How much tv does your toddler get? I feel so guilty

Question

I feel so incredibly guilty. She loves Winnie the Pooh, Frozen, and Daniel Tiger. She will beg and plead for Pooh Bear. I’ll hold out for as long as I can and giver her toys or interact with her. But almost every day she will watch one movie sometimes two movies. I feel like a crappy parent because when she’s watching a movie I get the cleaning done or I’m making lunch/dinner. I just worry that I’m ignoring her and how that’s going to effect her development. She still plays with toys and I let her explore outside. I don’t have moms friends so I don’t know what other toddlers are doing. Any advise is appreciated.

Answer

Being honest our TV is usually always on whether we are watching or not usually sports center or just music. But actually have him watching it prob only 1 hr a day on the morning when he wakes up.

Answer

Don't feel guilty. Yes in a perfect world they wouldn't watch any tv and would spend all day doing educational activities but that's not reality for most. My daughter spends about an hour each day watching TV. Like this morning she woke up at 5 and wouldn't go back down so I let her watch from our bed while we get a little more sleep in. 
I feel as long as they also spend time every day doing activities that are beneficial for their development a little screen time isn't doing harm. It's all about balance and moderation. I mean I watched so much tv as a kid looking back and I still managed to finish college and get a decent job lol it's ok 💕

Answer

Both my husband and I are working from home right now still. So my daughter is watching more than I would like probably 2-3 hours a day total. But it’s literally the only thing that will keep her occupied when I have work calls. 😩 I turn it off as much as I can.. working from home with a toddler is extremely tough when both parents work... I have tried so many activities for her but they only work for maybe 5 minutes. I would love any advice also. She will play very well with her toys if someone is playing with her.. she won’t just go play by herself for more than a few minutes.

Answer

He didn’t watch any for a long time but since he was around 14 months he watches less than an hour over a full week. 15 minutes here and there when he’s really cranky and I need to do something like make dinner. I try to encourage him to play independently when I need to get stuff done or have him ‘help’ me- he usually stands in his learning tower and does play doh or ‘mixing’ with bowls, etc. while I’m cooking dinner. If I’m folding laundry I’ll get him to pass me each item to fold. I find if I do let him watch tv he’s more likely to ask for it so I try to avoid it where possible- then he forgets about it!

Answer

I have a very hyper little guy who keeps me on my toes constantly. Sometimes TV is the only thing that distracts him so he will sit still and I can get chores done. But often that doesnt even work. He watches more TV than I ever intended him too, thats for sure. I try to let him watch educational stuff. He loves Elmo, nursery song cartoons (Lil Baby Bum, Simply Songs), Baby Einstein and anything with Cars. Im not even a big TV person myself. I just try to give him lots of non-tv play time. Its hard right now with the stay at home situation when we tend to be home more.

Answer

So we did better with our firsts. Tv would be on but not kid stuff, they paid no attention to it even if it was kid stuff til about 2ish. But now it’s on for them(almost 5) for their bedtime shows or if I need to clean. So they get 40min(bedtime shows) to 3 hrs somedays maybe even more on really lazy days. So our 20 month old sometimes watches what they want to at night still doesn’t pay attention a whole lot. But what he does watch which drives me crazy is tic toc with daddy. For some reason that fascinates him and he will just sit on daddy’s lap and laugh and laugh with him. Since I’ve been pregnant I have used it as crutch more and more. So my goal is tv doesn’t even get turned on til nap time which is 1. 4 yr olds watch leap frog while I put the 20 month old down for nap. Then it goes off when he wakes up. When daddy gets home free for all. Depending if it’s to hot we normally go back outside after nap

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I only allow my daughter about 20-30 mins max a day. You could try and get them to help you with chores. My daughter has a mini vacuum. My daughter loves books and has recently started to like drawing. Just try and do counting exercises or colour exercises with what you have available.

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We watch about an hour in the morning while she drinks milk and we cuddle, then she starts playing with toys and we shut it off and continue on our day. Occasionally we will watch again for a bit in the afternoon. I try not to in the vehicle either, we don’t have an iPad or anything for her.

Answer

Mine almost has no screen time for the first two years, as studies show it decreases iq in adulthood. Try to decrease it if you can. The sooner you start the better. So many women try breastfeeding and pumping and make so much effort, none of that has long term effects, but TV does!

How much tv does your toddler get? I feel so guilty

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