Hot topic: How much times does your kid get in front of the TV? At our house we use it as down time. If Andrew clearly needs a rest from physical or tactile play, we let him watch a show. Usually once in the morning, and once in the afternoon. Current favorites are Thomas the Train, Bob the Builder, Curious George, Pingu, Word World and Super Why. On occasion, if he's having a really hard day and needs some snuggle time I'll let him watch a little more. So I'd say 1 hr daily for sure here. But look at that photo - see how much he loves watching his shows! I hear him laughing at the tube when I'm in the other room. So it can't be all that bad.
We got into the habit of watching a half hour of some family show in the evening - it started as a potty training reward for Xander, and is now a general "if you've been good" wind down before bed. So a half hour there, and once in a great while another half hour show somewhere else during the day, especially if I have to make dinner and James isn't around. A bit more when we get a new baby signing time DVD to teach them the signs. And then about once a week we visit friends to play games and the kids get to have a TV free for all when we're there - lots of playing, but usually a couple episodes of some favorite shows while we're there too. So I'd say on average probably balances out to about an hour a day.
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