This isn't exactly related to determining the right amount of hours of TV to allow, but The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is a book that provides some really interesting background on how Sesame Street and Blues Clues were designed to maximize learning. It's a good read.

Obviously this is just anecdotal, but my family didn't own a TV until I was nine, and we all grew up reading a lot because, well, that's what there was to do at our house. Even after we got a TV, we would only watch about one movie a week. Since I've had more access to the internet and TV on netflix and hulu, though, it's pretty much taken the place of reading in my life, and I've definitely noticed a decrease in my own attention span. For my youngest brother who was born after my family got a TV, my parents made a rule that he just couldn't watch television until after he knew how to read, and that's the rule I hope to have with my children, as I can definitely see the benefits of reading so much for myself and in my siblings.

Number of tv hours watched by my 2-years-old son since his birth: zero
Number of recorded cartoons, animated movies watched each day: I'd say 30 minutes. 45 minutes in winter, thanks to the pouring rain. It goes down to zero hour in the summer, thanks to a great park we have nearby. None of it is calculated, it's just the way it happened to be.

Sure, the time spent counts. But what the kid watches seems also important to me. We are huge fan of Bambi, The jungle book, and Fantasia over here (obviously somewhat edited for the time being), and it's great fun to recognize the animals as they come and go or comment on what they are doing. In this case, it's not as passive as tv usually is, and it's more like an animated book. As far as commercials go, it's simply no. I don't own a tv and probably never will, and I'll buy/rent all the dvds necessary for my child not to feel excluded at school, but I won't allow stupid "children" shows nor any kind of commercial. I may be no-fun, but that's my bottom line. Limiting screen time is great, watching quality is even better. And yes, once in a while, we have "rainy days old-school Disney/Myasaki movie family afternoons", with the three of us curled in a couch and the laptop before us, singing the Elephant song from the Jungle book without any timer to tell us how much time we spent. And we love it !

(Sorry for my English, not my native language, I feel like I'm getting worse at it, but I hope you caught my meaning)

As a teacher, I can tell which students watch too much TV or play too many hours of video games--because of their performance in the classroom. It has never caught me by surprise that a struggling (either academically or socially, usually both) includes their favorite TV shows or video game in conversation about their daily routine. From the hundreds of students I've taught, I recognize that each child is different, and everyone can handle different amounts of television and still juggle the other things that make him a balanced person: studies, music lessons, physical activity, etc. However, I will say that the common practice among students who were well rounded and successful students stuck to basically your plan: TV on the weekends. There would be the occasional show like American Idol or something that the family would watch together, but TV wasn't a daily habit. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a magic number for every age. I do think that your son is old enough to have a bit more freedom with TV. I like the sound of your system. :) And if the TV watching gets to be too much and you see his studies or social skills or manners or piano or _____ slipping, help *him* see what's happening. Help him see the value in whatever is lacking, and ask what value he gets from more TV, so that together you decide maybe it's too much TV (rather than an iron fist coming down on the remote).

All in all, I think that you are in the right mindset--asking the question. I wish there were a more black and white answer, but who wants to live in a black and white world?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids under two years old not watch any TV. In fact, they include all screens (iPads, computers, etc.) in that assessment.

The Academy says kids older than two should watch no more than two hours a day of quality programming.

I have a 14-month old and, while we have never shown him Baby Einstein or anything like that, I find it is impossible to shield him entirely from screen time. He is naturally drawn to the computer and iPad, and we often do break down and let him see (by the way, it is totally scary how easily a baby can operate an iPad or iPhone. Nice work, Apple!).

I think the guidelines outlined in this post are pretty similar to what we will do going forward. There are so many other activities that are better for development, like reading, board games and exercise. Plus, most of those things make for better-quality family time.

One of my main beefs with TV is the ads. I simply don't want to deal with all the desires they stir up and studies have shown that children don't understand what advertising is and aren't equipped to view it critically. We don't have cable and it will probably stay that way--so any TV time will be Netflix or DVD time.

Ha. Maybe next we can decide whether painting wood furniture is a good idea. (JK)

its about balance. Our kids watch cartoons from 8-9am most mornings while I get breakfast on the table, check email, lay out their clothes. I believe its a 2 hr max for kids with technology, and we try to go by that. Also, we had a doctor recommend picking cartoons that have some educational value--we like Blues Clues.

