TV In Childs Room?

I would NOT put one in her room, for various reasons, but you also want to maybe break the habit of her falling asleep in front of the show. If that's her evening routine that's fine, but maybe try and make it just a titch earlier so that she isn't asleep on the couch. I would suggest getting on jammies, watching a show and then going up to do teeth and a story. 2 is when they really start to remember stuff and things you may not want will easily become part of their routine and it will only get harder to break. TVs don't ever belong in children's rooms, in my opinion.

No....
tv to fall asleep is a bad habit.
Even for adults.
I really recommend against it.
Do not ever, put it in her room.

Yes. Break it now. I'm not one of those "no tv for kids" moms, but putting a tv in a 2 year old's room is not a habit you want to start.

None of my children (now 10, 7, and 1) will EVER have a tv in their room. Studies have shown that children that have tv's in their rooms have lower grades in school.

There is no reason to have a tv in a child's room especially as she ages. What if she changes the channel and sees something she shouldn't?

My children read books before bed (even the 1 year old; she looks at the pictures). You can easily start good habits instead of bad by what happens at this early age.

Personally, I am a 'Whatever gets you through the night" kind of Mom.

And if being a softee means soothing your two year old, no, I'd don't think you need to toughen up. It's your job, it will also build her trust of you to be there for herwhen she is needy, she is very young. Comfort is still a huge priority.

Yeah, all three of my kids have tvs in their room. No one really watches them, we tend to all migrate together in the family room. It's nice when one of them gets a hankering for movies (like holin' up and watchin' all the Harry Potter movies to get ready for the new one). They are all teenagers now but had tvs/vcr/dvd when they were younger, too.

As long as she feels safe and is getting the sleep she needs, what does it matter the 'means to the end', you know?

EDIT: I should probably add, this is just one of the ja-zillion ways I've gone against the experts with regards to my own parenting decisions. I have three exceptional kids, excellent students, great all around young adults making good choices, despite the fact they have TVs in their rooms (not to mention laptops, cell phones with unlimited texting, etc., I could go on for hours...)

No tv in the bedroom. She needs to learn how to fall asleep on her own without the tv. Do it now or you could be setting her up for sleep problems for her entire life.

NO to tvs in kids' rooms! There are many reasons not to do it and really none to do it! She needs to fall asleep on her own.

I agree with Tori. Start a new bedtime routine that is much healthier for your child. My son will also never have a tv in his room. Our routine is PJs on, potty, teeth brushing, 3 books, prayers, lights out. My son knows the routine, and also knows that if he gives us any hassle about the routine (i.e. brushing his teeth, going potty, etc.) that he can begin to "lose" books. Not only is it a great way to keep in on task, but it also helps night times to run smoothly! Good luck!

We will never have a TV in our child's room. :)

My boys, ages 6 and almost 13, will never have TVs in their rooms.

Nope! Not in my house. There are several reasons to not have a tv in a bedroom but there aren't any good ones. Start breaking her bad habit now while she is still young.

Please don't do it. My friend's kids have had tvs in their rooms since they were 2 and it has completely taken the place of the wonderful routines that we as parents do with our kids to put them down. It has gotten to the point where the kids don't want story or snuggles or anything else-just leave so I can watch my show. You will start out with the best of intentions but it will be a slippery slope and pretty soon it will take over as "parent".

Break her of the habit now. Take her into her room when she is tired and read her a couple of stories give a kiss and snuggle and then walk out. Falling asleep by herself will be one of the most important skills she can learn. My 9 yo never did and he still struggles so much with falling asleep. He is up much later than he should be b/c of this.

There will be NO TV's allowed in my childrens bedroom.They are very active the occasional couch potato but a child in bed watching TV really?
Bedtime routine is books read aloud any TV time is done during the day or if a movie comes on an hr or 2 before the usual routine i'm a TV watcher certain shows only usual it goes off once everyone leaves the room or I unplug it all day

Do not put a TV in her room. Find a way to cut out the falling asleep in front of the TV habit.
Don't let her fall asleep in front of the TV. Do bathtime, brush teeth, then story time, rub her back , whatever it takes.
Watching TV at bed time is not conducive to good sleep. Tv keeps your brain active not allowing it to wind down.

