16 month old addicted to tv

Question

More specifically, he is addicted to the little einsteins! The first thing he wants to do when he wakes up is watch that show. If I turn off the tv, he'll point to it and scream. He will scream bloody murder until I turn it on. If I happen to watching a show he'll point to the tv... it's getting out of hand. I hate to see him get so upset. He literally will throw himself on the floor! HELP!

Answer 1

Well, buck up and turn it off. There's a reason why professionals say no tv before the age of 2--it's addicting and setting him up for a lifetime of laziness and obesity.  If he throws himself on the floor, it's because he knows how to manipulate you and knows it works. Unplug the tv and pretend it doesn't work anymore. Let him try to turn it on and explain that it's broken and that's the end of the story. If he throws himself on the floor, step over him and walk away. What are you going to do when he is fifteen and wants to have s*x or smoke? Are you going to buy him condoms and cigarettes? I doubt it! Take away the privilege and let him play instead.  

Answer 2

Well when it comes to this you are going to have to put your foot down no matter how much he screams. Break the habit now because it will get harder and harder. No matter what you have to do limit his tv time during the day to maybe 2 hours total max, I know thats harsh for a 16 month old but he shouldnt be watching to much tv now because it'll only get worse as he gets older.

Answer 3

you need to maybe allow him to watch one show. then when you turn it off you can distract him with something else he loves. maybe get away completely by going for a walk. get some toys out and get him started on something else. it will take some time, but if you dont nip it now you may have a harder time later. good luck.

Answer 4

Turn it off. That means your shows as well. It's just become a part of his routine and you need to replace tv watching with a different activity. My son used to watch tv every morning when he got up but when I decided it was to much I just turned it off and encouraged him to play with his toys or do a puzzle. Now he could care less if he gets to watch tv or not. He'd rather play with his toys or do an activity with me. We actually cancelled cable service a few months ago and really enjoy the family time we have now.  

Answer 5

You have to break him up from the tv. Try taking him outside, and doing other things. Just let him cry, sometimes that is all you can do. But don't turn on that tv. In time he will see that his crying does not get him what he wants and he'll stop. It might drive you crazy for awhile ,but just deal with it. Vaccuum, or turn on some music or go in another room while he has his fit. Good luck.

Answer 6

Here's the thing.  3 year olds have fits and they get over them when they realize they're not getting what they want from them.  Turn off the tv and say "no tv right now."  Let him vent for a minute and then tell him that that's enough.  Tell him if he doesn't stop, he will get a time out .  Then give him the time out for 3 minutes .  Tell him he's not being kind right now and he needs to cool off.  If you have to keep putting him back, then do so.  After the time out you might say, " I know you're upset that you can't watch tv right now, but it's not okay to yell at mommy like that."  You won't have to do this too many times IF you're consistent and do it EVERY time.  

Answer 7

Time to go cold turkey -- turn the TV OFF.  Good heavens!  You're the mommy, you see what this is doing to your child, why is this even a question?!  He should be playing and doing active things, not sitting like a potential fatty in front of the tube.

Answer 8

There are many reasons why children that young should not watch TV.  You have started a bad habit that you are going to have to break.  TV Watching is a passive activity that is literally an example of use it or lose it.  That is, neural connections that are not being used while passively watching TV are lost and never regained.  

You cannot give in on this one.  Play with your son instead, show him that there are many better things to do than watch TV - go for a walk, read stories, listen to music, fingerpaint, go to the library, park or zoo.  Simple cooking activities.  You need to be the parent and be a role model.  If you don't want him to watch TV, then you should not watch TV in his presence.

By the time children are two years old, 90 per cent of them regularly spend time watching TV, DVDs and videos, U.S. researchers have found.

The American Pediatric Society recommends children under two should not watch any TV, and previous studies suggest less viewing time may be important in developing vocabulary. The Canadian Pediatric Society also warns that too much TV is linked to problems with attention, learning and aggressive behaviour.

"For the kids under the age of three, the biggest thing is that they should be interacting verbally," said Dr. Sarah Shea, head of the child development clinic at the IWK Children's Health Centre in Halifax, commenting on the study.

