TV In Kids Rooms? (Why I Said Yes).

What age should a child have a TV in their room?

Should I put a TV in my toddler’s room?

Should there be a TV in my kid’s room or not?

With so much information about how kids are spending too much time in front of a screen, many parents wouldn’t consider putting one in their bedrooms.

I used to be one of those parents.

But this past summer I changed my mind.

For years, I was completely against the idea of putting a TV in my kids’ rooms. 

Sure, I had a TV in my room as a kid, but it only had 3 channels and two were fuzzy most of the time.  I was 10 when I finally got cable TV in my bedroom.

Most kids I knew growing up had a TV in their bedroom.

By the time I had kids, they were making kid’s TV sets in Disney and other popular kid’s themes to match kids’ bedrooms.

For some parents, a TV in the kids’ room is just the norm.

But not me.

I was always against the idea of putting a TV in my kid’s rooms.

But after 12 years of screen-free bedrooms, I changed my mind.

Why?

To preserve my much needed “me time”.

While I like to spend as much time as we can as a family doing more meaningful things, there is a time and a place for TV.

That time is before bed, so they can relax. .

That place is now in their rooms, so mom can relax too.

Why Is It Good to Have A TV In Your Room?

Before I tell you about why I changed my mind about putting TV’s in the kid’s rooms, let’s talk about having a TV in our own bedrooms.

Here are some of the benefits of having a TV in your bedroom.

• You don’t have to watch what the kids are watching. 
• You don’t have to watch what your spouse is watching after the kids are in bed. 
• Your bed is comfier than your couch. 
• You can close the bedroom door if you’re watching something too violent/scary for the kids, so they don’t see it if they get up (and they will) after bedtime.
• When someone is sick, they have a place to rest for the day without exposing the rest of the household to the illness.
• If your kids wake up early and crawl into bed with you, you can turn on TV for them and go back to sleep for an hour. 

Pros and Cons of TV In Kids’ Bedroom

Ok, so there are some good reasons to have a TV in your own bedroom, but what about the kids’ bedrooms?

Shouldn’t they have those same benefits of having a TV in their rooms?

The pros of having a TV in your child’s room are:

• Each kid has their own quiet space to relax and unwind in.
• You eliminate the fighting between siblings about what to watch.
• Older children can watch shows that aren’t appropriate for the younger ones.
• You don’t have to listen to Fancy Nancy, Calliou or any other show that drives you nuts.
• You can watch what you want in the living room before the kids are in bed.
• The kids will be quieter in their rooms, leaving you to get things done (or just relax), in the peace and quiet.

Sounds pretty good, right?

But of course, there are some negative effects of having a TV in kids’ rooms too.

The most common cons of having a TV in kids’ rooms are:

• There will be less interaction between you and your child/children.
• It will be harder to monitor what they are watching.
• It may make it harder to enforce screen time limits.
• They could get into the habit of falling asleep to the TV.
• Watching TV before bed may make it harder for them to fall asleep.
• The experts say kids shouldn’t have a TV in their bedrooms.

Is TV Bad for Kids?

Before I tell you what I have done to minimize this list of cons in my house, we should take a closer look at what the experts have to say about kids and TV, and whether they should have one in their bedroom.

Is TV Bad for Toddlers?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation is that children under 18 months avoid all screens, aside from video chatting.

For children 18 to 24 months, they recommend that parents watch TV with them, and talk to them to help them learn from it.

For children ages 2-5, their recommendation is to limit it to only 1 hour a day and to ensure that it’s a high-quality show.

How Much TV Should A Child Watch?

As for children ages 6 and up, the recommendation is to place consistent limits on screen time, but there is no set amount of time they recommend. 

Instead, they suggest making sure that screen time isn’t interfering with the child getting enough sleep, physical activity or any other essentials to health.

They also recommend that there be specific screen-free times, like meals, and spaces, like bedrooms.

Why Shouldn’t Kids Have TVs In Their Room?

The Study “Bedroom Media: One Risk Factor for Development” found that children with screens in their bedrooms are more likely to watch more TV, will be more at risk for obesity, are more likely to be exposed to video game violence and are more at risk of video game addiction.

Does TV Affect Children’s Sleep?

Another issue that may concern parents considering whether or not to put a TV in their child’s bedroom, is the effect it may have on their child’s sleep.

The study “Presleep Activities and Time of Sleep Onset in Children” found that participants who had more screen time in the 90 minutes before bed went to sleep significantly later than those who had less.

Why I Put TV’s In My Kid’s Rooms

While these studies and recommendations may be enough to stop many parents from putting a TV in their kid’s rooms, it didn’t stop me.

Why?

First of all, I had no reason to worry about the increased risk of video game addiction or them being exposed to more video game violence. We were only putting TV’s in the kid’s rooms for them to watch TV, not for them to play video games.

I also wasn’t worried that watching TV would cause my kids to go to bed later or that it would cause them to watch more TV.

Watching a show or two before bed has always been part of their bedtime routine, and it works for them.

