sudden and very enjoyable calm comes over the house...

Mind you, we live in a climate that is winter 5 month of the year and with the exception of 3 days this past month, we’ve been in the house or indoors since November and the weather man says to expect winter like conditions for the next 10 days…

I personally use about 2-3 baby Einstein DVD’s per day, depending on how much we are out of the house. We usually do one after breakfast while I get the house and myself tidied up and sometimes we use one right before lunch if they girls are cranky or we didn’t get out of the house….then there is a possibility that we’ll play one in the afternoon (again depending on if we are our or at home).

Just curious to know what other’s are doing. I use them more like activities and to break up the day…

 

My kids watch two videos a day usually - one in the mid-morning to break up the long morning (they are only taking one nap at 1pm now, so from 7am to 1pm is a long stretch even with two meals). The other is usually in the late afternoon/suppertime, which gives me a chance to get supper ready, etc. Most of the videos are 30-45 minutes, so they are watching about 1-1.5 hours a day. I will admit, though, that some days when they are really fussy, we will throw on something extra in the evening between supper and bath. They watch Barney (DVD's or recorded off of PBS), Elmo, and Sesame Street. They used to like Baby Einstein, but it doesn't keep their attention much anymore.

DH is a teacher, so once the weather warms up and he is off, I think they will watch less TV because we will be going to the park, etc.

 

Hmm... my phone won't let me vote.

My girls have short attention spans, but they seem to like parts of Sesame Street, Yo Gabba Gabba and HBO's Classical Baby series when I get them to sit still. I'm jealous of moms who can pop in a video and get things done. L&D will watch 5 minutes and then want to do something else. Haha.

 

We don't have a limit for the twins because right now they have no interest in tv. The oldest gets 1/2 hr to 1 hour of tv because on weeknights that is all there is time for. On weekends, he gets a movie during nap time so I get a break so that ups it to 2 hours total on weekends.

 

The way our house is set up, the TV is not accessible from where they usually play. It is a split level and the family room is downstairs from the rest of the house. The kitchen is open to that room so they usually get a little TV after breakfast while I am cleaning up, a little after lunch if they are too wound up to nap, and we usually let them watch with their nighttime snack. It probably adds up to about 45-60 min. They watch sesame street, wonder pets, caillou and sometimes yo gabba gabba

 

When my kids were 1, we usually kept the TV on Nick Jr or PBS (we still do). It's hard to say how much they watched because some days we didn't have it on at all and other days we did. I would say maybe an hour a day.

 

My girls have just recently become interested in TV after months of me trying to get them to like it . They will now sit and watch something for 10-15 min so I am taking full advantage, lol.

How much they watch really depends on the day, the weather, their mood, my mood, what needs to be done around the house...etc. I try not to let it get out of hand but it probably adds up to roughly an hour to an hour and a half a day. Weekends are a lot less as my husband is home and we try to get out. My older one would sit and watch all day long if I let him so I try to limit it for his sake. It's all French cartoons (TFO in Ontario) so I figure it's educational as their father (who's the French speaking parent) isn't the one who's home with them .

 

Our twins watch about 30 mins maybe once a week, and it's either a Baby Einstein video or part of Fantasia or Fantasia 2000 which we just bought. They love music and the visuals, but honestly they still roam around while they watch most of the time. We are very careful to occupy them with other things and to not use t.v. as a babysitter or distraction too often.

 

Our tv stays on kid shows all day until after supper. I voted 2.5 hrs a day but really they don't watch that much, they are constantly playing as well. But it stays on pbs or disney junior (formerly playhouse disney), they do love dora and diego, mickey mouse clubhouse, imagination movers...those kind of shows.

 

We watch Nick Jr in the morning until Mommy wakes up and then I will leave it on something more "grown up" just to hear another adults voice since I'm a SAHM. The only shows they really sit down to watch are Yo Gabba Gabba and The Fresh Beat Band. We watch the "Your baby can read" DVDs too but they much rather prefer to play than watch t.v.

 

My oldest is 3, and he watched quite a bit, more then I would like, but this has been a COLD winter and so we didnt get out as much as I would have liked. The twins are only 15.5 months, so they have NO interest in it at all. When Donevan does watch TV, it is mosty Treehouse, which is mostly educational.

 

My LOs do not get to watch any TV. Actually, we never set up our TV again after moving a year ago - DH rarely misses it, I never watch TV anyway, and I do not want the children watching any TV at this stage.