How much tv do you allow your children to watch?

[Klou]

Hi

 

I am just wondering if anyone out there limits their children's tv watching?

 

I have a nearly four year old tv addict in residence. He plays better with the box on. It is his first request every morning and like others here from the posts I've read wants it on all day. He doesn't necessarily watch it.

 

There is a little part of me that thinks I shouldn't have the tv on all the time because it is 'bad' for him. You know all those media stories about numbing the imagination and ability to talk.

 

What do you think? How much tv do your children watch and are you worried about it?

[DaisyProudfoot]

Hi Klou,

 

My 5 kids have the TV on all the time (morning to evening) but most of the time they don't really watch it. One out of 5 may be watching it or even hubby and I if we get the chance! Many a time I have gone into the living room, no kids about and turned the TV off - few minutes later it's mysteriously back on again and still no one watching it.

 

I think it's just background noise really - as if the house isn't noisy enough! My kids have been like that all their lives but I don't think it's done them any harm.

 

The AS kid does sometimes get so glued to the TV that he won't leave until the programme's finished which can cause some problems but if I work it properly I can just say: "At the next break come away and get dressed" or whatever, "The programme will soon be back on and you won't miss any of it." Thank goodness for ad breaks!

 

Note: this only works when he is in a GOOD MOOD!!!

 

Only time I insist the TV gets turned off is when we're due to go out and then they have to turn it off 15 minutes before we go so we get out on time.

 

Daisy

[KarenT]

We only have the tv on at certain times of the day, and even then it's more of a reward than anything else. James prefers the computer and I don't allow too much of both in one day, so I balance the amount of time he spends goggling between the two.

 

I started off that way - dh and I weren't great tv watchers and still aren't (it only gets switched on in the evening, often not till J's in bed) and that's the way I continued when James was born. He's always preferred video anyway which makes it easier to manage - I reckon you've got more of an argument on your hands with a programme that's on NOW and you have to watch it NOW or you've missed your chance. Vid/DVD have a pause button which is a very effective tool!

 

Karen

x

[koala]

hi koala here if kieran could he would watch tv 24/7, when he wakes its tv on in my bedroom at 5am,then we go onto dvd and video phase after brekfast the tv has to be left on when he,s sitting at the dining table so he can listen to it rather than look at it,the obsessions with a certain dvd can be endless we sometimes have to watch the same dvd for days.i try and limit the tv but as with many children with as /asd its there best friend but what can you do take care koala

[Guest flutter]

she doesnt watch it all day

but seems to dip in and out

and it seems to help settle her

[Lesley]

My AS 4 year old will watch the same dvd for days too

 

Lx

[lil_me]

When we've been in over the holidays tbh the television has rarely had a break, they are not always watching it but its usually on in the background, but also on a different note a lot of my sons early speech came from watching television, as did several children I know on the spectrum, hence the American style of speech, and one I know of spoke in an American accent for many years. So I suppose its not all bad.

[LizK]

My nearly 4 year old would watch a lot of TV if I let him. I try to limit it to certain programmes I know he likes like Balamory and Something Special. He'll say he wants to watch others but wanders off and does something else. I make sure TV is off at meal times as he otherwise won't eat! He usually watches a DVD or video for half-an-hour in the afternoon if I'm flagging! Feel a bit bad using it as an electronic babysitter but some days with him can be full-on if he's demanding attention and doing his bored teenager impression

 

I try (often don't succeed !) to limit TV to 1-2 hours a day as I've got it in my head that it is 'bad' for him too! I think more so because he has a speech delay and TV is supposed to be linked. On a more practical level he suffers from sensory overload and the TV on when he is half doing something else is just an extra thing for him to process and I find his attention and concentration is better when it is off.

 

Lx

[nightingales]

If it's any comfort, my AS nine-yr-old hardly got any TV at all as a small child (he was our first, so we still had plenty of parenting theories left); the next child got quite a bit more, as C could put the video on for him by then; and the third got Digital -- bl*$dy CBeebies all day if I don't turn it off at the wall. Of the three, the youngest is the most socially adept, confident, articulate...

 

Yes, I try not to let them watch for hours on end, but I can't honestly say it seems to have affected their social skills -- unless the youngest sneakily watches programmes on How To Out-Argue Your Parents?

[CarerQuie]

I find that now some of mine are teens,it's the music channels on in my house.I think I preferred it when they watched cartoons and kids programmes.Ho hum.xx

[Klou]

We have had the tv on almost constantly for days. All our usual play/coffee friends are busy on holiday or spending time with their families. There is no one around so the tv is our entertainment at the moment.

 

I tried to watch the breakfast tv this morning and ds made silly noises and his usual repertoire of personal space invading tactics. We now have cbeebies on and he is playing constructively with some toys. Peace and relative quiet......

 

 

SO this week the tv will be on....a lot......

[sharron]

k has the tv on from 5 in the morning untill 7 at night but he doe's not watch it all the time it is just background noise it seems to calm him down having it on.

sharron

[MelowMeldrew]

Mine's a TV addict as well, but I don't think he actually takes in that much of it. What he does now, is put the subtitling on permanently on the SKY box, memorize what's on from dawn to dusk, then writes pages of it from memory inserting his own bits and pieces, ask him what was the program about you get a blank look ! His present pre-occupation is watching welsh language channels, because the S4C in the corner interests him for some reason, he takes little or no interest in anything for more than a minute and plays with the remote channel hopping 40 times a minute, driving us mad. His attention span seems to be very limited but switch it off he gets real mad !

 

He's an amazing memory for what's on 'though ! Most interest he takes is with cartoons which are repeated constantly on SKY and never apparently change which suits him. we've disconnected his bedroom TV at night or he would never ever sleep, nor our neighbours, as he set the volume to FULL and sleeps right through that, now he creeps downstairs at about 6 or 7 am and tries to turn the other TV on instead, so I've had to remove plugs to stop that too ! He seems to need less and less sleep these days while I need about 3 months worth to catch up

[elaine1]

I dont limit my kids watching, theyre in and out anyhow and probably only sit down to actually watch for a couple of hours at the most.