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So far, our son doesn't watch any. He's almost a year old.

I completely understand the thinking behind the "I'll let my child __________ if it means I have time to take a shower, etc." However, when such a strong case has been made against TV before 2, I can't in good conscience sit my son in front of the television. I would rather stick him in his crib with some toys or gate him in his room so that I can have a minute to accomplish whatever it is I need to do. Why do those solutions seem "worse" than TV? There is no reason the TV should be more entertaining than anything else to a 2 year-old.

My four year old son loves watching Rachel Ray :) I say if you are going to do it, make sure the show is decent. There are sign language, Sesame street, Thomas the train and other fun videos.

I have never been a fan of Baby Einstein videos, and so have not used them with our kids. Our 16 month old has just started watching tv when it is on; usually he ignores it and plays. However, we have a 4 1/2 year old who watches dvd episodes -- Peppa Pig, Charlie and Lola, Ebb & Flo, and Krtek. Most of them are very short -- in the order of 5 -8 minutes. So, we have never put tv on for him, but he has watched a few minutes here and there (pretty impossible to totally eliminate it for one -- you would have to totally eliminate it for everyone).

My 2 yo is watching ONLY the DVDs we pick for her. I make sure they are nice (both graphics and content), the pace is slow, and that they help her learn. We bought ESL Muzzy and I think it's better than any "educational" videos. They have all the concepts (colors, letters, numbers, time of the day, etc) in the easy-to-learn form. She also has a collection of Kipper's videos and some Russian cartoons (though she does not speak much Russian). And sometimes we have movie nights, when all of us watch a movie. She does well with a full-feature animations. Still, the TV is far away in the basement, and we try to limit the time she spends watching DVD as much as possible.

Our little one is 18 months and we received some Baby Einstein's as a gift when he was little; I liked the use of classical music. He HATES his playyard so if I'm using the stove or showering while he's awake, he's permitted to view a 15 minute video. This is only about 3 times per week. Many of the words he uses (50 ) are words that are taught in his little videos, which he seems to love. I feel that if he's going to view TV, it must be educational or something we do together for the sake of learning and language development. He loves to sit on Daddy's lap and watch Basketball for few minutes while Daddy teaches him about the game. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

I try to keep the TV off. I don't really think there are any educational benefits to TV, even the Baby Einstein stuff. But sometimes mama needs a break! So about once or twice a week I let my six-month old watch 10 minutes or so of a Baby Einstein. And sometimes I need to kickback too, so again, about once a week I have the TV on for a half-hour or so while he is awake. I think the real trouble lies when people have the TV on constantly in the background, or when people use "educational" tv as a substitute for interaction.

I must admit that education is the last thing on my mind when I plonk my kids in front of the TV (although I do filter what they watch). It's more for distraction. Having said that, they do learn quite a few things from the educational programs. I wouldn't put a TV or a computer in their room.

I do wonder about the studies showing that children who watch a lot of TV have trouble adjusting to kindergarten/early school. Has anyone studied whether or not these kids just learn a different way (i.e. visually, in short bursts) and therefore can't relate to traditional teaching methods?

I know what the studies say and this is sure to be an unpopular answer but I really think that my son (3) has benefited from watching some tv each day. His vocabulary exploded after watching his first dvd, I often find him throughout the day playing little games that reference a show watched days ago and he takes a lot of pleasure in his favourite movies or tv programs. I agree with Lizzykewl - choose quality programs or movies. I also decide beforehand how long I would like him to watch for and then we turn the tv off when the time is up and do something else. Everything in moderation. I would not place a tv or computer in a child's room, that's like leaving a mouse alone with a piece of cheese.

Oh, and the Baby Einstein DVD's? Wasn't there a study that suggested these types of educational DVDs reduce a child's vocabulary?! American Idol has more educational value??
http://consumerist.com/consumer/dumb-babies/baby-einstein-videos-probably-dont-work-might-even-hurt-287425.php

"I don't really think there are any educational benefits to TV, even the Baby Einstein stuff."

I have to disagree. That's like saying that all TV for adults is schlock, just because of The Bachelor. There's great television out there for people of all ages, if you take the time to look for it.

I lived on Sesame Street when I was a kid, and it was instrumental in teaching me to read by the time I was three. If old-school Sesame Street were still on TV, I'd happily encourage my son to watch it. As it is, his favourite show is Mighty Machines, which he watches two or three times a week. If you ever need to know anything about construction, public transportation, mining, and how a sawmill works (among other things), he's your go-to guy, and he's not even three yet.

i love my 45 minutes of sesame street in the morning. my daughter doesn't get hungry in the morning until 9AM (she wakes around 7:30) so we watch some SS while i catch up on news and eat something. i swear that it's fun for us both and i feel like she's absorbing numbers and letters faster than just me teaching her (she's almost 1 year old, btw.) we also have the baby sign language videos that i intersperse through the week. those are fabulous! she's already starting to understand the signs and use them on their own.

My three year old loves Mr. Rogers and Charlie and Lola videos. She would watch a lot more tv if we would let her, but we really try to limit it to one or two shows. I know it isn't good, and we are working on it. As far as when we would put a tv in her room, the answer is never. Never in her play room, never in her bedroom. Never. To me, tv is something you shouldn't let your kids have control of. On the other hand, they do have huge piles of books in the play room ad bedroom.

Why do people think "Baby Einstein" videos have any educational value? There is NO research to back up that claim. It's interesting how baby merchandise is being marketed towards parents today. Everything has been labelled educational when it isn't necessarily so! Children learn from everything they experience. We shouldn't be fooled into believing that some products, videos, etc. have specific academic gains that our children will miss out on unless we spend our money on them.