I would put a tv in her room, there is a tv in each of my daughters rooms and they rarely ever watch them, but sometimes, its a life saver with sleepovers and what not.

I think it's fine for kids to have TV in their rooms. We have a TV in each of the kids rooms. They have a few movies that are totally theirs. I don't want to watch Cartoons on my TV all day so they get to have their own so they can watch in their rooms. I know hundreds of moms will disagree but I would rather they are in their rooms watching TV while playing with their toys and not bringing everything into the LR and making messes.

J is 3 and K is 7.

We do not have a tv in our daughters room. I believe that it is not a good idea, my oldest daughter grew up without one in her room and i noticed that when she was in her room her creativty came out, she read, wrote poems, she would draw ect... So now our 2 younger girls are wanting a television and me and my hubby feels different about the topic, his take is they can still be creative if we moniter and give them guidelines and a schedule on the tv in the room. I still feel as if I do not want the tv in the room because i do not want that to become the hobby.

I had a tv in my daughters room but without cable it had no reception and with cable it just froze all the time so I took it out. My daughter doesn't even like tv yet so it's no biggie for us but I believe there is nothing wrong with a tv in the bedroom. I do agree with Erin though on the light not letting them get enough sleep but there are also studies done that say if you go to sleep before 10pm that 10pm to 2am is the best rem sleep you will get. So as long as it's not on all night or all the time it is fine to have a tv!!!

By the way I am a softy too! If it makes my girls happy I will do it! My girls are 17 months and 5 months. When they are this young I don't see it being an issue... now in the teens yea we need to harden up!!

I have 5 kids ranging in age from 5 months to 19. My older kids have never been allowed to have a TV (and believe me, this has met with much argument, because all of their friends have one in their rooms). But I think having just one TV in the house is the way to go -- if they had a TV, I would worry they would just stay in their rooms, and as teenagers, it is important to me to have them "around" in the living room -- if they start watching TV downstairs, they will start talking to me, being interested in whatever is going on in the house, which, with teenagers, is a good thing :)

If you start now, you will never get that TV out of her room. Separate TVs in the house only encourage families to spend more time apart watching "their" shows. When TV must be on, have something the whole family can watch. It doesn't have to be Barney--it could be a ballgame or something like Dirty Jobs or National Geographic. If it bores your daughter, even better! She might go grab a book or some paper to color on.

I love your idea of reading books instead of TV. I think that's a great plan.

My older two kids (almost 7 and 4 yrs old) have TV's in their rooms but they hardly ever watch them. Sometimes on the weekends we get them a movie to watch in one of their rooms together if me & my hubby are watching an adult movie. I don't think there's anything wrong with it as long as it's done in moderation.

I always said there would be no tv in my daughters room, that changed. I got tired of watching the same shows over and over again. If you limit her tv time I don't think there is anything wrong with a tv in her room.

No - And never will if I can help it. Computer when they hit 12ish and that is enough like a TV for me.

I know you've already gotten a lot of answers and have a new plan (good plan), but I just wanted to refer you to Mary Sheedy Kurcinka's book, "Sleepless in America," if you have any questions about the effect of screen time (TVs, computers, etc.) on sleep. It is best to break the night time TV habit now. My kids are 11 and 14, but for a long time when they were little there was no TV allowed after dinner time unless it was a special occassion. BTW, my boys have never had a TV or computer in their rooms and they know as long as they are living under our roof they never will (much to their dismay!). In addition to the sleep issues, monitoring shows, websites, appropriate material would be difficult with the TV or computer in their room. That may seem like a long ways off to you, but the years go fast! Good luck with the new bedtime routine.

We put a tv in our son's room when he stopped "napping" and started "quiet time" He would watch a Veggie Tale Or Thomas DVD and rest instead of sleeping. I think that was about age 3.
I would more try to work the 'watch a cartoon' activity into the bedtime routine rather than have her fall asleep while watching the cartoon, maybe?

