Since then I use it whenever I need to pay my full attention elsewhere (like cooking). I’ve also discovered the iPhone nanny, as well, using it when his toys and other distractions don’t work out in public.

It’s my belief that TV, per se, is detrimental for all the sexist, violent imagery embedded in advertising and programming and so for that reason I don’t let him watch TV by himself. But I do plop him down in front of a Pixar movie and happily walk away (although I know sexist imagery and hetero-dominant messages abound in those, too, to a large degree).

Thanks to you (and everyone else) for the dialogue on this.

Ideally children would have *both* parents fully engaged and balancing TV/exercise and educational activities. But we don’t live in an ideal world and frankly the sooner children learn life is about compromise and fitting in what you want with what everyone else wants, the better.

Besides, which is safer: I have my daughter crawling round under my feet whilst I’m trying to cook the family dinner (involving sharp vegetable knives and carrying saucepans of very hot water) or she sits safety in front of the TV out of the way? Dad, by the way, is not yet home from work, neighbours one side are still at work and neighbours the other side are too elderly for regular babysitting.

I feel that those who deprive their children of TV and/or sweets are storing up problems as eventually children will grow up, rebel and overdose. Good parenting is about balance and preparing children for adulthood. Any study that makes parents feel hopeless or guilty has failed – parents need practical guidance, not idealistic theories that don’t reflect real life.