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You know, we lost power for 2 days and I just told me 3 year old remember? We lost power so no TV no iPad (not that the iPad isn't charger, haha) and she was totally fine! Can you just unplug it for a while so you can show them it's not working?

In your shoes, I'd honestly consider putting the TV away, if that was a remote option. Mostly to make it more difficult for me to give in when the whining got under my skin. I'd also prepare myself for a tough weekend/ week, knowing that it will be so worth it to cut the addiction. Remind yourself it's not your job to make them happy OR to entertain them, and that research shows letting kids be bored is good for them. I also notice that the more consistent I am with showing him I mean what I say, the less he tests me. The more I can get myself mentally prepared to not be triggered by the tantrum, the better it goes. That said, we haven't been through this particular challenge and do an average of 2ish hours of TV/week, so I'm just guessing what I would do in your shoes.

We put our only tv in storage for over a year. It was good! Kids adjusted easily. Honestly I was the one that wanted it back for watching in the evenings. When we did bring it back it was with Apple TV so there are very limited things they can watch. They hardly ever ask to watch and we know it’s guaranteed whininess after they do.

When we built our house last year we purposely didnt put a tv anywhere except our bedroom so it hopefully would never be a focus for our then 15 month old. That said, he certainly watches it, but we control when and how long because it's in our bedroom! He is on a Sing kick right now - probably gets 30 minutes before school and 30 minutes while we cook dinner! I think if you move your tv that would be a great first step! And then maybe you can re-introduce it after a few months. Good luck!

I could see going either direction, actually.

My initial reaction would be to cut it entirely, but I wonder if having to wait all week for it doesn't make them want it more?

I could see allowing one thirty minute show a day, plus a longer movie on Saturdays. Or I could see just getting rid of the TV.

Our tv was "broken" for about 10 months, starting when lo1 was about 2y7m. She just could NOT deal with it without having tantrums over the limits we set. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought--she quickly got over it. The hard part was making sure it was always off when she was around, like waiting until she was actually asleep at night.

Starting this past fall again, we announced that the tv was working for sports so that we could have it on for dh, but now that she understands slightly better the limits we've set we let her watch things occasionally on weekends or sick/snow days. It's tough though, she always wants more, and if we agree to a movie night, she whines until it;s time to start it. It hasn't gotten quite as bad as it used to be again, but we would cut it off again if we needed to

With my morning sickness, I was depending a lot on TV for my 2.5 y/o, but I feel myself coming out the other side. I think the key for TV (for me, at least) is balance. When I get home from work, pandora goes on because I need SOMETHING and then TV isn't turned on until after dinner. So the most DS will watch is 45 minutes a day before bed. I am cool with that. Weekends are more of a time to watch a movie and then be done.

@Corduroy: I personally wouldn’t remove it. That sounds like a huge ordeal. I’d definitely try the “broken” route first!

We just told them no for awhile and let them throw a fit. When it came back it was once a day at the same time every day and it's been that way now for months. The only exception is when they are sick or if we had some kind of huge outing and they're super super tired. But I think we've made that second exception less than five times in six months. And they are home a lot bc I'm only pt so it's a lot of time to pass no tv. They spend a lot of time outside in the yard! What tv does to destroy their moods it seems like outside time repairs.

And I realize I'm in the minority on this thread but I wouldn't remove it or say it's broken or lie. I would tell them that I don't think it's healthy and I would let them be upset if that's how they feel. My kids might ask me to get it fixed anyway if I said it was broken.

@2littlepumpkins: this.

We are not a no TV house, but my kids go through phases like this where they just get addicted. So I tell them (4.5 and 22 minths) that too much TV is affecting their behavior and sleep, so it’s time for a break. We will take as long of a break as necessary, usually a few days- but has been up to a few weeks. And then when it comes back we implement stricter rules about how much time is allowed.
DH and I are TV watchers and I solo parent most weeknights, so I don’t foresee ever getting rid of the TV permanently.

Honestly I believe that telling my oldest why we are taking it away helps her not be as whiny about it when it’s gone. If she asks, we go over the reasons and then she accepts it. After the first day, she really finds plenty of other things to do, we listen to a lot more music, and don’t find ourselves missing the TV so much.