We don't even have a TV that works at the moment (hubby is planning on buying a 56inch flat screen in the next year).

So no, there isn't a TV in my daughter's room, and I don't plan on there ever being one until she goes to college. We are a one TV household. I am totally against the commercialization of childhood, and refuse to let my children watch anything with commercials, or shows that are about selling products. On top of that, they do not have the comprehension skills to decider most of what they are watching till they are closer to 7 or 8.

I do let me daughter watch short, 10-20 minute videos, but never more than once a week. I will admit she does watch rock videos on my hubby's Iphone a few times a week, though, so I am not against pop culture or anything like that, and I can't wait to introduce certain shows to my children, just not before she can understand them.

It all depends on how you want to raise your children. If you don't want her to have the habit of needing to watch TV to fall asleep, then you need to break her of the habit ASAP. If you don't mind such a habit, then let it continue.

The key to all of this is making a decision for yourself and silencing everyone else's opinions. It's your chilld, your house, your life. Do what you want to do, and forget about the rest of us ;-)

We do not have tv's in any bedrooms. Not our and not our son's.

I think it's okay to let her watch a cartoon BEFORE she falls asleep. But I do not think one should be left on while she's falling asleep. That is just setting her up for a lifetime of habits of needing some kind of stimulation like that while she's asleep. IF she continues to fall asleep during a 1/2 hour cartoon, then I'd shorten it to 15 minutes. The idea is to teach her to fall asleep on her own. Trust me, I understand taking away the binky. I did this with my daughter at 2 years 2 months and it was easier than I thought it would be (I think it was harder for me to take it away!!). I think having some kind of stuffed animal or something as a lovey will maybe help too. You may also have to sit in her room, just by her bed, sing to her, etc so she'll get used to falling asleep / getting comfortable going to bed in her bed and not falling asleep with a tv.

I would not suggest getting a tv for her room. I'm not a big fan of tvs in kids bedrooms. We have one in our bedroom (only because we were going to sell it but decided to keep it). It's not hooked up to cable or anything and is only used for DVDs / PS3 games (which we have 1!) Our thought is in the future when our children want to watch tv and if my husband and I want to watch tv also, they can go in there and watch a DVD and we can watch tv in the living room. I have to admit that I'm also hoping in another year or so when my son is into cartoons I can just pop one in Sat/Sun mornings when Daddy is at work so I can get another hour or so of sleep while they are laying next to me watching cartoons!! LOL

yeah, the tv thing will have to stop. its not healthy, and could probably cause sleep disruptions depending on the particular content of the show watched.

tv in a kid's room is just asking for trouble. i mean, seriously. kids should not have tvs in their rooms.
try using soft music, or white noise, or something. else, instead of the tv. theres nothing wrong with having noise to calm her when going to bed, but the tv is stimulating to the brain, so shes not falling asleep because the tv is calming her, shes falling asleep because shes overtired anyway. at 2 she should be going to bed between 7-8 (depending on when shes getting up and her nap schedules).

anyway, good luck. get her off the tv, because its not healthy and its going to turn into a bigger problem later. you are not a bad mother for doing this; you were doing what you thought she needed, but its better to stop now before shes a teenager staying up all night long watching shows that she probably shouldnt be watching ;P

C.:

There is much data that states that TV in kids' s room contribute to less sleep, increased sedentary mindsets, etc. I am of the school that TVs should never be in any bedroom, as the function of those is for sleep or rest.

So unless there is some compelling reason, I would suggest the TV stay out of her room and watching her cartoon on the couch is the way to go.

Updated

C.:

There is much data that states that TV in kids' s room contribute to less sleep, increased sedentary mindsets, etc. I am of the school that TVs should never be in any bedroom, as the function of those is for sleep or rest.

So unless there is some compelling reason, I would suggest the TV stay out of her room and watching her cartoon on the couch is the way to go.

Most of the people I know have TV's in their kids rooms. Not as a babysitter, it is rarely used really, and it's just for quiet time or a 20-30 minute cartoon before bed. I was very upset when I came home to find my husband had put one in our daugther's room when she was younger, but I really don't see a problem with it. My kids watch less TV now than they did before.