We read books, play trains, cars, go to playgrounds. But its about balance, at least for our family

We don't have time for TV during the week between homework and sports so it is a treat on the weekends. Friday night movie night and an occasional Sunday morning cartoon. Balance is key. Check out my post about my take on exposing your kids to technology. Mind you my oldest is proficient in typing, video games, iPad apps but understands the importance of healthy living as he is a competitive swimmer and academically advanced. Everything in moderation!
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http://urbanchiqueness.com/chique-story-bringing-up-boys/

Okay, I gotta tell you, I have been absolutely hooked on Apt Therapy since I discovered it a few months ago, and I have been tempted to comment on a post once in a blue moon, but not enough to register. This post motivated me to finally register so I could comment. We have never really limited our children's tv. If it gets out of hand, which it has on occasion, we push them to do something else. Our kids have always watched pretty high quality stuff- no commercial tv when they were little, and lots of PBS documentaries and series.

What I believe is most important (from observation of our family experience) is that tv be a family experience. Discussing a show with your kids so they can evaluate and process what they watched can be a HUGE learning experience, and is a great way to teach your kids about your personal values. The discussion is equally valuable, regardless of whether the tv show reflected your values or went against your values.

I have a 7, 5, and 1.5 year old. When my oldest two were toddlers/preschoolers, they watched a fair amount of tv, maybe 2 hours a day. After a while, I started to notice that the more tv they watched the more they wanted to watch. It also became a struggle to ever end tv time. One day I decided to end it for good, except on the weekends. This has worked quite well. Usually, we are all so busy on the weekends, going to parks, having firneds over, etc...that they forget about it. Weeks will go by when they watch nothing at all. Then, one rainy Saturday, they will watch a 3 hour Arthur marathon. This works for us.

My youngest child watches no tv. We no longer own a tv, so this maks it easier (all of my kids' entertainment comes from Netflix on the computer). He might stare at the computer screen for two minutes while his sisters are watching something, but then he moves along. Unless he asks to watch something, I have no plans to force it!

I do not get hung up on "educational" shows, as this is so subjective, but we do enjoy more realistic shows such as documentaries and those about nature. The one rule I do have is no "rude" shows. This means you Bratz!

10 years ago, pregnant with our 1st child, friends told us how we'd watch the weirdest stuff late night/early morn during feedings, so we decided to get tivo. That's been the best solution over the years. We've set up the childrens' list on kidzone and instead of hours alloted, we talk about individual shows. We've taught them to zip through the commercials and when the show is over, the tv goes off. We came to realize how bad 'surfing' the channels was to our attitudes, brains and general health. We've added netflix and hulu, a wii and the kids have their own computer, but endless hours aren't the norm. It's something we do-watch a program, check out a website, play a wii game, make a movie out of slides-just like reading books, riding bikes, building forts, playing with toy cars, etc. We've tried to teach them it's no more important than any other entertainment and it's stayed that way, thankfully. Our 9yo would rather read than do anything and our 6yo likes puzzles/games more-either hands on or computer or wii. He loves Tom&Jerry cartoons, Super Mario, Angry Birds and American's Funniest Videos(off of Netflix), so he's probably going to be the one to test us the most on the limits of tv. We cut the cable cord last December and the 9yo didn't notice until a week ago, the younger one still hasn't, which we find really funny.

zero for my kids up to about age 10, unless they were at someone else's house. obviously they did watch, because they knew all about sesame street and cartoons. at home they played with toys and puzzles, and educational computer games. Now they don't mind "missing" a show, and seem to have no favorite shows.

For our son we had sing along videos when he was a toddler. We held off on getting a Nintendo, but finally we gave in (caved) because we didn't want him to be a social outcast. He and his friends played lots of video games.

However, we started reading to him nightly when he was a newborn. This continued until he was ridiculously big. I recommend the Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease.

Now graduated from college and in grad school, he watches very little tv, and obviously he's an excellent reader.

I forgot to mention we had no tv at all in our house --we do have 1 tv now, but we have no cable at all. the tv is off a lot. my kids like computers and outdoorsy activities.

Thank you for writing this! This is a hot button topic for my partner and I, as we talk about our future together. I personally am very anti-television unless I am strictly monitoring, I feel that the amount of advertising and the general programming available these days is quite lacking. Great thoughts from the commenters - I will definitely keep these words in mind.

