My five yr old is addicted to TV. If he had his way he would watch all the cartoons for as long as he is home. I try to put my foot down but we always end up having terrible tantrum throwing sessions. How much TV is OK for him? I need my sanity,

I think the recommendation is not more than 1-2 hours per day of
combined tv and computer use for that age.

-F

Addicted is a strong word to use when referrencing a five year old. If your child is having a tantrum when unable to watch television, I would consider limiting all television. I would allow a specific amount of television to 30 minutes to 1 hour a day. If the child has a tantrum, he or she would lose the privilege for the day. On the positive side, I would introduce the child to alternatives to television watching such as playing outside, riding a bicycle, reading a book, or drawing a cartoon of his own.

As most people know I have 5 kids and they range from 2 months to 8 years old. And all of my kids never get more than 1 hour. Any other time we are outside playing games coloring , reading drawing and more . I would suggest outside activities .

I wouldn't suggest more than a couple hours total, but I'll be the first to admit, if I have something I need to get done, I put a movie on and the kids are entertained and not bugging me so I can't get anything done. We struggle with my daughter wanting to watch TV all the time too though. She gets "grounded" from TV.

He has his outdoor time, playing for around two hours with neighboring kids, then there is school too. However, whenever he has to eat food or drink milk he starts demanding TV. Earlier when he was small I used to read book to him while feeding him, but now that he is five (actually five and a half) I make him eat on his own. He hates eating or drinking milk and so needs some diversion. Talking or telling stories doesn't help either.

I see no problem with kids watching tv, as long as they don't sit there in front of it 24/7. What I use to do was give them about 1 1/2 hours in the morning and then I would have an activity planned for my kids. They always looked forward to the different activities I planned, so turning the tv off wasn't a big deal. Then again they would watch tv when they woke up from their naps. They were still groggy and just wanted to veg out a little.
I also let my kids watch tv before bed.
All of my kids are grown now and are very healthy and active in sports. I have seen no harm in letting them watch more than 2 hours of tv a day.

In addition, sometimes the tv helps when mom had something she needs to get done without having to worry about what the kids are getting into.

I think 2 hours sounds fair enough for a 5 years old kid. My cousin who watches tv almost 5hours a day plus playing video games at such young age now he's wearing such thick glasses. T_T I haven't even worn any eye glasses but he does when he's only 7.

Thanks you all, I guess it's OK to allow him around two hours of TV if he is active otherwise. Maybe I was getting paranoid

Momadiva It is ok to be worried about what is good for your kid and what is not . I woud not say that you were parinoid I would say that you were worred for his health there is a difference .

Thanks Kat,

Yes, I was worried more because he has made this connection between eating/milk and TV, which is absolutely unhealthy, as far as I see it. So these days I am suffering quite a lot of tantrum shows, but I have made it a point to have no TV at mealtimes. Sometimes the crying and shouting lasts for half an hour or even more, but I have decided not to give in; I hope he'll soon realize that it's no good.
Thanks for your encouraging words.

I would say no more than 2 or 3 hours. My 6yrs old girl has been told and been put in a habit of watching tv on certain times and for a limited amount of time, so she is ok with it.

@ momdiva - you say your son throws tantrums, well in that case i suggest you give him alternatives to watching tv, such as playing with friends, giving him his favorite food, play with him or do something which he likes, so he gets distracted from watching tv and gets busy in something else. Ofcourse its natural to be worried about your children.

On another note, Im glad to be on the forum to get great suggestions and advice from you guys, and im sure that how you feel momdiva!

No you are not paranoid ...
As long as he is watching age appropriate material its ok to allow 1-2 hours of tv , but i would say its better not to let him get into the habit of tv at mealtimes .. try to gradually wean him off the habit.

my best advice would be to gently wean your child to only watch TV when you need him to. Honestly TV can be your best friend. I allow TV when they first wake up and I need to get things going as well as a little in the afternoon because there is one or two shows she really likes (she is 6) I try not to allow TV watching when there are friends over as I feel it is a good time to let the kids focus on eachother and not the boob tube...

I also try to be careful about what she watches. Some shows I hate and consider terribly inappropriate like the old cartoons (Bugs bunny and that lot) they do not promote pro-social behaviour or anything....some of the new shows are better (Dora, etc)

if you have a girl with fussy hair that is a great way to keep her focused while getting a brushing or what have you...


anyway good luck!

Thanks for all the advice, but letting them watch when we need them to and stopping them when they want to... that doesn't sounds like a good idea to me.

My son will never 'tolerate' this. We have always treated him like an equal part of family (well, almost equal). And also, when I need my time alone, he readily obliges by turning to his drawings and dancing and toys. So it's basically the mealtime addiction and now I am slowly weaning him off it. I have allowed him half an hour of TV post meals, IF he finishes on time

Wow that sounds really great! Obviously every kid and family work different and it sounds like you have things on track for now which is good!

for my 2 year old, we limit her TV watching time to about 4 hours a day. an hour or two when she wakes up in the morning since most of the toddler shows are shown in the morning anyway. then in the afternoon when she wakes up after her nap, she can watch for about an hour or two again before dinner. this has been her routine, and i think she has gotten used to it already.

I know for my kids I allow them 2 hours a day and then the rest we are spending time as a family playing outside or playing games coloring or drawing . I let them watch the educational shows with some of the cartoons and that is it

I know that some parents are irritated with me because I monitor the amount of tv that my kids watch. But I remember that when I was growing up my parents thought that the tv was good enough to use and not really spend time with me .

So that is why I am so strict with my kids . Because I do not want them to grow up like that it was not fair for me and it is not fair for them

why would anyone get irritated by someone else monitoring
their own kids' tv watching times?

-F

Because alot of the friends and families that i know do not monitor how much their kids are in front of the tv. They think that it is ok to let them watch all that they want . And i do not think that that is not a healthy wise choice.
Do you Farce?

I totally agree with you, we only allow less than 1 hour of TV per day
for our kid.

my point was that your friends should mind their own business and not
tell you how much tv your kids watch.

-F

I so agree with you there but there are times that they think that they know better but then again anyone's friends would think that at one point and time that is natural

My mom was always really good at giving my brother about 2 hours of TV time a day, and only after they've done all their homework. A lot of the time too, she would make sure he had some friends over and played outside a while too, that way he's not just in front of the TV.

I think by staying with the guidelines you knew that you would get that each day and that is the good thing about it . What are some of the other things that everyone does with their kids that you yourself did as a child ?