3 1/2 Year Old Getting a Tv

I would never put a television (or even a computer, for that matter) in a child's bedroom. TV before bed is quite counterproductive to actually sleeping. It gets kids more wound up instead of settled down. When it comes to TV, less is best. No one ever grows up thinking, "I wish I'd watched more TV as a child."

Putting a TV in his room is the worst thing you could do, because when he gets to elementary and High School when he needs to concentrate on getting a head in his studies, you can't get it out of his room. T.V. should be in common areas in ones home. If you do it now you will live to regret it.

I personally wouldn't do it. If this is supposed to help him get to sleep, I think it's a bad habit to start. I just don't see any positives. I really don't put too many limits on TV (and they don't watch much) but there are other TV's in the house they can watch when they do.

We would NEVER have a TV in one of our kids room. Yes it can be tempting...we have 9 and 10 year old boys and they do have some of those hook-up type video games, but we would never allow a TV in their room.

I believe that if you start that, then later on it's a computer (and you know where that leads kids too on their own, eventually) and then as your 3.5yo gets older...he'll want the remote to control himself....what would you tell him then?

I think it's a bad idea. Tell your husband he should be reading to him at bedtime and not watching tv. All the sleep books say it is a bad idea for them to have a tv in their room because it is stimulating and keeps them up.

PLEASE take the great advice from everyone and just say no!

I once heard a pediatrician say that no child needs a TV in their room. That has always stuck with me and I think I agree. Now, to be fair, my son is 2 1/2 and definitely sees more than the recommended amount of TV himself. However, what he sees is in our living room and I turn it off when he is really becoming too engrossed in it. I guess my point is that most kids already see too much TV so having one in his room won't help that issue. Plus, the light from TV (and computer screens, etc.) makes the brain alert and could possibly keep your child from sleeping as well as he could, so having the TV for bedtime cartoons might makelife harder for you in the end. Go luck!

Please don't. I am a developmental specialist who does not hate the tv. My child is addicted to disney princesses and Dora, so I am not speaking as an over-the-top mom. Appropriate amounts of tv are fine, but tv before bedtime as been linked to sleep problems and you are setting yourself up for a slippery slope when it comes to limiting the amount he watches. If you already have 2 tv's in the house (like us) I do not reccomend putting one in his room. Hope this helps!

Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. Seriously -I am certainly not anti-tv, but for smaller children (and all kids in general) it needs to be VERY limited -even cartoons! They need to be creatively playing or outdoors playing and burning off steam. If he has a tv in his room now, he'll still have one in two, four and 6 years -and guess what -then he will be watching whatever he wants (and certainly a lot you don't want him to see). As a former teacher I was horrified at how many of my kids (and how many Spec. Ed kids) had tv in their rooms and were watching REALLY inappropriate shows at all hours once mom and dad had gone to bed (Real Sex on HBO?!?!). Also, your 3 1/2 year old should be comfortable getting himself to sleep without a tv on. Read bedtime stories or get a fan or white-noise machine if that helps him, but I think tv in a child's bedroom (and actually in parent's as well due to study after study showing bad effects on sex lives and sleep patterns)is harmful.

Hi M., our 3 1/2 yr.old son doesn't have a tv. in his room. I don't want him to have it in there,I'd rather he'd play w/his toys in there. He does watch tv. in the mornings,only in the livingroom, when we're getting ready for the day(I'm usually cleaning or some other project) that's my time to get stuff done(like this responce).He usually watches PBS or Nick or the occassional Disney movie. As for bed time,it's a routine,-bath,snack and then a 1/2hr. to an hour of his favorite books,there's about 10 books he likes to have read and even over & over again.Of course the amt. of time to read depends on how late it is,but never less than a 1/2hr. Hope this helps, good luck,take care.

I think it would cause your child more harm in the long run to put a tv in his room at this age than most people realize. Not only is tv very stimulating for the brain but it also brings in the feelings of bed time is for tv not sleeping. His body will have a harder time falling asleep in his bed if he gets used to watching tv in his room. My husband still can't fall asleep without the tv on and he's 30! It drives me nuts! Also too much tv is definately linked to ADD and ADHD behaviors. Falling asleep to books is so much more healthier physically and mentally.