I grew up in a house without cable, but I don't remember there being any set rules or formulas for TVs. Thankfully, we had an amazing back yard, and a neighborhood full of kids my age. I turned out alright.

It's obviously much harder to manage screen time today because it is so much more accessible. As a professional who creates learning environments for children, here's a good rule of thumb supported by research in Europe;

3-6-9-12 rule: No screen before age 3, no internet before age 6, no video games before age 9, no unsupervised television/games/internet before age 12.

This kind of system helps parents manage kids exposure to all kinds of content, and keeps the focus of learning in the realm of the real world.

I'm not sure if there is any magic number, so why not just name one that sounds reasonable to your kid and your family and build in a couple of caveats, like:
1 You'll reassess after 1 month
2. There can be no decline in grades
3. or increase in the number of times you have to ask him to do the important stuff
4. and that all TV viewing has to be either pre-recorded (so you know what he watches and there are fewer commercials) or at least age-appropriate.

I have a 3 year old and I'm so impressed with how well some of you do limiting TV. My son has a few shows on the iPad, and watches PBS shows pretty regularly. Some days he doesn't watch anything at all, some days he watches up to 2 hours (spread throughout the day). It just depends on what we have going on, but I guess he averages about 45 minutes a day. I have to say though, the shows he watches are really educational and I just can't imagine they're bad for him. His favorite is Dinosaur Train and he knows the names and features of every dinosaur, plus so much more. He loves TV. But he also loves books, trains, sports, nature, etc. just as much. I don't know, I guess I don't think there's a magic number. As long as they do all the other things they should be doing, a little TV isn't going to ruin them.

Zero TV watching - we don't own a TV. But we do allow our son, age 6, to have around an hour of screen time per day (some days less; on the rare days when he is home sick, a bit more). He watches PBS shows or National Geographic nature documentaries. We try as much as possible to spend time on weekends away from the screen, doing stuff in the real world. I know what the original poster means about the tears - we take screen time away if he gets too emotional about the end of his film/shows. Right now, due to getting too emotional, we no longer allow him to watch anything in the morning.

While we don't have a magic number, we try to balance it as best we can with outdoor play, book reading, imaginative play, lego/puzzle time, etc. and for the most part I think we do pretty well. I am the first to admit that we've had days where I've let them watch way too much tv or play their DS too long, but at the end of those days I have to forgive myself and try again tomorrow. My husband and I really enjoy movies and video games, so a lot of the time our kids do spend doing those things is time spent with us. We play family games like Wii Party (full disclosure: my husband works at Nintendo) for game night and it's a blast. One interesting thing I've noticed is that because our boys aren't strictly limited in their tv/game time, they don't really care about it that much. In contrast, we've got a couple kids who come over to play who aren't allowed any video games at home and they are seriously obsessed with playing Wii, DS, etc. My kids know that when friends are over it's play tme, not tv time and they get super disappointed when all those kids want to do is play video games. I've actually found kids hiding in a closet, sneaking our son's DS! So yeah, balance seems to be key. But hey--I'm not a perfect mom and I would never assume that what works for me is the best way to do something or would work for everyone else.

oh man, I wonder how many future serial killers we have here. I kid, I kid...

I think it's all about balance too. My kindergartener rarely plays video games, which he thought was completely typical until he started school and discovered some of his friends play video games daily. Now I allow him some video games and tv time but usually only after something educational. He happens to be advanced academically so I'm not as strict with limiting screen time for him. He naturally prefers to read or play board games. My three year old, on the other hand, would happily plop in front of the tv for hours if I let him. He definitely watches more tv than his brother did at his age but at the same time, we try and read to him and play with him before tv time.

I have several family members who are early-childhood educators. From the perspective of attention disorders and classroom performance, the recommendation is the age of the child in hours per week. That's the maximum.

Personally, we don't own a tv and we try to block all screen time or our 17-month old. It's hard though, since tvs, phones, tablets and computers are everywhere. We do our best and don't stress over it. Once he's two, we plan on having family movie night once a week. I watched too much tv as a child and I feel it did me a disservice. I wish I had played outside more,

As with everything in parenting, you need to reevaluate periodically and do what is best for your child and the family as a whole. I think it's important to look at new research and decide what works for you.

