No TV for children?

strawberrypud

Does anyone manage to not let their children watch any tv? My 3 year old is much better behaved when she hasn't watched any telly during the day so I always resolve that she will only get a very small amount of telly but it always creeps back into our lives so I can get a bit of cleaning done or make/take a phonecall or see to the baby etc

Surfbabe

my children didn;t have access to a tv at home until they were 11 and 9 respectively - we didn;t have one in the house - they were allowed to watch it if they were at friends or relatives but soon got bored and went and played !!!

southoftheriver

I didn't have a tv at home between the ages of 4-14. I resented it sometimes (its the one thing every child has regardless of finances), but my reading age was always very high and I was good at being creative. If you don't want her to watch it but still want it for you it is more difficult, maybe use an egg timer or set it for specific programmes only?

bylromarha

I wouldn't say any TV. Mine are 22 months apart and when both at home before they started school the TV went on about once a week for about 30 mins on a programme I knew they'd both enjoy.

We're not really a TV family, so only natural that the kids don't watch it much.

ellay864

We had tv, with Sky, and I confess that I can watch quite a bit. But the kids were restricted to short spells and I usually managed to persuade them to watch at times that better suited me, either while I wanted to get a short job done, or when we could watch together. It isn't always easy but I hated the idea of telly being a babysitter and I certainly never wanted to be like friends who just left the tv on all day. As they got a bit older they tended to want more and also started liking things I wasn't so keen on - nothing really bad, but Postman Pat got replaced by Pokemon! I tended to say they had 30 mins of something like that, or they could watch a Disney film which is obviously longer but I felt a bit more suitable. If you get them in the habit of it they just get used to it

sassy_one

I think that a little of something in a child's life is part of growing up, just like they need to learn and having access, that said in small amounts, to a television may help them with growing up and understanding life.

Also, there are lots of cartoons and programs on CBBC for children to which can help them with speech etc, I would not cut your child completely clean from TV.

Plans_all_plans

I cant stand the idea of young children watching the TV for long periods of time. I think it is shoddy and lazy parenting personally. Our daughter never saw anything at all on TV until she was 3. She is now nearly 4 and I will let her watch the odd bit of football if my husband has it on and very occasionally she will get to watch snippets of Disney films. She gets bored of this easily though and goes off to play. I think not introducing it in the first place is the best policy or perhaps use it as a treat rather than a way of you being able to get stuff done.

I think there is far too much for young children to be learning/exploring to be watching TV.

Becles

I think it depends on how much you introduce them to TV. All three of mine are not that interested in it but we only put the TV on if there is something specific we want to watch.

skintchick

I record certain programmes and put them on when I really need to get something done as she is very clingy. I also watch things with her when she is tired and cannot be amused by anything else, until Daddy comes home to take over while I cook.

I think it's OK in small, supervised doses.

babyboysmommy

Our sky box broke & we didn't get a replacement for 6 weeks, this left us with no TV as we have no areal. DS age 4 never did watch much TV, at most 30 mins a day. None of us missed the TV & he now watches even less & can go weeks without watching anything although I sky+ Mr Maker for him so it's there is he wants it. I realised I'd rather be doing other things so never have it on during the day anymore. DH does watch some in the evenings but it's recorded so he's only watching what genuinely interests him rather than having it on just for the sake of it.

I'd much rather DS was playing than watching TV.

Penelope_Penguin

skintchick wrote: »

I record certain programmes and put them on when I really need to get something done

That's what I did for mine DD was in full time school before she realised that there is live TV, and it wasn't all recorded :rotfl:

I recorded things that they liked, and we watched them together. That way they could interact, ask questions, and I'd be able to try and answer them (in the days before we had Google ).

It has never been rationed, but I made sure there were lots of things they could do, so they weren't too bothered, and preferred playing or crafts.

How much TV does your daughter watch, OP?