DVD Watching Guidelines-2 Year Old

My DD (23 mos) is allowed one episode of Dora per day--about 20 minutes (she could watch something else, instead, but she always picks Dora). Some days she doesn't watch any, depending upon what we're doing. But we don't have a TV in the living room--the only one is in my husband's office/den, at the back of the house, and my husband and I don't watch much (we actually don't have TV--no cable, no antenna--we only watch DVD's). So out of sight, out of mind, helps, plus she doesn't think of it as something that other people do and she doesn't--she pretty much NEVER sees me or DH watching TV, since we'll just watch an occasional movie after she goes to bed.

When I was a nanny with slightly older kids (4-8) the rule was no TV at all on school days, then movie night on Fridays, and no strict rule on Saturdays or Sundays, although we were usually too busy doing other things to watch much.

Our son is now almost 4 and we do "movie night" on Friday nights (if I remember & if we don't have something else going on). For that we watch one kid movie, i.e. a Veggie Tales movie, Diego movie, some Pixar ones. As far as tv goes for the most part it is 1 or maybe 2 shows a week on Noggin. The shows are about 20 minutes long and Noggin has no commercials. We are pretty strict about tv (compared to a lot of our friends), the childhood obesity rate is on the rise & in my opinion children get so much more from playing than they ever will from tv. I do admit though that if it has been a crazy day or if my son is sick & I'm trying to keep him in one spot then I'll let him watch more. I think you are on the right track though in limiting the amount of tv time. Go with what you think is best & many blessings to you!

I think what ever you feel is best for your son at this age. My son watches about 1/2 hour of PBS or Sprout - Curious George and Clifford are both favorites. (Each little episode is about 13 minutes.) Then I get a shower in the morning and it generally keeps him out of trouble so he's watching every day but not for long.

Uh, well, I don't think you would do this but as one person responded that their tv is on all day and the kids either watch or don't... that is a very bad idea. It is distracting from real play, it give advertisers constant access to your children, and it allows inappropriate commercials to pop up when you may or may not be paying attention. Just my 2 cents there on that.

As for TV, if you child doesn't want more than 10-15 minutes a day, don't push it. If he/she does, then maybe do 10-15 minutes, then say, "If we read this book together, we can watch another 15 minutes." or "If we go outside and exercise our bodies, maybe we can watch tv again for a little while". I mean, their attention span is so short anyway.

But, just if you say no, please don't cave. And don't make a compromise, like, "okay, no tv but you can play a video game." Not that a 2-year-old could do that, but some computer games ARE for toddlers. Just sayin'.

I agree it is really what you feel is best. My daughter watches more tv in winter than in the summer. She my watch about 2 hrs during the summer just because she would rather play outsider on her swingset, bounce house, jeep. I think having things to do outside to keep them busy will helpp. Good luck

We've never restricted TV watching in our family. Believe it or not, despite the television being available any time they want, my girls don't sit infront of it like zombies. :) They still play, use their imaginations, go outside. Infact, sometimes the TV is on all day & they may watch for a moment as they walk past, then go on. Sometimes they'll watch a show the whole way through, especially if it is something to do with dinosaurs, but mostly they play. As I type, the TV is on and tuned to Noggin, but nobody is paying attention to it; my husband and oldest girls are playing a board game they made up. I guess I should go turn it off, but I'm relishing my own quiet time right now & don't really want to go in there. :)

I think that not restricting TV makes it not important to the kids. If it's treated as a special, awesome, super fantastic thing that is to be portioned out at special times, it can become too important. Make sense?

I'll leave a link that I've found very helpful & insightful, in lots of aspects of parenting.

http://www.joyfullyrejoycing.com/influencing%20kid%20beha...

There is more on the subject of television; the links will be on the left of that page toward the bottom.