Hellobee Boards

At that age I think we did sing along videos that we would play music to and maybe occassional "help I need to make dinner distraction", but you have to do what works for you. That 20 minutes you get with your DH is a good investment into your relationship=way more important than worrying about it:)

Our daughter is almost 3 and we probably do 15-20 minutes of screen time 2-3 times/week. I've seen the research and know the data, so try to limit it best I can... but I fully acknowledge that it can be difficult to avoid altogether at times!

@jmarionsmith: You are so sweet! I wrote a blog post on responsible media viewing. Check it out, there are links :). I used to work with one of the pre-eminent researchers in the field.

I'm guilty of letting TV be a baby sitter. Mostly when I was on bed rest while pregnant or when he wakes up at 5am. I DVR a few shows so he only gets about 20 minutes a day. When I was pregnant it was much worse though

I let him watch a bit at 21 months. Usually just one 20-min episode of Thomas or Super Why each day, though there have been days when he's gotten a bit more when I've been sick. And I may give him a 5-min snippet of the baby channel while I prepare a meal; otherwise he is literally clinging to my leg like he hasn't eaten in a week.

We used to let Charlie watch YouTube videos but noticed his behavior was much worse when he got any screentime!

We cut his screentime way way down, and his behavior is much improved...

Lorelei is one and gets/has had no screen time whatever. This means any screens; phone, tablet, pc, television...

Ellie has no screen time of any kind during the week, and on the weekend she is limited to no more than two hours per day, but she has to "pay" with points she earns as part of our discipline program. Usually this translates into a maximum of three hours for the whole week. If we have to do a really long drive somewhere, say, to a therapy appointment, she might be allowed to watch something part of the way there in the car for "free," but this only applies to car trips that are longer than two hours. Any shorter and she does a great job entertaining herself by listening to music, talking to me and/or Eric, making faces at Lorelei, coloring, and playing. She loves to send notes to all the car passengers!

I admit, working from home I do partake in the electronic babysitter most days when I need a block of distraction free time or have a web meeting. Usually no more than an hour, and I try to it PBS or Little Einsteins. I love Daniel Tiger and Wild Kratts!

So, for those of you who strictly restrict screen time, does that mean that you also watch very little tv? I am addicted to tv, so I wonder what I'll do when I become a parent...

We usually have the tv on in the background for noise, but he rarely sits and watches it. We are home basically 24/7 so some tv time is unavoidable for us.

@Meridian: I never loved most TV, but we were big movie fans. After the first 9 mos or so of LO's life, we cancelled our subscription to Netflix because we just weren't watching it anymore. (In the early months I would sometimes nurse while watching.) I kind of miss not being able to watch newer films and the one TV show I love, but there are other things to occupy my time now.

My husband and I don't watch tv so our toddler doesn't have tv background noise ...we watch maybe a movie every week when she's sleeping. As for DD -26 months-, we don't restrict too much and she has yet to beg for it. If we turn it on, it's specifically for her--an educational program like Sid the Science Kid, Team Umizoomi or Kailan. On average, up to an hour every other day. There are lots of things to do and purposeful tv is just one of the many.