I've never had a problem with my children watching tv or playing video games. I think that sometimes it's okay to let a child just veg much the same way adults do. Not every moment needs to be an educational one.

My youngest is 4, he taught himself to read (no prompting or pushing from us) so that he could read his pokedex books and pokemon video games.

I just don't see tv/computers and inherently bad or a thing I must limit my children's exposure to based solely on it being a television program. We watch some truly wonderful shows that have educated us on a plethora of topics.

Don't stress too much. When I was a baby my mom said I used to veg in front of soap operas for hours at a time. Not only do I despise them now as an adult, but I was an honor student all the way through college and I watch very little TV now. I really think as parents we worry so much about the "weekly milestones" that we foreget the big picture.

My eight-month-old isn't interested in any TV, although her 2 1/2 year-old brother occasionally watches it. I used to have a complete ban on TV, which meant no TV for my husband and I until our son went to sleep. And then, I had my second baby and planned to nurse. Unfortunately, my son would use nursing time to act up. Finally, out of desperation, I allowed him to watch TV, mostly PBS kids' shows, while I nursed but I sat and watched with him and commented on what we were watching. Eight months later, my son knows his ABCs mostly from watching shows like "Superwhy" and "Word World." Of course, when I realized he was learning his letters, I took the opportunity to buy him ABC books, toys, etc. and I worked with him until he learned the alphabet. The short of it is that I believe that the TV can be educational if you use it the right way. However, I also believe it is easy to misuse it and I don't envision a time when I will place a TV in either of my kids' rooms, or anywhere else besides a "public" family viewing area.

My daughter will be 4 tomorrow and she loves many different programs, like Dora, Diego, Little Einsteins, etc. She watched Sesame Street for a long time and I, like some other parents who have posted, believe she'd learned tremendously from these shows. She is a bright, energetic and happy child who sometimes likes to veg out in front of the television. We all need downtime and kids are no exception.

As my friend with older children has said to me in my moments of feeling like a slacker mom, "It's not as if she is watching One Life to Live!"

"If you ever need to know anything about construction, public transportation, mining, and how a sawmill works (among other things), he's your go-to guy, and he's not even three yet"

I'm not saying you can't learn something from TV - but there are better ways to teach those things, like talking to your child, reading books, and in an ideal world they'd learn about sawmills and mining (or whatever your chosen subject is) that way. However, I'm well aware we don't live in an ideal world, which is why I let my kid watch TV occasionally. I just don't fool myself into thinking it's for his benefit, because really it's for mine.

I started out intending to follow "no screen time until age 2" but when my 1 year old started waking at 5:30 am crying, we started letting her watch Blues Clues out of desperation. Slowly, the rules kept shifting and shifting as her behavior got more and more difficult to deal with, until it seemed like whenever she was home she was watching TV. I finally read "Sleepless in America: Is your child misbehaving or missing sleep?" and learned that for some kids, although it looks like TV is helping them veg out, it is really stimulating them. My daughter was completely over stimulated by preschool and TV. I have since gone cold turkey on TV (she's 2.5) and put her to bed much earlier. She's a totally different person. The first few mornings were rough as she screamed for TV, but we downloaded some audio books from ITunes and that has helped with the transition.

My son who is 2.5 watches no more than two shows a day. He's a bright, active, social little boy who learnt his ABC's by the time he was 21 months and is currently learning to read. Sesame Street definitely encouraged him to learn his letters and numbers as did his parents. But now, he can count to 20 and knows his alphabet so Sesame Street no longer holds his intesrest and he prefers Dora, Diego and other shows. Since he seems to be doing so well academically and has lots of mom and dad time and lots of other playtime I'm fairly relaxed about his tv viewing.

We've borrowed some Einstein DVDs from the library and when we have them, she watches about 30 min max of TV and then is too bored. She's 7 mos.

Most days though, there is no TV...and now we've actually sold our TV set so there really is no TV...

AND NO NO TV IN HER BEDROOM AT ANY AGE until she's 16 and decides to buy one herself.

No tv until at least 2. Our 9 month old has been fascinated by it since he was born whenever he passes through a room with tv on. Really creepy. I want no part in the branding process that most tv shows are actually based on. The research study on Baby Einstein was quite persuasive.

I watched Sesame Street when I was a kid but it is worth noting that at the time it was positioned for much older kids 3-4.

No tv while the babe's in the room. He's eight months old now and from the first time his eyes locked on the glowing screen, its been off while he's around. This is a little hard for the grandparents to grasp, but they've caught on. Obviously, not everyone who has watched tv as a child is developmentally ruined. But not everyone who's mom smoked while they were pregnant has cerebral palsy. I know its an extreme comparison, but if you know that it is bad for your child, why partake? Even if it means that your job is harder? There are moments when I've had to stick my son in his room with some toys just so I can take a sanity break or get something important done. But I will never stick him in front of Dora the Explorer.

Also-everyone here seems to be addressing content, which is important...but they have have for the under-two set that it is the shots per minute ratio that is contributing so horribly to ADD. Babies' brains were not made to watch things at the pace that we do. It is too much stimulation at a time when their neurons are forming crucial connections that are the foundation of their brain.

http://www.whitedot.org/issue/iss_story.asp?slug=ADHD%20Toddlers

To add-

"In the study of more than 2,000 children, Christakis found that for every hour watched at age one and age three, the children had almost a ten percent higher chance of developing attention problems that could be diagnosed as ADHD by age 7. A toddler watching three hours of infant television daily had nearly a 30 percent higher chance of having attention problems in school. "

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http://www.whitedot.org/issue/iss_story.asp?slug=ADHD%20Toddlers