Hi Momma-
I would start weening her off the tv. My husband was raised with a tv in his room and I was raised with a radio. We do not have tv in our room and I refuse to have one in there, as well as in any child's room. The reasoning is that there are studies that show that the more light in a kids room, the falling asleep to the tv, etc., keeps them from getting as deep a sleep as they could and they are not as well rested. You could do the stars on the ceiling (use a timer so it shuts off after 30 minutes) and some light music or soothing sounds, like rain or thunder or waterfall. Homemedics makes sound machine/sound machine alarm clocks. Use that with some light, sleepy time music (get the sleep or rest cd's from target) and make the routine for a rock in the chair or a book with the music on, the sound machine on, and the stars or clouds on. The sounds should lull her to sleep in her own bed.
My opinion- break the tv habit before she gets too much older. Allow tv time for down time and afternoons only (or mornings, whichever). When it is near her bed time, make a new routine (one change at a time so as not to give her mental whiplash =) ), and slowly move her into her room for the last 20 minutes of her day. She should be able to adjust. Those sound machines are a miracle worker. My hubby who slept with a tv on for 27 years now sleeps soundly to the pitter patter of rain and thunder.
Good luck mama!
-E. M

A TV is never good in any bedroom. It disrupts natural sleep patterns and brain waves. There have been studies to prove this. A bedroom should be a place of rest and relaxation.

You don't want to condition her to watching TV to relax. Read a book, or give her something tangible that she can explore like a puzzle. Perhaps that can be a project you work on together, so it can't be too easy. She will probably look forward to puzzle time and it's a great way to bond before going to bed.

Great response C.. You sound like a healthy happy Mama!

My kids do have a tv in their room, for the occasional dvd or game on the v-smile, but they do not have cable. But, I do not let them watch it to sleep, I feel a child needs to learn to sleep on their own, without aids, or it could cause problems later.

My husband who is 44 grew up with a TV in his room for bed time - to this day he has trouble falling asleep without it. It's like Pavlov's dogs - he sits in down to watch TV and he falls asleep.

We do not have TV's in any bedrooms. But especially in the kids' rooms. How do you take that away when they're older and you want to be able to monitor what they're watching? It will be tough enough to keep any eye on them with the internet - trust me on that! We have two TV's one in the living room the other in the finished basement. It also doesn't hurt that we all have to learn to compromise in sharing the TV and finding shows that are family appropriate. There's no Jersey Shore going on at out house. bleah!

I don't think kids should have TVs in their room but my hubby thinks differently and when him and his daughter moved in he automatically put a TV in her room. She spent a lot of time in her room with the door closed watching TV.

When our cable company changed to digital they sent only two extra converter boxes and wanted to charge per month for more. We put the converter boxes in other rooms and my SD's TV did not get one. As a result her TV doesn't work anymore for watching hours on end of Disney channel. What a difference! And what a relief for me not having to fight Hubby over it!

She watches an occasional movie on her TV now but spends a lot more time with creative play or in the room with us. I don't recommend starting with a TV in their room because you'll never get it out!

I think it's okay for older kids, my brother and I each got TV's when we were around jr. high age. We weren't allowed to watch it excessively though. For our own kids, I think we'll play it by ear. They will NOT have a TV for many years though (right now they are 2, 4 and 7.) I don't want my kids to think it's okay to watch TV whenever they want instead of spending time w/ family, playing outside or doing other things. JMO!

Not TVs in any bed rooms in the house, now or ever. I want to be able to control my kids' TV time, and the bedroom is for sleeping, not for watching TV. That's a habit that I don't want to start with my kids.

Break the nighttime tv habit now! She needs to learn how to fall asleep on her own, and if she doesn't learn soon, it could be too late, and she'll have a lifetime of sleep problems.

I wouldn't put a tv in a bedroom, ever. I wouldn't put it in our bedroom, because it would mean that I would read less, and it could mean less intimacy. I wouldn't put it in my kids' rooms, because I want to limit the amount of tv they watch, and be able to monitor what they watch.