NOPE!! Especially not at 3 1/2 yrs old and not for bed time. Children need quiet time a few hours before bed, not cartoons to keep them wide awake. Kids get sat in front of the TV too much now days anyway, with 24/7 cartoon channels it makes for an easy babysitter. And now we can even watch TV in our car if we want for that 15 min trip to the grocrey store! It's getting out of hand. My hubby and I grew up without a TV in our rooms and our kids will grow up without TVs in their rooms, and we will all survive it too!!

Good luck
S.

It is my opinion that you shouldn't get him started on that crutch unless you absolutely have to. It is also a theory that nightlights or t.v. light at night is bad for your eyesight and could cause us to have to wear glasses.
We had a t.v. in my children's room for a while and I found that as long as it was on, my son wouldn't go to sleep. If the t.v. was on all night long, he would watch it and never go to sleep.
Good luck to you in whatever decision you make!

A lot of no's here...i'm not a YES do it, but I will say my daughter has one in her room and has for the last couple of months. (She is almost 3). She is not allowed to watch it while going to bed. We are VERY strict on that! She has only three channels programed in there(noggin, nick & disney) but I am still very picky about what she watches even on those channels. She also has a dvd player which is mostly what she watches if she uses the tv at all. For the most part she is in the living room with me during the day. She will go in her room if she wants to watch one of her movies. We have had the 13" tv since we got married and just decided recently (since she's became interested in movies) to put it in her room. Just I think the main thing is you & your husband and to be in control of what and when he watches it.

Personally I would never put a TV into a child's room. A bedtime story will suffice. TV viewing should be very limited. Watching TV at bedtime is nto a good way to promote good sleep habits. There are some findings that the fast movement of the cartoons may even promote ADD in children. Do your research and then present your findings to your husband. I do not know of any educators or child behaviourists that would recommend this. V.

There are alot of people who thing that a tv should not be in a childs room. I have an almost 11 year old and a 3 1/2 year old and they both have tv's in their rooms. I don't watch tv through the day so my 3 1/2 year old gets to watch pbs and nick jr all day if I am cleaning. He doesn't watch tv 24/7 but it is on if he wants to see it. Every show he watches teaches him something. At night when my husband gets home he loses the living room tv. I have a tv in our bedroom but who knows if he will watch it or find something else and play with it in my room so he is not allowed to watch tv in my room. That leaves his room. I don't have cable or the satalite dish connected in his room. He only gets to watch DVD's that I choose. And the tv is only on when he is ready for bed. I'm sure you will get alot of different reasons why or why not to put a tv in there but it doesn't effect his education and learning and he is not fat from sitting in front of it. Actually he learned to count to 15 and he is learning his letters from watching tv so it can be good for them. I hope this helps.

I see alot of no's so I decided to write on the yes side. There is no reason why your child can't have a tv in his room, your the one monitoring what he watches and how much, how is that different from the living room? and I have a very active boy (5 now) and getting him to watch 30 mins to an hour of (educational) cartoons at night was the ONLY way to get him still enough to fall asleep (and to those against it, sorry I tried everything, reading for HOURS, sitting by his bed for HOURS, he was 3 before we put the tv in his room) and he did not use it as a crutch as he started to outgrow and realize bedtime was a given. now that he is older he watches 2 cartoons or we read a book, he gets the choice (and alot of times its a book) and then it's prayers and lights out. So talk it over with hubby and maybe try it out or at least figure out something right for your child.

Both of my children had a tv in their room by the age of two watching disney videos. You have control over their tv, so just make sure it is not a baby sitter for you and that they are watching quality programs. My son is 5 now and has the cable hook up. I caught him flipping channels the other night and was watching "Family Guy" on his tv. So the nice thing is that you can block channels with cable and keep your kids from watching undesirable programs. I think that there is nothing wrong with having a tv in your child's room.

Hi, I am personally against putting tvs in children's rooms because I used to work at school in first grade. Through the years we had scores of children that sat in class half asleep because they'd been up late at night watching tv in their rooms when their parents were asleep! I saw this over and over again. There were also children who had seen movies and shows that weren't age appropriate--they especially loved the horror ones.

