Hellobee Boards

It really depends on the day. We normally only watch a couple cartoons in the morning, and DS might watch one of "our shows" in the evening. Other days, like today, we watch more. He watched a movie today on top of his cartoons. Its cold out, and we don't have much to do! We are in a cuddle on the couch mood

He's 4 and watches cartoons in the morning and usually a movie in the evening. He's obsessed with movies. It allows for me to cook dinner and pick up the house.

@banana- I think it just means that their mind is in neutral- they aren't thinking, just passively watching the TV. Think about when you watch TV and you look up and an hour has passed. Or when your husband is watching and doesn't even hear you speaking.

This is the press coverage of one of the studies that concluded no TV for kids under 2 (and addressed the impact of TV on older kids):
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends limited television for children – and discourages it altogether for children under age 2. A new study in the October, 2011, issue of the journal, Pediatrics, finds that some TV shows may be worse than others. The study, “The Immediate Impact of Different Types of Television on Young Children’s Executive Function,” published online Sept. 12, tested 4-year-old children’s attention, problem solving, self regulation and other executive function abilities after they watched one of two cartoons for nine minutes. A control group of children received crayons and markers for free drawing for the same time period. The children who watched a fast-paced cartoon featuring an animated kitchen sponge did significantly worse on tests than the drawing group. There was no difference between the drawing group and children who watched a slower-paced, realistic Public Broadcasting Service cartoon about a typical preschool boy. Study authors stated they cannot tell which features of the TV show created the effects, though they speculate the combination of fantastical events and the fast pacing are responsible. They conclude that parents should be aware that watching similar television shows may immediately impair young children’s executive function. In a commentary, “The Effects of Fast-Paced Cartoons,” pediatrician and researcher Dimitri Christakis, MD, FAAP, discusses the study and the implications that media exposure has for children’s health.

I blogged about this exact topic here:
http://mommacommaphd.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/science-informs-parenting-sleep-tv-and-fatherhood/