My 3 year old watched Stuart Little this morning, we turned off the tv, and then he painted a picture of Stuart on his motorbike for me. Everything in moderation and everything will be fine.

I fell back on what my parents had done when my sister and I were growing up. TV watching took place at night, after supper and baths. When we got older, we got our own TV's for our rooms but knew that at any time my dad could walk in and see what we were watching and TV's would be taken away if it was not what we were supposed to be watching! This wasn't so much a problem in the 70's; there wasn't anything on TV then that was objectionable- well, I had to fight for my right to watch SNL when I was in high school!! When my daughter was younger, she watched what we watched so she wasn't exposed to anything objectionable. We have DirectTV and the only thing I ever watch pretty much is Travel Channel, HGTV, Food Network and Cooking Channel. We watched a lot of movies. But she only watched in the evening, after supper and bath was done. When she got older, she did have a TV in the room. I monitored what she watched by walking in unannounced anytime I felt like it. What was always so ironic was she wanted to watch the shows I watched growing up- in the ninties, Nickelodeon screened many of the shows I grew up on. So I never felt uncomfortable allowing her to view TV in her room. Oftentimes I would join her on the bed watching with her- many long conversations took place like this and I will cherish the things I learned from her about what was happening in her life. It continued as she got older and her tastes broadened. My daughter has grown into a thoughtful, wonderful adult who now will have to consider this same dilemma in another year or two as my granddaughter gets older. Moderation, moderation, moderation. If you tell them they can't, they WILL ALWAYS find a way and it may not be a situation where you can intervene if necessary.

@HOUSE IN THE WOODS, I totally agree with you.

Both of my kids get a little daily screen time, though my older one is certainly allowed more than my 2 year old. We don't have a TV anymore, but we do have a flat screen monitor in our room where the kids can watch movies and shows on PBS shows on Netflix. They also check DVD's out at the library. They don't get to stare mindlessly at TV all day long. It's earned with good behavior and after they've exhausted themselves making mudpies and building ninja traps with blocks, and after any homework is done, usually before dinner while I'm cooking and they're getting crazy. I think everyone deserves a little time to check out and enjoy a good show. We don't do video games and I don't know if we ever will.

I believe all humans, children and adult, live fuller, more active, thoughtful, meaningful lives without television.
We've got twin boys, 14, a 9 year old, 7 year old, and 5 year old, all who totally rock.. and they don't watch any television at all. Nor do my husband or I.
We love it. Once you live without tv for a while, you won't believe how shallow, artificial, & what a waste of time it is.
Studies have proven that watching screens/tv actually wires the brain differently in developing kids.
The risks don't just stop at early childhood, though. The images seen on television, and more importantly ADVERTISING, affect adolescents, adults, everyone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5pM1fW6hNs This is a must watch video - on just one reason why my children live a commercial free environment, aside from them having better things to do - like explore the earth & keep their minds & bodies active & healthy, creating, excelling, interacting, being kids.
My seven year old daughter is a beauty, a natural, amazing beauty. I won't have her being poisoned by ads. I also have four sons, and it's just as important to me that they grow up with healthy, strong, respectful minds.
Turn off your TV. There's so much living to do.

We usually only put our cable on the "music choice" channels when our little is around. She likes oldies best, but sometimes it's fun to watch her dance to 80's or 90's hits we remember.

We also do occasional breakfast tv. If we do it's usually Dora, and we are usually watching it with her, talking about the colors and shapes, etc.

She is just so much more interested in pretend play with her stuffed animals, building things, and just PLAYING. Most of the time not even with toys. Her favorite thing right now is laying down on a blanket and having mom or dad drag her around like she's on a ride. She's a big artist too. Loves coloring, play-doh, painting, writing on her chalkboard wall or easel.

I know parents who's kids ranging in age from 1-3 can watch ENTIRE movies! There's no way she could do that. The longest I've ever seen her look at the tv screen was maybe 2 mintues straight? NO JOKE.

I think before a year, it's ridiculous, though.

I don't think babies or toddler should ever watch t.v. and ours don't. After 3 we offer a couple of holiday shows, maybe four times over the near. At five, we are considering making it monthly. I think regularly watching tv limits imagination and takes the place of other, better play.

