TV Time-How Much Do You Let Your Child Watch at 2 Years Old?

This is a really tough topic. I also have a 2 year old. He is watching tv right now so I can write this. Tv time in my house is sometimes mis-used, in the morning and also during dinner time so I can get things done around the house. He loves backyardigans and also watches curious George, Super Why on pbs and some noggin shows. We are also buying him a v-tech smile tv system for learning games. Even though he does watch way too much tv, he is very creative and well behaved. So far in my family the tv's been used well, but I dont sugest letting them watch for hours all day. Its boring for one, and there are way better things to do like play outside. My husband and I also disagree on the tv issues, but I think we can both agree that we dont want our son to become a tv junkie. Good luck!

My daughter is 3 years now. She has been watching TV before & after daycare since birth. The thing is that I only allow her to watch educational shows (like Noggin channel 125). She doesn't watch tv at daycare, so I don't see anything wrong with allowing her to watch an hour of tv before daycare, and a few hours after daycare. She's 3 now, knows how to write her name & short words, speaks & understands 3 languages, knows basic math, etc.. So, I don't think tv is that bad, if it's educational. Good luck :-)

If it were me, I would make this not about TV time, but about daddy-daughter time. Children really need focused attention from their parents. Toddler girls that have a strong relationship with their father tend to be better behaved and do better in school.

So if it were me, I would say, "Honey, it's not really about TV, it's about what's NOT happening when the TV is on. She really needs some focused attention from you. How about this - if you can spend 30 minutes with the TV off, playing with her, reading to her, giving her daddy attention, then I won't bug you at all if you turn on the TV after that."

Any specialist will tell you ten miutes for every year of age and no more. But I let mine watch educational shows. I didn't really limit tv time much but they were more interested in playing with their toys than watching the tv. Big Bird is great, Barney, My Little Pony, Carebears were all shows the girls enjoyed. They are both honor students at USF now so I guess watching tv didn't hurt them one bit. I think you should be more concerned with what she watches more than how long she watches.

Its hard I have a total of three kids and I find myself doing it also just so I can make dinner. So I let it be tv time while I cook and at dinner and after it stays off during the week. When I my husband gives in for the rest of the night I let him deal with them, but its hard we bump heads alot, good luck.

S.,

I wish I had an answer for you. My daughter is 23 months (not in daycare yet).

I have had those in child education tell me they should not watch TV until they are 3 yrs old!!!

I think Daddy gives in too much with her too.

I at least try to limit her to 1-2 hrs per day.

But she ends up watching speed channel (sometimes races with daddy)- she will ask to watch vroom cars. Football, food channel, & Noggin (usually Blue's Clues & Jack's big music show. CNBC

With grandma (my Mom), animal planet is added to the list. (I have stressed no cop shows e.g. CSI, or Sci Fi channel)

I have disucssed the issue with other parents. The answer is always you do what you can do.