How much tv does your three year old watch a day?

[madamegazelleslover]

Just curious to know what others do. We have ongoing talks about tv here and how much DS should be able to watch a day.

[BabysNewName]

DS is two. The answer is loads. But DD is not yet 6mo and I'm fried with sleep deprivation. I'm sure we'll get back to something more appropriate once she learns to sleep a bit better.

[Sleepyfergus]

I think mine (dd1 is 4 and dd2 is 19mths) watch more than the recommended amount, whatever that is. But I'm fairly relaxed as most of what they watch is cbeebies and has a 'hidden' educational/moral agenda. Such as Numberjacks, Time For School, Katie Morag, Mister Maker, Numtums etc.

We play plenty of games, draw lots, go for walks/park, swim etc as well so it's not as if watching tv is all they do. But with the rubbish weather recent in particular, if you added up airtime, it prob is excessive. We are admittedly bad at having it on in the background though which isn't necessary.

[FadBook]

Dd (2.5) watches maybe 1-2 Abney and Teal episodes each day (so, 25 min) Normally nothing during working week but a bit more on a weekend.

I've only got one tv in the house and only one child. If the tv is on, DP and I have what we want on; that's always been our rules so dd doesn't know any different and doesn't demand tv. She got to a point of demanding peppa because mil let her watch hours of it. I just say no, she has peppa toys to play with. She loves peppa but it drives me nuts. I can tolerate Abney and Teal as its quite calm and the lead characters aren't brats like peppa

[OrangeMochaFrappucino]

This weekend, 29 weeks pregnant me stricken down with some kind of horrible virus , had sole charge of our 3yo as dh was at work. So he watched tv for pretty much two days straight. That was exceptional circumstances though! I think in general he watches more than is average on MN though as I never time it. He has a wide variety of toys and books and we play with him and read to him a lot, plus he is great at independent play and he instigates tons of imaginary play. The tv was on a lot this weekend but he still spent a good chunk of time doing his jigsaws and playing cars etc...the tv is something I periodically worry about but then can't see much harm in. I'm glad the baby is due in spring though so we can get out in the garden more where we will all take a screen break (no Wi-fi in my garden so I can't MN!).

[NightCircus]

A lot.

DS 3 does 3 full days at preschool.
We visit places every weekend (usually both days)
He has a play date most weeks on one of our 2 days at home.
We do lots of baking and craft (bake every few days, messy craft such as painting approx weekly)
He has bedtime stories daily.

On his 'down time' he mainly does a mix of watching tv, construction toys and pretend play being a mechanic/on a safari at the moment.

So on pre school days about 2 hours
At the weekend maybe 3 hours
On days off maybe 3 hours

We both need this chill time (also have 14 month old who still wakes 3 times a night but even if didn't would be the same)

[Flowerpup]

It's on for an hour in the morning and then off all day then gets put on at around tea time until bed! Probably still too much but our routine! He's 3 and loves tv!

[elsiewoo]

Definitely too much, but he gets up at 5.30 and it's the only way we can get through the first couple of hours of the day. Plus I have an 8 week old so tv is invaluable at the moment.

[justtoomessy]

Mine loads really and more than the recommended amount anyway particularly when he's at my mum's. He's 4 and at pre-school and excelling despite all the TV watching

[gourd]

None at all at home, and never has. She is 3 years old. Dont know how much at CMs. She is there 4 days a week and think TV is on (not necessarily watched) between 4-5pm as it is on when we collect her between those times. Before that though they do nursery/school collection and eat an afternoon snack in the kitchen so doubt it goes on much before 4 and we are usually there between 4:40 and 5:10. I dont think they watch it in the mornings though (it is not on when we drop her off) as most of the kids will need to eat breakfast there before the nursery/school run and after that there are only two at CMs inc. my daughter and they are busy with activities, play sessions etc till the older ones get picked up from school again.

[gourd]

If she is watching it 4:00-4:40 or 5:10 that's about the same as me, as I watch 30 to 60 mins most nights after she is in bed. Scary. It seems a lot to me, but what can you do - the older kids want it on so little ones dont get much choice. At least she is very rarely actually sitting watching it when we collect her, but is usually busy doing something instead!

[LapinDeBois]

I have two DC, aged 3 and 6. On week days, they have 5-20 mins in the morning before school run (depending on when they finish their breakfast!), then 40 mins before bed. Friday afternoons an additional hour after school, because they're both knackered by then. Weekends vary a lot, depending on what we're up to. They often have an hour in the mornings before we all get up, then the usual 40 mins at bedtime. But if it's miserable weather and we're not doing much, they might have a film one afternoon (then usually less at bedtime). It's quite a lot, but it does incorporate all screen time - these days they often spend more time on iphone/ipad/pc than they do actually watching TV.

[Everysilverlining]

20-30 mins in the morning, 20-30 mins most evenings Monday - Friday then perhaps 2-3hours saturday and Sunday. But DS is disabled and can't walk so running aorund is not an option for him

[matana]

Too much. I console myself with hoping that this weather cannot possibly last all year and that ds's tv intake will drop massively in the summer. We barely watch it ourselves in the summer. But I do feel like a bad parent at the moment! But there is only so much ballpark/ swimming you can do at weekends and on weekday evenings ds is cream crackered from the cm/ nursery.

[notadoctor]

My DD is a bit younger (2.5). I'd say on average she watches 1-2hrs a day at the weekends (a film usually) and 30mins a day in the week. She'll basically only watch Charlie and Lola so any more than that and I start to go a bit insane!