How much screen time does your toddler actively watch?

Question

Not including time when the tv is just on in the background. My kid is glued to my iPad/phone and wants to watch Sesame Street all day or the really annoying videos of color beads forming eggs and then cracked open.

Answer

My son used to watch education shows that would teach him colors, numbers, and shapes. One day it autoplayed a show that just shows hands playing with Play-Doh and now he's obsessed. He watches more TV than I would like to admit but he was just sick for two weeks and I'm hoping with the weather getting nicer we can get outside more. He watches it when he first gets up, after lunch while I'm cleaning up, when we get home before dinner, and after bath time. 🙄

Answer

I read and researched that screens should be avoided until age 3. at one stage I was having fun showing my 2 year old fun songs on YouTube but after reading up on addiction and other negative effects, and also realising that she quickly wanted my phone all the time, I just felt that hiding it and doing all sorts of other activities that help her forget screens were better options. so I try to do that as far as possible.

Answer

A little bit here and there. Generally less than 30 minutes a day. His doctor actually recommended trying to let him watch TV when he eats because he is underweight and I can rarely get him to eat. I will do it around lunch if he didn't eat breakfast. That's pretty much it unless we go somewhere after 4 and I don't want him falling asleep in the car. If so, I let him play on a tablet in the car to keep him awake. But it is very rare we go anywhere when it is too late for him to take a nap. I do have to carefully monitor what he watches. He can't watch anything with violence, even cartoon hitting because he WILL walk over and mimic what he sees on me. I didn't realize what happened the first time. Then the second time, I realized he'd just seen a fight on a cartoon he was watching.

Answer

I have 3 kids a 9 year old Kayden who is 2 and a 5 month old . He’s at daycare All day til around 5 and tues-Thursday i bring him to cheer practice with me so were not home until about 8:30 so he might get 1hr of screen time while im bathing baby fixing dinner ect . More screen time
On the weekends im not concerned tho hopefully weather breaks soon so we can get outside every day

Answer

It depends on the day. If he’s in a good mood we’ll stick to just music for the day but when he’s sick/tired/grumpy I give in pretty quickly. It’s always the tv, we don’t have a tablet, and it’s always Sesame Street or handy manny 🙄🤷🏻‍♀️ I was a huge tv kid I’ve heard, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I know he gets more than he should but honestly he also gets more fresh air than most kids too, and I’m really not that concerned.

How much screen time does your toddler actively watch?

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