What's Your Opinion On ...?

TV time for toddlers


After advice and opinions on what is considered ‘normal’ TV time for toddlers, more specifically a (soon to be in 2 weeks) 2 year old. I know ‘normal’ can differ from one family to the other, some people allow no TV at all and some have kids programmes on in the background all day.

Recently, I’ve started to get worried about my sons speech, and if the signs are still there in 6 months I will address it to the relevant health professional; but I’m starting to wonder whether I’m not doing something right to encourage his speaking. He can say mummy, daddy and thank you but when it comes to other words he seems to mumble and can’t quite say the word but seems to recognise the sound, for example with numbers 1-10 he will say ‘ooo’ for 2, ‘eee’ for 3, ‘enn’ For 10, and he doesn’t seem to quite put his teeth and tongue into action to make the correct word.

He has lots of toys, and I try and speak to him whilst making dinner etc. But he loves the telly so much, more specifically either peppa pig or Blippi/Halloween songs on YouTube.

After looking into speech delays (very briefly) I seen that some people in my birth club had stopped all TV based on recommendations on from health visitors, I am now trying to implement this, as I was a TV in the background for most of the day if we were in, and actually looking back I COULD have done more and I’m kicking myself.
Today he’s had 20 minute watching this morning whilst I was getting myself and his sister ready for school, he had 30 mins whilst I washed up, put tea in slow cooker and did the hoovering and put a wash on and I’ve just spent 2 hours doing a mixture of playing with his things and colouring in, and he seemed to get really restless and just annoyed with playing, books he was shutting and getting angry at and now he’s happily watching baby bus, as I am writing this and I need to go on the school run anyway. We do get out a lot, for walks to and from school and playgroups on some days, play centres, and when his dad is off on Monday and Tuesday we go further afield as the car is available.

I guess my WYO is, TV and toddlers, can it help or hinder their development and what’s your ‘normal’, it would be nice to see if anyone has had any experience on this and any tips you could throw in. X

comments (18)

  • I think he sounds like he's doing fine. It's easy to worry about development, especially if its your first, but your lo doesn't sound delayed at all.
    To answer the wyoo, I think tv is ok so long as they are doing plenty of other stuff, books, toys, jigsaws and social play etc etc. Too much tv is only a problem when its used to replace all/ most of the other stuff
  • Have you ever seen kids in a nursery or preschool? At 2 they all/most tear arse about from one task or another getting fed-up because the 4th brick keeps falling, or the red paint isn’t painty enough, or there’s too many buttons to thread (or not enough, or too buttony).

    Toddlers are deranged, contradictory, and out to stress you out at every opportunity. How much TV they watch barely registers.

    Just do what you are doing, narrate everything, and speak to your HV: they can give you advice and support and also reassure you it things are progressing well, or if you would maybe benefit from speech and language support.
  • Mine has a speech delay and currently attends speech therapy despite the fact that he has no screen time. He’ll be 3 in January.
  • Please reword as a more general wyoo
  • I had almost exactly the same concerns around 6 months ago when my LO turned 2. She had around 40 ish words and not all of them were very clear and like your toddler, she had a fair amount of screen time. We limited the screen time considerably (she now has around 30 mins a day - some days none at all depending on what we're doing). She has come on loads in her speech, probably has nearer 200 words now (she's 2.5) but not loads of sentences and still is probably a few months behind where she should be. Honestly, I don't know if limiting screen time made any difference - it may have helped increase her vocabulary but who knows, it may have increased anyway. From talking to nursery teachers/health visitors etc, I've realised that the range of 'normal' at this age is massive and speech is one of those areas that can change in the space of just a few weeks. Plus, a considerable number of the words she does know come from TV such as Peppa Pig. She also knows most of her letters which I put down to learning programs on TV, so I think it's a fine balance. Every child will learn differently and some will need more help with speech than others, so perhaps in those cases, it does help to limit screen time.

    Also must mention that my OH's nephew had severe speech delay, he barely said anything until he was 3 and he had no screen time at all.

    Very rambly response! Keep going, when he does start talking properly he won't stop, you're doing fine, every child is an individual and develops as such.

  • DD is 2 and DS is 3, both watch plenty of TV and both don’t stop talking for a moment, have been early talkers and really never faced any speech problems.

    I wouldn’t be so hard on yourself, he’s still only young. I think TV can be very educational. Most immigrant children I know learn English from TV more than anything. Shows on Cbeebies are fantastic and I swear so much of DD’s vocabulary is down to Bing and Peppa.

    I would only limit TV if it causes behavioural problems or if it does your head in. Zero guilt about good quality educational shows otherwise.

  • 2 kids brought up with the TV on constantly. One had very advanced speech for her age at 2 & the other has delayed speech 🤷‍♀️

    I really dont think TV has much to do with it. If anything its helped them both.
  • Not an expert but have a 3 y/o. I would say based on your description, that you're not overdoing the screen time and are overly worried. You're due a HV check in the not too distant future and aswell, if /when they go to nursery, any issues will be flagged by them.

    Regarding TV time, in our sitation it has been no more than 1-2 hours total TV a day I'd say, as my son is in nursery most of the time and some days of course, the TV isn't on at all when he gets home. He has found TV an excellent speech stimulant - singing and interacting with the programmes and pointing out things he recognises. We only watch Cbeebies as the programming is well thought out and plenty to learn in it.

  • I have the TV on constantly in the background,usually ceebeebies. My eldest is 2.5 and can recognise numbers and count to ten, is starting to write a few of them, knows about half the alphabet, all the colours, differences like big and little, dark and light colours and has full conversations with me. At 23/24 months I told my HV I was worried about his speech,or lack of. I felt he was so so behind but all of the above has developed since then. Despite the TV. We did get rid of his dummy which seemed to be the big help for us. But essentially it'll all happen in good time and now I feel silly for worrying when I did. But there's no harm in limiting TV if you think it'll help.
  • I swear my son is smarter due to watching things like Go Jetters and I reckon I can win a few pub quizzes with my enhanced funky facts knowledge.

    I don’t let him watch anything other than Cbeebies and Peppa Pig in French and German.