You had to know this one would get a bunch of comments. I agree with all those that said everything in moderation. It seems completely arbitrary to say X hours of television is allowed. Some days are harder than others. We have days where the tv doesn't go on at all because we're out and about, playing, painting, crafting, etc. And other days like today...up with my 9 month old almost the whole night due to ridiculous teething means extra tired momma and you can bet my 3 year old watched some tv today. In fact, he frequently tells me, "I've had enough tv." and turns it off on his own. The tv is one thing we use to entertain ourselves around here. It's certainly not the only thing.

Ihave no children, but I remember when we got cable, it was an event. We didn't have a tv in our room until we were 10 or more. Mom and Dad didn't let us watch The Simpsons or Roseanne, because the children were disrespectful to their parents, and we were not allowed to watch TV during dinner, which we ate sitting at the table. Other than that, there was no stress over how much, and I don't remember it being a big part of my life until maybe around 15 or so, and by then I was scheduling my Saturdays around what cartoons were on. Even I knew that was excesive.

Not sure about TV, but as a preschool teacher I BEG all parents not to let their children play video games until they are at least 6 years old. Children younger than this cannot fully tell the difference between reality and fantasy, and spending time in a fantasy world that they can control really, truly messes with a child's sense of reality. They don't need this!

I have a one year old daughter who LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba. We have like 30 of them recorded. She will usally watch one episode in the morning while Im getting breakfast ready and then another in the evening while I get dinner ready. It works for us.

Have you ever noticed that some folks who have -chosen- to not watch tv have no problem telling others what they should do? This occurs not just on blogs, but w/i families and circles of friends.

Many things in our lives have both a good and a bad side, each requiring balance. Families have to find that point for themselves.

If you want to discuss unhealthy inputs for our children, who don't we chat about how the American public school system is failing them? Are you ready to judge the families who send their children for 6-9 hours per day, 5 days per week anyway? I'm certainly not.

Our 18 month old is extremely advanced for her age and because we do not have many children or cousins nearby to play with on a daily basis, each day we watch a few select tv shows amounting to about 45 minutes of screen time. She loves Peppa Pig and Yo Gabba Gabba and my husband and I enjoy watching her get excited about concepts from the shows ("throw and catch" or "shaking out the wiggles") that she was uninterested in when we tried to teach her ourselves. We watch the shows with her, sing the songs with her, talk about what is happening while we watch...it works for us. She also has a couple of movies that we watch when she is sick or teething and nothing else will distract her (she sings along with the music from "Tangled" and loves "Lady and the Tramp"). That being said, we also play with blocks, practice counting, color/paint, play outside we the dog, go to the park, pretend with her play kitchen and dolls...the list goes on. I think that each parent knows what is best for their own child and what the limit ought to be. I grew up on Sesame Street and Disney movies and still managed to excel in advanced English courses and go on to graduate from college.

In summation: to each his own!

We dont watch tv but like you, we have a family movie night. Each child takes a turn choosing the movie. We have a few that we recycle and new ones we Pre-screen or read about on kids-in-mind.com (or "org"?). Our 8 year old loves to read and the other two are into Legos, board games and blocks. they would all like to watch some tv but all agree their heads and eyes hurt if they watch too much (like when they're visiting grandparents). Tv to us is a brain drain, but mostly we hate advertisements.

Mine hasn't graduated to watching TV shows, but she's OBSESSED with "babies" -- i.e., looking at pictures and videos of herself on our phone or computer screen. If she sees our phone or hears it ring or sees our computer it's "babies babies babies" until we let her look for a few minutes. She'll go through the pictures and name everyone and everyplace in them "Grandma! Mommy! Pop-pop! Nanna! Swing! Slide! Pool! Choo Choo" so that eased my fears that I was raising a little narcisist. ;-)

My husband gets a kick out of looking up the "babies laughing" videos for her on you tube.

But there are definitely times when I hand her the phone with the videos on -- like when we were recently on a plane.

I don't plan to outlaw screentime for my child, but I will limit it. We don't have TV reception, and I do think letting them watch only recorded shows (with no ads) is helpful. both in keeping out the junk like ads and in setting time limits (like once the dvd is over, it's over). I'll re-evaluate when she's older (8-10). I watched a lot of TV growing up, but I still read a ton and spent all my summers outside.