So, what difference would it make if the TV’s they watched them on were in their rooms?

When the kids were younger, having them sit on the couch and watch a show gave me the time I needed to finish up the cleaning for the night.  Then once they were in bed, I could sit and relax.

But at 10 and 12 years old, bedtime started getting later.

Which meant my relaxing time was getting shorter.

That is the reason I decided to finally let my kids have TV’s in their bedrooms.

Because at 8:00 pm, I am off duty. 

Mom is done for the day, and it’s now her time to relax.

So, now, after they have their snack, brush their teeth and get PJ’s on, they go lay in their beds and watch TV. 

While they no longer go to sleep at 8:00 pm, they are in their rooms and quiet, which means I can be in mine with a book or on the couch watching a show, in peace.

I need my “me time” at night, and if putting TV’s in my kid’s rooms helps me get it, I am fine with that.

It’s not selfish.

It’s self-care.

And us moms need that.

How We Minimalize the Negative Effects of TV Before Bed

But what about that con list?

What can we do to minimize any negative effects of having a TV in the kid’s rooms, so we can really enjoy our “me time” in the evenings?

Let’s take another look at that list.

There Will Be Less Interaction Between You and Your Child.

My kids rarely use their bedroom TV’s during the day, and the odd time they do it is time they would have been spending alone anyways.

We still do movie nights.

They still play in the living room during the day.

We still eat together as a family.

We still spend lots of time interacting with each other.

They still come out of their rooms a dozen times for another hug/more water/because something hurts at night.

There has been no impact on how often I interact with my kids from having TVs in their rooms.

As long as you place the same limits on the bedroom TV’s as you would on the living room TV, the amount of time you spend together as a family will be no different.

It Will Be Harder to Monitor What They’re Watching.

My solution to that was an Amazon Firestick.

It’s easy for the kids to use, and it has parental controls.

You can set it up so it requires a password to download any new apps, so you know exactly what the kids have access to.

Both kids have Netflix on theirs, and I can easily check their viewing history if I want to.

They also both have Disney Plus, and while I can’t check their viewing history on that, I know that the content on it is appropriate for them to watch.

Those are the only two apps I have downloaded for them, so I know exactly what they are watching.

If I wasn’t sure, I could also walk down the hall and open their bedroom doors to see.

It May Make It Harder to Enforce Screen Time Limits.

Again, the Amazon Firestick parental controls take care of this.

Not only do the kids need a password to download any apps, but they also need the password to open any apps.

This means the kids have to ask me if they want to watch Netflix or Disney Plus.

They don’t get unlimited access to the TV just because it’s in their rooms.

When it’s time for them to go to bed, just like if they were watching TV in the living room, I turn the TV off and I tuck them in.

Since they can’t watch TV without the password, I have no worries about them trying to turn it back on and sneaking in another episode after bedtime.

Even if we didn’t have parental controls on the Firesticks, I could always cut off their screen times by plugging their TVs into a Smart Plug and telling Alexa to turn their TVs off.

They Could Get into The Habit of Falling Asleep to The TV.

This was actually my biggest concern, and the reason I kept TV’s out of their bedrooms for so long.

I don’t want my kids to NEED TV to fall asleep.

So, I make sure that I know how tired they are when they go to their rooms. 

If it was an early morning and I know that they aren’t going to make it to the end of a 30-minute show, we skip on the TV for the night and they go right to sleep.

Just like we would if they were watching TV in the living room.

Watching TV Before Bed May Make It Harder for Them to Fall Asleep.

I didn’t anticipate that this would be a problem for either of my kids since they already were used to watching TV before bed.

But for some reason being closer to the TV did affect Big Sis. 

The second night of having the TV in her room she was completely wound up after watching her shows and it took her a lot longer to fall asleep than it normally would.

But, before I took the TV out of her room, I decided to give those blue light glasses a try.

The study, “Blue Blocker Glasses as A Countermeasure for Alerting Effects of Evening Light-Emitting Diode Screen Exposure in Male Teenagers” showed that these blue light blocking glasses can lessen the impact that using LED screens before bed has on our ability to fall asleep.

I also put a salt lamp in her bedroom to help keep her relaxed.

Both of these worked. 

While I was skeptical about the blue light glasses, they have been so effective for Big Sis, I ended up buying a pair for all of us to wear in the evenings.

6 months later, we haven’t had any problems with having TV in the kid’s rooms.

Neither of them watches any more TV than they did before.

They still go to sleep good.

And I get my free time.

Most nights the kids are done their bedtime routine and are watching a show by 7:30.

Not only did I get to keep my free time in the evenings, but I gained an extra half hour of quiet time to finish cleaning. 

TV in the kid’s rooms = more self-care time for mom.

And that benefits all of us.

Are there any other pros or cons you can think of for TV in kids’ rooms?  Do you allow it in your house?  What age should children have TV’s in the bedroom?

Let me know on my Facebook post, and don’t forget to follow me for more posts on peaceful parenting to see what else I learn on my journey to live a healthier and happier life.