Television sets at Best Buy (Sun photo/Barbara Haddock Taylor)

Betsy of Fluffy Windover's Diary discusses TV time in this week's Toddler Thursday:  

We don’t have cable at our house. It’s not because I’m anti-TV; it’s just because after Edwin was born I stopped working full-time, and cable was the first luxury to go. I like to think that this means Edwin watches less TV than his cable-watching peers. But that is probably not the case. He watches more TV, DVDs, and YouTube clips than I’d like to admit. In fact, I was overcome with joy when he developed the attention span to sit through an entire episode of something. It meant that I got to fold laundry and clean the bathroom! (Wow, I really need to get out more.)

Curious George keeps him occupied while I take a shower in the morning. Then there may be some Dinosaur Train on in the background while he plays. I sometimes turn on the tail end of Sesame Street so he can catch Elmo. After dinner, he loves watching clips of Bert and Ernie on YouTube. (Seriously, if you have a toddler I highly recommend classic Sesame Street clips on YouTube. It is comedy gold for toddlers! And their parents.) Mister Rogers also holds his attention (and they offer full episodes on PBS.org). He still requests his Baby Einstein DVDs, and I often set him up with one when I need to get something done.

I always feel a little guilty about it, but he watches less than the 2 hour limit recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics for children over 2. (They don’t recommend TV for children under 2, but that must be because nobody there has ever had a child under 2 and needed to take a shower or unload the dishwasher.)

So how much TV does your toddler watch?