Any tips on how to stop my daughter watching so much tv?

I don;t want to sound too frank, but for goodness sake, turn the darned thing off. A 7 year old can only watch TV if you let her. Don't "try" to get her to do something else, make her! I mean this in a positive way....get yourself involved in an activity with her like a craft, baking, facials, nailpainting, quilting. If she is given fun options with parent time built into it, I can almost guarantee she will choose to be with you, especially if you will soon be tied down to a baby. If she still opts for the TV as opposed to fun mother/daughter time, simply tell her No TV means No TV and then turn it off. If she cries for an hour, so be it. I used to be a lenient Mom, but it lead to more problems than it solved...took me a while to see it, but it is true. I am now a firm ground rules Mom and guess what, we have no spanking and no screaming. The kids have learned the rules are the rules because they are enforced. Empower yourself as a loving parent and turn off the TV.

Don't be your daughter's friend, be her parent. It's the TV now, what will it be next? smoking, taking your car without permission, money from your wallet? Parenting is a JOB - not a cruise. Step up to the plate, set some boundaries and FOLLOW THROUGH. Make a chore chart - let her watch TV after she completes her chores. Make a list of other activities. After she completes those she can watch TV. Make her read a book and write a little report, then she can watch TV. Every kid tries this stuff - it's normal, but if you let her get away with this, she's just going to keep pushing the boundaries and once that little baby comes and you are tired, she's really going to push the limits and then you won't have the energy to deal with it and she may relate the change to the baby, not her behavior. You can probably have this situation resolved in a week or less if you put your foot down.

Throw out the TV

or

Turn off the Cable.

When I was growing up in the frozen north when it got dark at 4:00pm, we had cable tv. But around March, when there was a bit of sun still after school, we magically lost cable (and where we lived we got 1 TV channel without cable), and we kids went outside to play.... then around October, the Cable started working and we would watch again. Those few months were never enough to become addicted, and other than Saturday morning cartoons, we prefered to do something other than watch TV.

These days, my kids complain about nothing to watch with 117 channels. However we have used the "no electronics" as a punishment. My son gets a speeding ticket, and it's "no electronics" for a month.... and its the most joyful month of the year. He becomes a human again, actually eats supper with us, and.... dare I say it.... actually speaks to us!!!!

In hindsight, if my oldest was 7, I would disconnect the electronic babysitter (aka. TV), connect it during a couple of months during the summer (cuz now I live where its nice in the winter but HOT in the summer), and live the rest of my life TV FREE!

This really isn't that hard. You just have to decide how much TV you are comfortable letting her watch, and then shut it off when she has reached the limit. Make sure she knows how much time she gets. It might be easier to tell her how many shows she can watch, so she can pick her favorites, instead of just sitting there for two hours. Keep in mind, it's not your job to entertain her. Playing games and drawing with her are great, but a little boredom is a great way to kick-start her imagination. You should expect some whining at first, but you need to remain calm and firm. Eventually, she will realize that the whining isn't going to get her anywhere, and she will stop. Good luck!

Start by making New Year's Resolutions with your kids. (It's still early enough to get away with this.) My son is also 7 and "LOVES" to watch TV, and play video games.

He and I sat together and wrote out all the things he loves to do. Play with the dog, read books, time with Mommy, time with Daddy, sports, TV, Video - you get the picture.

Then we made a "reward chart" that allows time for each of these based on how he does during the week. I.E. eat the vegetables, put the cereal bowl back in the sink, stuff that is easy for a 7 year old to do.

Bigger tasks - cleaning his room without being asked - get more points.

Then, assign point values and the child can "choose" an activity to "spend" them on.

It's kind of fun, and we added stickers and stuff.

So, less TV (unless I'm in a point giving mood - which does happen for special shows like "high school musical" which we watch together...), more "other" activities and less fights.

That doesn't mean that there are not still "but MOM" times, but they are a lot less than they used to be.

Good luck!

You could try what my parents did with me and my brother when we started watching too much TV. They bought a timer and set it up on the TV where she could only watch during certain hours. After that, the TV would shut off and would NOT come back on unless you program it to do so. Go to Best Buy or Circuit City and ask a sales rep about it. They will prob be able to show you more advanced ways to get what you want for your daughter and your TV.

Yes. Aside from an off and on button, there is a plug. Yank it out. You need to be WAY more strict from her, and if you say no tv, she should be listening to you. You have to restrict her viewing, because it is indeed an idiot box - and you don't want a zombie little girl. Restrict her to an hour a day at this age! Maybe a bit more on weekends because of cartoons. Don't use the tv as a babysitting device to make things easier for you. You and your husband need to do other activities WITH her, not just tell her to do other stuff. She's only seven, and she needs you to lead her.

make a time table and slot TV in for between 30 mins to 1 hour try sticking to it. it'll be hard even harder while your pregnant, during the rest of the time try get her to help around the house little things, let her help bake with you. talk to her about the baby and how she'll be a great help getting nappies, clothes etc. Try and get her out of the house, go swimming on Saturdays and Sunday, that's good during pregnancy too. sit down with her and talk about different activities and put them in the time table.

i work in a school and a lot of parents ask this question, but you have a better chance with been pregnant as most child that age like the responsibility of having some one younger to help look after.

Have her earn her TV time. Remove it from her room, and only have one in the house. It will not hurt everyone in the house to play trouble, sorry, jenge, or another family game. Sequence is a good game for everyone to play as well. Besides you can have great bonding moments that you all will cherrish for the rest of their lives! Making memories with your child(ren) are something that are the best gift.

They can make good grades for an hour of TV or clean the kitchen for a 30 minutes of TV. Maybe clean the restroom for a movie. Join a sports team...Every practice they get an hour of practice they get 30 minutes of TV time. Good Luck...let me know how it goes..merjb

Restrict how much TV she can watch eg only 1 hour/day during the week. That's what my parents did to me. But then in my day there weren't so many computer games and I was playing out with my friends all the time. Get her involved in some after school activity.