I am an early childhood specialist. Basically an expert. I work with families and I will share my personal opinion regarding this topic. I used to hate tv's when it came to kids watching it. Now I believe that time spent with kids is about quality verses quantity. If parents need to use a telivision to babysit the munchkins while they make dinner, pay bills, get things done- i say go for it. I would rather see parents spent quality time engaging with children and make the moments they spend with them count. Parenting can be frustrating and sometimes giving parents some time to take a break allows them to have calmer, kinder, more positive interractions with their children. Not to mention- children in front of a telivision are easily supervised because it typically keeps them in one area for a period of time. I am not suggesting haveing children watch tv ALL the time- but its not such a bad idea if a parent needs a moment. Just sayin....

I also wanted to add- if possible, computer games are awesome for little ones- for example starfall.

I'm a little curious what people who HATE TV have to say about documentaries and the like. Animals, for instance. My son loves animal documentaries and I believe he's learned quite a bit from them, things he obviously can't learn hands on. Sure, you can go to a zoo and see the animals sitting/walking/laying down in their cages (which we do!), but that's nothing like observing them in their natural habitat. A lion roaring, for example. I don't know about you, but if it weren't for TV, I wouldn't know what a lion really looks and sounds like when it roars. And this comes from a girl who spent several summers at zoo camp. I feel like certain shows expose my son to things I can't possibly expose him to on my own. Animals are just one example, another might be different cultures of the world, etc.

Until age 2, I went with the recommendation of no TV, with occasional exposure at restaurants, during social events like the superbowl, etc. Now my son is two and watches a few you tube videos a week of things like animals, musicians, etc. We don't have cable or TV reception, but I have let him watch an hour or so of children's shows on netfilx a few times when he was sick and I had work I absolutely had to do. Tellingly, he always starts begging for it for the next few days. I know that it annoys people when they think non-TV-watchers are preaching, but if you don't start the habit of using TV the idea that it is necessary just seems silly. I absolutely think that a few carefully chosen shows or movies or games do no harm, but I don't like the idea of using it for babysitting.

I feel mixed about TV for my daughter and in general. I grew up watching a LOT of TV (4 to 5 hours a night), and it definitely did not hurt me in terms of school performance, social life, physical health, or reading ability. I had a happy, social childhood and was extremely successful in school. I got into and attended one of the very top universities in the country even while watching 4 or 5 hours of TV a night in high school (I even--gasp--watched TV while doing my homework!). I also read (and still read) a ton--I think I just have a voracious appetite for stories.

On the other hand, I also developed an eating disorder. My type A/perfectionist personality is probably at the root of the eating disorder, but I have to say that the hours spent looking at skinny actresses in TV shows and commercials certainly did not help my body image. I am much more concerned for my daughter taking in poisonous messages about beauty and gender roles than I am about screen time in general.

Everything on TV is in some way an advertisement--trying to tell us that something is wrong with us, that our life is not and will not be complete until we buy their product. I hate this message and see how it leads to feeling unfulfilled and "never enough." I want my daughter to be able to enjoy great TV just as I do--and to take part cultural conversations about the latest interesting stories out there, but I don't ever want her to learn that she needs to change her looks or buy a product to find what's good in life.

For now, my daughter is 13 months old and hasn't watched any TV, and she loves books more than anything. I don't even know how we would fit it into our busy days! As the years go by, and she learns to ask for it, I'm planning to take it a day at a time, talk about it together as much as possible, stay mindful about how it affects her and us as a family.

Lots to ponder...thanks for the question!

My husband and I remember watching a ton of TV when we were kids, but we were also active outdoors and were voracious readers. I don't remember having any rules to TV watching, and I consumed my fair amount of commercials, but then again, my parents brought me up to be a skeptic, so I don't think they were as effective on me. My mom tells me I would sit through a whole episode of Sesame Street at 9 months, and I recall watching shows like Quantum Leap and Star Trek: TNG when I was only 4 or 5, not to mention Beakman's World, Bill Nye, and Mr. Wizard (back in the day). I wonder if I hadn't been exposed to TV, would my interest in physics have evolved to the point where it was my major in college?

I have a background in education and so while I respect the recommendation of no TV until the age of 2 from the AAP, or the 3,6,9,12 rule post above, I don't believe there is a magic number. My almost-15-month-old watches a few minutes of Sesame Street songs or skits on my Android every day, but doesn't seem to want to sit still for the actual show, either recorded off of PBS or on Netflix. While we have made it a point to never watch shows with offensive language or violent or sexual situations while he is in the room, he did "watch" almost the entire series of Top Gear as an infant while his dad was looking after him, and we have been known to pile into the living room with toys for an afternoon of football.