"When the TV is on, people don't talk to each other in a meaningful way. They don't look at each other when they do talk, except to say things like, 'Be quiet.'"

At 29 per cent, the top reason parents gave for putting their babies in front of TVs was they believed the programs they chose were good for the child's brain.

The second most cited reason, at 23 per cent, was that parents believed their baby enjoyed watching or it was relaxing for them. Another 21 per cent of parents said it gave them time to get things done while the child was entertained.

For the study in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Frederick Zimmerman of the University of Washington in Seattle and his colleagues surveyed 1,009 parents of children aged two to 24 months by telephone. They were mostly well-educated, upper-income families.

"These results suggest that the widespread notion that parents turn to television only as an electronic babysitter is a misconception," the researchers concluded. More than half of the time, parents said they watched with their children.

"Parents are clearly hungry for truly educational content for children younger than two years. More research is urgently required to determine whether it is realistic to produce genuinely educational content for children younger than two years, and, if so, what it would be."

About 40 per cent of infants by the age of three months regularly watched TV, DVDs and videos, according to the study. At the age of two, 90 per cent of children were watching, averaging more than 1.5 hours a day.

Parents 'suckered in' to educational value: pediatrician

There is no evidence that infants enjoy or benefit from educational or entertainment programming, Shea said. "It's not credible, in my opinion, but it's really good marketing and parents have been suckered in."

For children under three, the best ways to help develop their brain is by talking, reading and playing with them — activities that are less passive than watching TV, she suggested.

Scott Rose of Halifax said he bought a Baby Einstein DVD for his 13-month-old daughter, Sienna, thinking it would be educational for her.

Rose said Sienna likes the colours and sounds on the DVD, and that he believes it is helping her make associations with objects around her. He also makes sure she enjoys lots of real-life play time to help her development as well.

Viewing tied to learning problems in teens

The detrimental effects of TV time on learning may be long lasting, a second study appearing in the same issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine suggests.

Jeffrey Johnson of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and his team found teens who watched three to four hours of TV a day were more likely to show attention or learning problems and were less likely to earn a degree.

At age 14, 33 per cent of teens from the 678 families surveyed reported watching three or more hours a day.

The researchers found TV time was linked to a higher risk of:

Frequent attention difficulties.

Frequent failure to complete homework.

Frequent boredom at school.

Failure to complete high school.

Poor grades.

Academic failure at the post-secondary level.

Results were the same regardless of socio-economic status.

The findings "suggest that by encouraging youths to spend less than three hours per day watching television, parents, teachers and health-care professionals may be able to help reduce the likelihood that at-risk adolescents will develop persistent attention and learning difficulties," the study's authors concluded.

It could be that TV shortens teens' attention spans, and future studies should look at whether promoting other activities like athletics, music or arts helps reduce the risk of learning problems, they added.

sence.  

Answer 9

Unplug the TV.  Take it out of the room and hide it in a closet somewhere.  If he doesn't see it, it'll be less of a temptation.  If you want to watch it, wait until he goes to bed.  Eventually he'll quit screaming over it.  

Answer 10

Change his morning routine for a while, instead of waking up and going towards the TV, read a book in his bedroom or immediately dress him and bring him to the kitchen to eat breakfast, etc.  Do this for a couple of days and pretty soon he won't even remember the old routine of watching the TV right away.  Good Luck

Answer 11

I actually don't see the problem with a child watching 1/2 hour of tv a day. I wouldn't plunk him down in front of the tv for an hour, but turning on the tv for a 20 minute show is not going to kill him.

If you really don't want him to watch it, don't turn on the tv first thing in the morning. Give him an interesting toy or go outside and play.  

Answer 12

Definitely stop the TV altogether. If he behaves that way at only 16 months, who knows how he'll act in a year or more. If he starts screaming, you can always walk into another room and "ignore" his outburst....another method would be to put cold water into a clean squirt bottle, and when he takes a breath to start screaming, spritz him in the face with it! He'll be caught off guard, but it certainly won't hurt him. Good luck!