No TV for children?

bylromarha

strawberrypud wrote: »

But I love the no tv days the best. Makes me feel like a great mum lol :rotfl:

There are far more important things to qualify you as a good mum than how much TV your littlie watches.

You sound like a great mum to me - if you weren't, you wouldn't even ask questions such as this as you wouldn't care one way or the other.

fernliebee

I don't doubt that you can be a brilliant mum and let your children watch lot's of TV, the thing I struggle to understand is, if your child is watching loads of TV how can you fit in all the other interesting, exciting play opportunities. I literally find my days are crammed and I need a few more hours to fit in all my DD and I want to do. If I let her watch 2-3 hours of TV I know for a fact that she would be missing other activities which IMO are more fun for her and she can learn more from.

That said, amounts of screentime imo are transitional, so at times she watches more (as I said before since DD2 has been born her screentime has upped, but I am working on phasing this out a bit at the minute.) I must admit it does strike me as odd to be proud of the amount of TV your child watches. To me that is like bragging that your child eats chips and pizza for dinner every night!

kegg_2

I have never monitored my boys tv watching and they are now 13 and 14.
I dont believe in organising every minute of a childs "spare" time as i think in the long run it is not good for them. They need to learn to keep themselves entertained without an adult directing things. They also need to learn to make good choices and the only way they can do that is if you allow them even if you know at times they will make the wrong choice.
I also think that the forbidden fruit taste's the sweetest, so anything they are banned from doing they are going to want to do more.
My 14 year old watches more tv then my younger boy but then he is sen and rarely goes out and never on his own. My 13 year old hardly watches any tv and then it is limited to sport or family guy. We did enjoy watching idiot abroad together but that finished last week and i dont think there will be anything of interest to take its place.

pollypenny

TV can be great, but not if it is used as a child minder.

Definitely no TV in the bedroom - at any age.

RoxieW

I have an almost two year old who watches anything between nothing and two hours a day.

We are out 3/4 mornings a week either at playgroup, baby gym, baby cooking, library or a friends house. if we get back before he is due a nap then he can watch up to an hour of tv to wind down while i get on with some bits. He will normally just watch one programme though and have a toys out at the same time.

Then he has his nap, gets up and plays before we collect his brother from school. When we get back he doesnt normally have tv on but might have an hour of tv before story/bedtime. Depends on what we are doing.

Amara

My brother has two boys aged 11 and 8 and no TV in the house. Boys spend lots of time on computer though and when they visit grandparents you just can't take them of the TV. When my mum ask them what they want for birthdays/Chrismas answer is always the same :"TV, granma!"

[Deleted User]

We two love Milkshake and CBeebies plus "U" rated movies, but its in moderation to everything else. Some days its loads of TV depending on what i need to get done and or a rare occasion when its "poorly mummy who doesn't get sick pay". Today for example we haven't had it on at all, that would outweigh yesterday when i had to get housework and pc work done with two toddlers in two. Having exhausted their imaginative roleplaying (and I have to admit they are very good at that -did you know a shop can be built out of every single toy in our lounge), once the squabbling starts and i Do have a deadline to meet, I resorted to a toddler mutually agreed DVD that ensures they stayed put, didn't destroy any of my housework for at least 30 mins and were happy. My two actually follow a film now, they ask questions, don't fall asleep even when drowsy and want to know what happens next.

Ok I was taking advantage of babysitting services but despite my best efforts, my patience and other domestic/household/additional duties were struggling to keep up.

I do LOADS with my kids, they are B****Y lucky in how much of my time they get as I'm a SAHM, but there does come a time where they have to amuse themselves (most of the time they do this well and play beautifully) but when push comes to shove.... Its their comfort blankets and TV.

I remember watching TV as kids, it wasn't banned or taboo, Ivor the Engine anyone, Tony Hart and that plasticine figure for starters, Jamie and the Magic torch.

As with anything its moderation, I was a bookworm and still would be given half a chance, but I also like TV, cinema, FB and MSE!!!

Strawberry, don't feel bad, do what you feel it right for you at this moment in time, other people's lives aren't yours and you'll always get the "those who do and those who don't". I've felt bad at time for too much screen time, but sometimes its survival of the fitest and if you have days when its not on then that's balance. Your child(ren) your decision.

And it does get easier, you just don't realise it as the problem now gets replaced by a new one further down the line.

MadMonkey

We have more Tv's than Comet in this house

My kids have never been rationed on Tv time - the only thing "controlled" is what they watch - kids tv as oposed to Emmerdale or Corrie!

I have 3 of the small things and they have learnt a lot from TV - as have i with CBBC !!

Everything in moderation is the best way to raise tiddleypeeps - anything that is 'banned' becomes more desirable imo - my kids have friends who are banned from sweets, pop etc and when they come round here it is actually embarrassing watching them eat chocolate and they ask constantly for more !

Also once kids get to school age they tend to play games based on TV programmes (boys more so) and will really feel it if they dont know who Ben 10 is!

I "cram" our time with activities but they are also encouraged to entertain themseves at times - be this with toys, books or TV.

Over structuring kids lives can dent their imagination.

kindofagilr

My LO who is 8 months likes watching milkshake and love special agent oso, basically when he gets up in the morning I put milkshake on, give him his bottle, then he goes on the floor to play with all his toys and occasionally he will watch the tv for 5 mins (usually when the song comes on for whatever cartoon is playing, he loves songs) then he will go back to playing with his toys

I agree that they shouldnt spend all their time in front of the tv, but at the other end of the spectrum they need to be able to entertain themselves (playing with toys on the floor etc) otherwise how on earth am I supposed to get chores done when he is up from 6am to 6pm (by which time I am tired after playing with him all day lol)

Jewel_2

kegg wrote: »

I have never monitored my boys tv watching and they are now 13 and 14.
I dont believe in organising every minute of a childs "spare" time as i think in the long run it is not good for them. They need to learn to keep themselves entertained without an adult directing things. They also need to learn to make good choices and the only way they can do that is if you allow them even if you know at times they will make the wrong choice.
I also think that the forbidden fruit taste's the sweetest, so anything they are banned from doing they are going to want to do more.
My 14 year old watches more tv then my younger boy but then he is sen and rarely goes out and never on his own. My 13 year old hardly watches any tv and then it is limited to sport or family guy. We did enjoy watching idiot abroad together but that finished last week and i dont think there will be anything of interest to take its place.

It was good to read this because my DD is 12 and it's interesting to see how things change when your children get older, to the point where actually it doesn't really matter - and most of the things I instilled and was potty about when DD was little are totally irrelevant now.

There are some interesting things generally (not on this thread) about what is good and not good for small children, and how parents adapt to that way of thinking, whereas when they are older, it just becomes more and more irrelevant.

As far as TV is concerned, I don't monitor it either, never really did, and it certainly didn't affect the other "enjoyable" things we did as a family lol! And to be honest life gets more and more full as the kids get older, and they watch it when they're in, and don't when they're out, simples.

Its the same with food - I remember almost everything needing to be healthy when mine was a tot, yet now I have absolutely no control what she eats when she's out (obviously when she's in I do). I have no control over what books she picks out of the school library, what DVDs she watches when she goes on sleepovers, no idea what she says to people, and now we're getting to the limited control over what she wears!!

She's relatively sensible, and maybe that's got something to do with me, but in general terms, whether they watch too much TV when they're tiny is as relevant when they grow up as when they were out of nappies. It doesn't make you a better parent one way or the other, and it certainly doesn't mean you have a less exciting life as a child if you watch a little more telly!