It's all going to have to do with the child, and each child is different. TV can turn into an obsession, as can video games, or cookies, or soccer practice. As someone else said, the most important thing is that TV isn't taking the place of social interaction and developmental learning. When they're toddlers, take it in short doses and talk about what they're watching. Take a song you watch on Sesame Street and work it into your daily life. When they're older, make sure they can separate fantasy from reality, or suggest that they play make-believe as their favorite characters. TV isn't a singular thing that is going to turn a good kid (or good parent) bad.

Every time someone ever posts about t.v. the post instantly turns into "We don't watch t.v." "It eats brains" "Destroys souls!" etc. The fact is, as someone who has always loved movies, was raised watching certain shows, and watches cartoons with my little one, it never harmed me. We did live for 4 years without a t.v. to see what it was like, and we missed it! We missed the entertainment value of a good movie, snuggle, and quiet. And we also read, play outside, do crafty and artsy things all day...but boy...our family enjoys a silly cartoon on Saturday morning or a nice movie on a night when someone doesn't feel well. Our little one watches in total about 45 minutes of t.v. a day. He watches Little Bear and Super Why!. Both shows make us happy. Our brains are fine. Thanks.

My kids watched quite a lot of TV, and it doesn't seem to have done them any harm. I feel quite nostalgic for some of the shows (Sesame Street, Tom & Jerry cartoons, all the Disney films). My pre-teen is currently into horror movies.

An observation: of my children's friends, those who were not allowed TV and video games at home were obsessed with these when they came to our house.

Who/where are all these kids who don't watch TV? I don't know any of them! I'm trying to raise a well-balanced child who will grow into a well-adjusted man (I think people forget kids become people.. like REAL PEOPLE). Therefore, there are very few things that I forbid.

Also, it's interesting that people who seem to be getting advice, suggestions, or whatever from the internet would not see it's value for their children...

I don't object to TV as a medium. We watch to TV. But it has no place in the lives of young children when it is quite damaging, based on all current research. Our kids will watch it when they are older.

But the marketing? People who advertise to young children are disgusting.

It's a bit like trying to control kids' sugar intake - they have to learn a bit of self-control and moderation as we're not always going to be around to police their eating and viewing habits.

From the time I was 10, we started an incentive program in my family. We were allowed 10 hours of TV watching a week. That included Saturday morning cartoons, Sunday evening movie with the family. If we kept under the 10/wk for an entire calendar month, we got a bonus added to our monthly allowance.

My 4 yr old's favourite pastime is to be taken to the book shop or library. He actually owns more books than toys. We bake every week, we swim regularly,he has loads of friends, he plays football, he can complete jigsaw puzzles kids twice his age can't do, he loves playing with his action figures and doing all the silly voices, we spend bags of time outside and he scoots everywhere as we live in London. He's also learning French as we are going to live as a family in Paris for 2 months.....Guess what he also LOVES, no wait ADORES?? The TV!!!!!!! He watches a little every day, sometimes more at the weekend, and we always have a movie day at the weekend, with horror of horror lots of chocolate!!! And guess who isn't the slightest bit concerned? His mother! Listen I'm no child expert, I'm only a mum. But from my experience it's ALL about balance. I don't want my kid growing up thinking TV is BAD. Same way I don't want to raise my child thinking carbs are BAD, or sugar is BAD. It's all about balance and all about moderation. My kid is super smart, wickedly funny and has an opinion on everything!! If you create a varied and interesting life for your kids they will become varied and interesting people. So relax and stop thinking that the TV will turn your child into the devil :)

We did away with the t.v. cold turkey 3 years ago. We do have a dvd player and a projector for movie night, though and a portable tv for sporting events. My kids read a lot and do other things. I do agree that the t.v. isn't evil. The problem with it is simply that it distracts (everyone, not just the kids) us from doing more healthful, constructive things with our time. It is hard to pull away from and it is hard to pull away from a show that keeps you coming back for more. And another thing. Television is not inherently forbidden. It is just harder to access because we have to drag out the projector or the portable t.v. Maybe if it's always out , that makes it more attractive?