Thank you so much for starting this conversation! I have similarly aged kiddos (4 1/2 and almost 3, plus a bonus 8 month old), and we're just emerging (or trying to) from a really bad stretch with TV. I think I was just too exhausted/ overwhelmed from the demands of a full time job + keeping up a big house + 3 very little kids that I just let TV become an increasingly bigger part of our everyday routine. A few weeks ago I just decided we needed to stop. While we haven't been perfect about it, I can definitely tell a big difference. One thing that has helped us are audiobooks - I bought a bunch of picture books that they either know already or we could get from the library and with synchronized images, so it was kind of like watching a show but actually a book (I'm working on a post with our favorites actually). That has really helped bridge the gap - my goal is to wean them off all devices soon but hey baby steps right?

We're TV-less. We do movie night once a week and he rarely gets to watch anything in between weekly movies. We've been doing movies more or less weekly since about 5.

That said, we weren't video-free between ages 2-5, and we definitely had to say no/detox from videos from time to time. Going cold turkey is really the best option.

We almost always have music playing. Sometimes audio books, but I mostly use those in the car.

I make a big deal out of getting new books from the library or in the mail, when I've bought new ones. I also make sure to have art supplies and some sort of "prompts" readily available. If you make something else exciting, it can blunt the impact of taking TV away.

For sick days we read or do audio books (the latter should work with the 5 year old, but maybe not as well with the 2.5 year old unless you do some prep work to introduce audio books).

Okay, I'm going to be in the extreme minority here, but this is based both on my kid and what I've seen from the tv-free households I know.

We watch TV. A lot. I have no shame about it and it's never been a problem. My kid doesn't typically zone out in front of the tv-- typically she'll be playing with her toys or coloring or painting or reading or climbing the couch or whatever her 3yo self wants to do. We usually have one of her shows on, but sometimes she wants to watch Wolf Blitzer or Anderson Cooper with me (not on heavy news days, though). We talk about what we watch if we're out in the world. See a lighthouse? It's just like the one on Paw Patrol and blahblahblah three hours of whether or not Zuma lives in that lighthouse. Washing our hands? We sing the "Bubble Scrubbies" song from Bubble Guppies and my kid tells.me all about germs and how she breathes with her lungs and how she has bones inside her and yadda yadda yadda. Point is, we treat it like any other toy in the house. Kid has access to it (meaning, I'll set up shows for her) and she'll either watch or get bored and move on.

In contrast, my niece (also 3) comes from a tv free household. She is a TV monster. Whines for it, cries for it, throws fits about it, obsesses and zones out when she is allowed to watch. I know a handful of other kids who are low TV and they're the same way. So, in my very limited experience, it seems that if by letting my kid watch TV if she wants, she doesn't view it as an exciting forbidden treat, making it so much easier to walk away from, ignore, and go without.

So...why not try the opposite end of the spectrum? Instead of saying absolutely no TV and making it forbidden fruit, treat it like the humdrum everyday boring experience it is. Yes, your kids will likely binge at first. But once they realize that you're not going to take it away, they'll likely get bored and go off to play and run and do everything else.

Just like dieting-- avoid the binge setbacks by allowing for moderation.

My son gets his iPad while I get ready, quite time in the afternoon, and for a few minutes for a game before bed.

He knows those are the only times so he do ant ask outside of those times. He also knows now that if he complains about it when I say it's time to put it down, he doesn't get it the next scheduled time. Having limits that don't bend seem to help. But lately I think I need to reduce the length of time he gets it for quiet time. I'm pregnant and exhausted and need a break but I'm trying to think of other things that keep him busy.

@Corduroy: we have a 3.5 year old and a 22 month old. I will say both kids around 2 had a stretch (going through it with DS2 now) where we had a lot of tantrums about TV. I think it’s just part of the developmental stage they are in about expressing preferences and trying to exert some control over their choices. With DS1 we just didn’t have TV at all for about a month. DS2 we are just setting limits for now.

For DS1 at 3.5, if we have to take TV away, we just tell him why. You’ve had enough today, or you’re not being a good listener right now, or we aren’t watching TV right now, we are doing something else.

For DS2, we just say the TV is all done and going night night and wave at the TV.

One thing that helps is we don’t have cable. We only have an Apple TV. And the shows the kids are exposed to have 6-12 minute episodes. They don’t really get movies or shows with long run times. Exception is on long trips. We pay attention and watch the shows with them most of the time and before we turn it on we will say okay we are watching ONE Peppa Pig for you and ONE Wiggles episode for DS2 and then we are ALL DONE okay? We get agreement and stick to it. After one episode is over we say okay now it’s one more and we are all done. Sure they fuss, but we say now it’s allll done. BYE TV! See you later!