We've got our tv in our family room and the kids get 30 min. a day of "screen time" on weekdays, and 2.5 hours on weekends. They spend time reading for fun, and playing with each other or their friends, rather than zone out in front of the tv all the time.

I think you are a good mother for asking this question, and I hope you have success.

We do not have TVs in any bedroom in our house. We fall asleep with books.

My hubby was VERY against this early on in our relationship and I was undecided...and my sister (we are very close) was WAY for it...and this is how it played out for us...

First we have the first 'set' of boys, my SS's...hubby's the Dad, his rules: no TV in the bedrooms, especially when they were little (5 & 2)..1.this lasted until SS's were 16 & 13, when my sister bought them a TV/DVD combo for their b-day present...hubby was OK with it, still not allowed cable in their rooms though! Boys are now 19 & 16...and it's never been a problem.

Second 'set' of boys, my nephews, have fallen asleep to TV their whole life...now 15 & 11...not really a problem? get good grades, play sports and music, just annoying because when they spend the night they always leave our big TV in the living room on!

Third 'set' of boys, me and hubby's boys, now ages 7 & 5, just barely got one in their room a couple weeks ago, still no cable but it's our old TV/DVD combo from our bedroom, we slightly upgraded to a mounted flat screen TV hooked up to the XBOX (that doubles as a DVD player)...this was hubby's idea :) he is trying to keep the kids out of our bedroom...because when someone is on the living room TV (like Dad) the kids can use our TV for cartoons (we have cable in our room) or play XBOX, when big boys are playing the big boy games in the living room. Now they can watch a movie in their room every once in awhile instead of our room. They do not need it/use it to fall asleep but on the occasional weekend we let them start a movie later in the evening...but I let them stay up fairly late on Fri and Sat....both good kids..no sleeping problems.

For the record, I put the stereo on to go to sleep!

My children(6 and 3) do not have tvs in their rooms. However, if it works for you and your daughter, then that's fine. I'm not sure what the big deal about tv these days is all about. My kids have learned a lot from watching educational shows and my youngest wouldn't have a nap in the afternoons without falling asleep watching a video. Everything in moderation.

Before I read responses, I was going to say 'what's the big deal as long as you are in charge of when the tv is on and off in her room?' But now, I am thinking that once it's in there, and once your d. gets older, it'll be harder to remove it from her room and control her use of it (imagine when she's older and goes to her room to do her homework, keeping the tv on...)

So I agree with the poster who said stick to the routine you have if you don't mind it, get her off the bedtime tv show if you don't like it. Our son rocks every evening at bedtime and gets to watch whatever it is husband is watching (generally Dirty Jobs or Mythbusters). I'll tell him "next commercial we're going to bed." and stick to it. Before naptime, we rock and he lays on me and we watch one of his shows (since dad's not there with remote in hand). When the show's over, he goes to his room to nap.

we got them a TV for christmas when they were 5. they don't get to watch it unless they're sick and at home, or during summer for 30 min (timed) before bedtime. they follow the rules.
i think you should wait a few years before you can be successful with implementing rules, but still get her a TV.

My daughter does have a TV, VCR, and DVD player in her room but she rarely watches it. When she does turn it on it's usually to watch a movie on the VCR or DVD player. She would much rather play with her toys or draw or play with her kitten.
Like, Meaghan and Tori said, start a healthy bedtime routine for her. For example ours is after teeth brushing, potty, and face washing she lays down in bed and we read a story and then talk about the day before prayers and then kisses and hugs. We've had the same routine every night all her life and it works really well.
My husband on the other hand always watched TV until he fell asleep as a kid and now he can't sleep if the TV isn't on all night. He will wake up out a sound sleep if I turn it off. It's to the point where we will lie in bed together until I get ready to fall asleep and then I will go and sleep in the spare room because I can't sleep with the lights and sounds from the TV.

Will not allow my kids to have a TV in their room. That is the one place they can go and decompress without gadgets and other distractions. My 5 year old calls it her own little quiet spot in the world. She loves to read and color in her room. It's their place to recharge.