There’s no excuse for using a television as a babysitter, unless you’ve lost control of the TV. We all need a break now and then and TV isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is important to know how to control the television, without letting it, and your kids, control you.

Here are a few tips to help make it easier for you to keep the kids playing with their toys and reading books rather than watching mind-numbing TV for hours.

1. Leave the TV off. If you set the example of TV running continuously, you can expect to have kids who watch whatever is on without thinking of alternatives.

2. Schedule program times or use your Tivo to play particular shows. It’s better to have a show in mind rather than letting the TV run. You have more control over what type of show and how long the kids will watch. You can get them to agree to “one Backyardigans,” but it’s harder to turn a show off halfway through when you sense they have had enough.

3. Out of site, out of mind with the family TV. Make you family TV or TVs hard to get to. Most families make them the center of the family room or living room. If you put the TV in a place that isn’t the most comfortable, there’s less incentive to hang around there. Keep TV out of kids’ rooms.

4. Never serve food at the TV.

5. Make your kids ask you if they can watch TV. Rather than allowing them to watch one hour per week, they will get a better idea that watching TV is a privilege rather than an expected dose they should expect every day.

6. Choose quieter shows. Stay away from scary shows or violence, especially with small kids. You probably notice that your kids are more wound up or cranky after watching violent shows, a reaction that shows up in research studies.

While the average American child watches TV 3-4 hours per day, nothing says that your kids have to watch any at all. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents of kids 2 and older to let them watch no more than one to two hours daily. The AAP recommends that kids under 2 watch no television at all.

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Tags: Advice on raising kids, Television

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 4:47 PM and is filed under Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.