TV/Screens - Is it worth it?

I put it on an hour a day can be slightly more, can be less and I only have the 1 child. It helps so much and our LG is fine when I switch it off and goes off and plays with something else she even does that when it’s on sometimes so it’s more background than actual watching x

We just put it on as and when it's needed, some days it's never on, some days it's on a few times for maybe 20-40 minutes. Our little one doesn't ever pay attention to it for very long, some songs will catch his attention then he'll go away and play with his toys and maybe come back to watch another song. I just tried not to overthink it. He's not glued to it and doesn't care when we turn it off because we don't make it a big deal, like it's not a 'treat' if that makes sense xx

We have it on for our elder one more than anything. He likes to watch a little bit before school so the toddler sees a bit of it but honestly has very little interest in it unless it is Thomas the Tank or Twirlywoos. I don’t really think about how long it’s on for - its not hours though. I don’t think it is doing any harm to the little one as honestly he just plays most of the time. The elder one uses it to relax before a busy day at school and again to recharge for a bit afterwards before he is busy playing and doing homework. We also don’t make it a treat - so we don’t get any problem turning it off or anything like that.

We've had it on since birth as that's what we did with out older one. Tends to be on all day in the background as noise more than anything. Neither of them really sit and watch it tbh x

It is helpful when she has her afternoon snack for 30 mins so I can prep dinner/put clothes away/have a minute on my phone and she sometimes watches it in the morning for 30 mins, most kids shows are 10 mins long so she will usually watch 3 episodes and then I turn it off. If I had 2 children I couldnt imagine being screen free! Couldn’t even imagine it with 1 🤣 I do have a very hyper child though so maybe I just need it for the down time for me rather than for her 😅X

We put it on but mainly as background, although if it’s paw patrol he’s got a habit of just randomly stopping playing to sit and watch😂 he also hysterically laughs at the squirrel in ice age and the bee movie… and he likes shark documentaries😂😂😂

Thanks for all the feedback. Interesting to hear how it works in other homes. Though if they aren’t really engaging with it that much then I’d be also puzzled by is there much point. I actually don’t think my girl would sit & watch for long either as she is gogogo/super active so that’s probably another reason I’ve held off as it’d probably not have much point yet. But I’d definitely like to see a way of it working especially if it does help manage the balance with 2 so the insight is helpful. Also pleased to hear for the majority the tv & turning it off isn’t a thing. She’s never seen ours on so worried once we start she might show it more interest even when off as she knows it can do something. One of those things where I feel like the longer you wait then it becomes more confusing as not a natural evolution.

We have tv in our house and screen time had no limits when I had my newborn (18 month gap). I used it when I breastfed as that can sometimes last 30 mins and gave me space to not stress what she was doing or wanting my attention. I do feel that tvs are different to phones and tablets. Phones and tablets for me are a complete last resort. I don’t often have fall out from turning it off, I just give the warning of when this episode has finished we are turning it off and they find the doing a activity with me is more fun than the tv.

We have it in all the time I'm the background. We have more than 1 child. We have music on or cartoons or miss Rachel but they play with toys and each other or me and get books they don't really pay attention to the tv much x

You might find they don't actually take to it. My twins have never shown much interest in the TV, maybe because there are 2 of them to entertain each other. (But i know other twin Mums who benefit from a bit of TV to get stuff done). But my oldest watched way more, but she did seem to engage like she liked the dancing fruit and then loved ms Rachel. The twins never took to the fruit at all, and even now if something is on they watch for 5 mins max and move on. My oldest who got a lot of TV when I was pregnant and twins were Diddy also seems to watch less now, more than the twins but less than she did.