I am now doing something I said that I wouldn't do... I am turning on the TV so I can get some things done around the house.  By turning on the TV I know that I am buying myself 20-30 minutes of my daughter being completely locked in to that screen.  And that is a beautiful thing. But I have also noticed that AJ is starting to REALLY like watching TV.  She would watch it for hours if she could.  Which got me thinking... how much is too much TV for a young child?

I put this topic to the listeners and here is what they said:

Joshua:  Kids should be more active, but I don't see why there should be a time limit on how much they watch.

Joseph:  5 hours max. depending on before and after school

Brittany:  I let my son watch very little,maybe 2 hours for the week.

Angela:  If its educational we let her watch it she loves little bear and that's the only show she will sing and dance too I feel thats the show she has learned the most from

Sendrie: Depends on you, its a good distraction while ur cooking and cleaning but not 10 hours a day.... discretion is key :-)

Moriah:  my parents had me on a two hour limit per day when I was younger. But it sort of didn't have much standing for longer than a month lol. I don't really like watching tv too much anyway.

Bonnie: I restricted TV to watching Disney movies and other educational videos when growing up.. Also some kid shows.. but not all the time.. Just for a few hours a day.. Then we played, read and did arts and crafts... Have to keep their minds working and developing...

Candice: My 6 year watches between 1-2 hours a day. She knows if she chooses a movie it means no tv or vice versa for the day as well. That's it. She listens to music in her room and does lots of other things while doing it- like play Barbies, color or read.

Teresa:  If he is done with hw and chores he gets 1 hr of either TV or computer. Some people think its harsh but I smile and tell them my son also makes straight A's and is in honors classes :)

Stephanie:  My son is 3 and he watches some tv however he only likes a few shows so i dont have to really pull him away from tv. thank god.. he would rather be outside playing than watch tv.

Barbie: I wish my child would just sit down and watch tv for atleast 30mins lol he is so active tv is not an option unless basketball/foortball is on and he is only 3 lol

Kimberly:  Depending what day of the week but I don't limit them. We play games inside and out. Reading is best and then tv time is usually 1 maybe2 hrs

Angela: Theres never enough tv... Don't kill the babysitter.. Lmao.. J/K

Karissa: My daughter is almost 3 months old and we really dont care. I know she is young but she still likes it. We take her outside everyday to teach her its ok and fun to be outside has well. When she is done with the t.v she will let you know. Half of it is learning and the other half is something fun to watch. When she gets older it will be the same. Once homework is done and chores and once she is done outside she can watch till her bedtime. I really dont think there is a thing has too much. I was allowed to watch t.v when ever i wanted to and truth be told i get bored and like to do other things more. Im going to do what my mother did with me and hope that it comes out well =)

Anna: I'm a nanny and the kids I keep are usually only allowed one movie or tv show a day. If its classical baby or Mickey mouse club house, I let them watch two episodes (if they want to) because the shows are only 30minutes.

Angie:  I noticed a huge difference in behavior and attention when my kids would watch tv. Now they earn their tv time during the week and watch on the weekends only 4 hours a day. Sounds kinda harsh but it works for our family. Both my kids are under age 8 though... Lol

Lauren: My little one is almost three and she gets about 2 hours of HER Tv through out the day. She only really likes 3 shows and luckily they arn't on back to back. So when i notice they are on and i need to get some school work done i put it on but no longer than an hour in one sitting.

Rose Carroll Pittman my kids watch tv and play video games all the time..i limit video games to 1 hr a day but tv, as long as its educatonal is ok whenever..thats just my opinion and btw all three of my.kids are the smarties in their classes and the are not over weight ;)

Jenny:  I let my daughter watch as much as she wants. The shows she watches r educational, and are not harming her development in any way, in fact she has learned so much thru her shows (and me as well). And my child is not overwieght and is very smart for her age. So before i get any crap remember im her mother, ill decide whats best for her

Nickky: Lol my life has turned into a BUBBLE GUPPIES that's all my 11 month old watches... She loved TV from 6 months we just don't let her get too close to the tv I say moderation two shows in the morning and activity's during the day and evening two more shows :)

Michele:  My daughter is 9. I don't set a limit on TV time, there are just certain things that have to be done first. She has ADHD so it's hard to keep her on task in the mornings. So I DVR Captain Planet for her (that's what she always wants to watch in the morning.) and when she is done getting ready she can watch some of it. Depending on how quickly she gets ready she knows she will be able to watch more. So it motivates her. Same thing in the evening. HW has to be done, dinner eaten, shower and jammies before she either watches her shows til bedtime or we watch a movie together. Most of the time she plays outside after HW and before dinner. On the weekends she can pretty much watch whenever, she's usually in and out a lot, but we like to watch movies together on the weekends. It works for us!

Meridith: Jana, my children earn their tv time. They earn it with various "above and beyond" chores (we do household chores to have a clean house. Dishes, clean up after ourselves, dust.) But offering to do someone else's chores as well as your own, carrying in and putting away the groceries for me, playing outside- all go towards TV time. (TV time includes Wii time)
That works out well for us. They get in about an hour a day, sometimes two hours. I'm okay with that. They're 7 and 13. Before age 5, it was half an hour (so I could shower! lol) There after it's earned.
We always do our chores and homework first. Then we do any activities that they have like Scouts, karate, sports etc. TV time is only if you can work it in after all of that stuff, but before bedtime. No tv half an hour prior to bedtime.

Christa: Depends on the shows. Nick Jr on bright house ch 134 pretty much got my baby ready for school. She new and understood so much that at age 2 they let her start preschool and it increased her vocabulary. We also did my baby can read and that program was incredible, it really does work but I think it will confuse them in school.

Megan: My kids only watch educational shows... Disney and Nick Jr have done wonders for them. My son, when he was 2, knew his shapes, colors, alphabet, could count to 20 and numerous other things. My daughter, who was starting pre k, didn't know as much because I was much stricter with TV when she was younger. If kids are interested they will learn. I think if its educational there shouldn't be a problem with it. The characters on the shows get the kids to yell out answers to their problems, help the characters count and the characters get them up and jumping... Which is excellent for days like this one. My 5 month old can't keep her eyes off of the TV either. Although I think it helps with their learning I don't think they should be in front of it all day.21 hours ago via mobile · LikeUnlike.Monica Cruz Tv time is earned during the week by completing her chores, being responsible in school, etc. Tv is only allowed during the weekend. You'd be surprised how much a kid's focus and attention span improve when you decrease the amount of tv they watch.