We did let our three children get their own televisions in their rooms after they became teenagers. Two of them did fine with it, but one of them was guilty of watching tv late at night on school nights! He was also guilty of watching things that he shouldn't have while nobody was around to monitor. Just something to think about...

Hey M.,
I am on the don't do it side. For many reasons already stated by other moms.
Therefore I thought I would tell you why it is bad for your son's sleeping habits.
The human body reacts to light by stopping the production of melatonin. Melatonin is the hormone in our bodies that regulates sleep. The more light the body comes into contact with the less melatonin the body produces. The production of melatonin is what makes your body ready to sleep. So any light, natural or artifical (read t.v.) tells your body that it is not ready to sleep. Hence why your eyes are tired after watching late night movies but you don't fall asleep right away.
A website about this information: http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.huIXKjM0IxF/b.24212...

Anyway my advice to you is to your instict... if you are sitting on the fence don't do it until you are sure. Talk to your husband about WHY he wants to and like another mom said.. list the pros and cons.... If you still aren't sure decide together when a good age would be. Think about how you were raised and how he was raised... does anything sit well (or not). And remember... giving him that cool/cute little tv is going to be A LOT easier than taking it back from him!

Good luck!
A.: mom of Ethan 6 and Kaitlin 2

Please don't let your husband pressure you on this one! Your instincts are right-- a TV in the living room is enough for any child, especially one that young. And if it's just for bedtime, that's all the more reason not to have one-- much research has shown that watching TV before bed has the opposite effect of what most parents want-- we think it's a calming activity, but for many children it just keeps them awake longer and makes it harder for them to sleep. I know it might seem easier to let your son watch TV, but a good book before bed is so much better for him. Stand your ground, Mom! =)

Both of my kids have tv's in their room. It is there space to get away from all the comotion and relax and watch tv if they wish. As long as you limit the amount of time that your child is sitting in front of it. Make sure they are still getting lots of exercise and time away from the tv as well.

I have a five year old that got his tv at age two and my three year old got her princess tv on her third birthday. Both of them know not to touch their televisions. I go in there and do whatever is needed for them. They're really good about it. They of course know the on/off button and how to eject the dvd when it's time to switch but it's all done while I'm standing there. It really depends on how much the parent is going to interact with the child during the course of the day. My kids hardly watch their televisions. Every once in a while they'll want a movie when a friend is over or when the grown ups are out in the living room where the main television is. My daughter doesn't watch it when it's her bedtime because I'm still involved with her bedtime. With my son, we have our good night routine and then I set the sleep timer on his television for 30 minutes and he knows that when it goes off, it means you go to sleep. Unfortunately, the disney ones don't have a sleep timer on it! When my son does watch it for bedtime, I put the volume low as possible so that he has to concentrate to hear it which usually makes him fall asleep. If you decide to put a television in your son's room, please do not think that putting up high is safe. Unless it is mounted to the wall... the higher the television, the harder the fall. Children are more interested in the things that they can't reach so they will climb whatever they can to just touch it. My kid's televisions are around my mid section. I'm only 5'4'' so that's not that high, LOL! I know people say that it's bad for them but they say listening to music is good for them when they sleep... what's so bad with watching noggin and learning to count in your sleep? It really depends on if you're using the television correctly... it's not a babysitter. FYI... the five year old can sound out letters and put them together to sound the word so the television hasn't ruined him. Good Luck on your decision.

Sorry, M., it looks like you're going to have a tough time breaking it to hubby! I am with the majority here: NO WAY. There are far more cons than there are pros! If your husband resists sit down and make a list of the reasons to and the reasons not to. You've got lots of ammo here to back up your choice.

By the way, I am against TV at any age in a bedroom -- it encourages reclusiveness and discourages physical activity.

I am definitely against putting a t.v in your son's room. At 3.5 years old, he is still discovering his world/environment. He knows that he goes into his bedroom at night to sleep... Putting a t.v. in his room may give him mixed messgaes about what exactly he's supposed to be doing. Trust your instincts and speak with your husband. If you're a sahm, you probably spend more time with your son than he does and may have a better idea of his sleep patterns and body rhythm.