Do you think it is wrong to put a tv in a 2 year olds bedroom?

Question

My son is 2 1/2 and he is scared of being in his bedroom. My wife still rocks him to bed and when he falls asleep she puts him in his bed. He gets up in the middle of the night, every night, cries and wants to sleep with us or on the couch in the living room. He says he is scared. This all happened right after halloween when he got scared seeing kids with scary masks. I want to put a tv in his room, my wife doesn't want to. I think it will help him be less scared. He already has two night lights in there.... What do you think?

I don't mean letting him have access to cable- I mean putting a tv/dvd player in there for him to watch a child friendly movie to soothe him

Answer 1

My kids have a TV in their room. I allow them to choose one dvd to watch at bedtime and I check on them periodically to make sure they are laying down quietly watching it and i turn it off when they are asleep. i don;t think there is anything wrong with it, however the above posters are right when they say it can interrupt sleep so i make sure i turn it off as soon as they are sleeping and viola.

Answer 2

honestly, all of these people have no clue what they're talking about.

My now 3 1/2 year old has had a tv in her room since she was 1 1/2. No cable, just dvd's. She is not 'addicted' to tv, she does NOT need it to fall asleep every night, nor is she spoiled.

If YOU are the boss and not your child, there is no problem whatsoever with a tv in the room. My daughter has not ONCE turned it on by herself without asking first, and she can watch educational dvds while shes playing with her toys. Might I suggest baby einstein for naptime/bedtime... and most new tv's these days have a timer, have it shut off after about 45 minutes once you know your son is asleep.

Not that the TV is going to solve your issues though, my daughter went through the same phase. What you need to do is stay in the room with the lights off (nightlights on) and the door shut and talk to your son then about what is bothering him. It might be a shadow on the wall cast from a nightlight, tree branches hitting the window, house noises, etc. That way you know exactly what is bothering him in his room & making him afraid, and you can fix it asap.

Answer 3

It has been proven that watching TV within an hour of bedtime actually causes trouble sleeping. When my 3 year old watches a movie or TV before bed, he almost always wakes up crying with a bad dream. Any child expert I've heard always is against TV before bed and TV in bedrooms of young children. As for his fears, the best way to get him back to sleep quickly is just to go in and spend about 1 minute reassuring him that everyting's OK and Daddy and Mommy are here to keep him safe. Don't take him out of bed or rock him, it will just wake him up more and give him more attention when he should be sleeping. My son uses these tactics to get attention all the time. The first few times, I believe him and after that I think he's just manipulating me to get me in his room! After I get a little stern with him and tell him it's time to go to sleep, he stops his efforts at getting nightime attention and we all sleep much better!

Answer 4

Wow, I'm reading some of the other answers on here, and I'm disgusted that people use the TV to babysit their kids at night. Really people, have you ever heard of shutting off the TV, acting like parents and READING to your children?!
Anyway, I'm sure your intentions are good, but PLEASE don't put a TV in your son's room. Child - friendly or not, you're only asking for trouble if you put a TV in there. I cringe when I hear about kids having TV's in their room, especially young children. It's just a phase, and he'll get over it. Keep reassuring him that nothing bad will happen to him, and let it run its course.
Kids often have trouble sleeping when something is bothering him. My son, who is now three, had trouble sleeping over the summer after his grandfather died (they were very close). The best thing you can do is keep assuring him that you love him and you won't let anything bad happen to him.
How about getting a (not too scary) Halloween mask and, during the day (NOT at night) let him watch you put it on and take it off? Let him try it on, too. Remind him that on Halloween, other kids were wearing them to look scary, but they were just pretending. Kids your son's age usually can't separate reality from fantasy, but it might help a little. Good luck!

Answer 5

I don't have any kids of my own, but I do watch a girl the same age as your son. I personally don't like the idea of her having a TV in her room. Ever since her mother put a TV in her bedroom, that's all she wants to do. I try to get her to look at books, color in coloring books, or play with a toy, but she insists on watching a movie all the time.
Sure, it may distraction your son from thinking about his fears, but it really isn't a good idea. I always found stuffed animals comforting when I was young. I suppose you should find some stuffed animals your son likes and put them in his bed at night, and possibly an extra night lights. A TV really is a bad idea for a boy so young.

Answer 6

I think it's a bad idea. You will create a dependancy and then he will ALWAYS need a movie to fall asleep. He is most likely just going through a phase and if you wait it out a few weeks, things will settle back down to normal.

Stay consistant with his bedtime routine and DO NOT allow him to sleep on the couch or in your bed. When he cries, just go in and rub his back, tuck him back in, offer him a sip of water, etc.

Perhaps spritzing a bit of mom's perfume on his blanket or favorite stuffed animal or leaving his bedroom door open will help him feel more secure.

Answer 7

i imagine maximum youthful ones favor to have their own room... yet many don't have that luxury, and they get by ability of in basic terms positive. My neighbor's daughters share a bedroom and it really is rarely been a huge mission for them. in case your females do not look loopy about the idea, tell them that it would want to easily be non everlasting. faster or later they are going to probaby have their own rooms back. interior the intervening time, make it sound like an exhilarating experience! you'll get them enthusiastic about it by ability of adorning the hot shared room. Take the girls paying for and enable them each and each and every %. a sparkling bedspread and some ornamental products to make their aspect of the room their own. you may also get imaginative with the furnishings association, and set up the room so there are 2 different sections. A folding demonstrate or a curtain of beads might want to also help divide the room into separate parts, so that they each and each and every have their own particular area. wish it extremely works out for you! good success!

Answer 8

I think the bigger issue is that he can't fall asleep on his own. One minute mom is holding him and the next he wakes up alone in a dark room and mom nowhere in sight. I'm thinking he says he's scared because of that, Halloween may have been the trigger, but it's the aloneness that he continues to be scared of. A TV isn't a good idea...he'll learn real quick how to work it and I'd be afraid he'd be climbing up, messing with it and it could fall....maybe that's just my paranoid side! Plus, TV is too stimulating before bedtime, if you did put one in his room it shouldn't be used before he goes to sleep...it would be counterproductive. Honestly, he needs to be able to lay in his bed and fall asleep on his own, until he does he'll keep doing this. Falling asleep is a step towards independence and you need to teach him that. It will be pretty painful for the first couple weeks(or month!), but you'll be glad you did it. Good luck!

Answer 9

I won't put a tv in my 13 year olds room! And I never rocked my babies to sleep. I rocked them until they were sleepy, then put them in bed all cozy and relaxed and let them fall asleep on their own.By 2 years of age I hugged them, kissed them and said goodnight. No rocking. If he doesn't learn to fall asleep on his own, he won't know what to do if he wakes up in the middle of the night. He needs to learn how to self soothe, or you will be up in the middle of the night for the rest of his childhood!
Try letting him pick out new sheets for his bed, something he really likes, and let him know they will keep him safe at night. I reminded my kids constantly there is nothing to be afraid of in their rooms, it is their special place. If they woke up scared, I sat with them til they calmed down, tucked them in again, and went back to my own bed.
You will have to find what works for you, but stand firm in what ever decision you make! Good luck!

Answer 10

No, I wouldn't put a tv in his room. You will never get the kid to sleep. If its the dark he's afraid of then put a nightlight in his room. I wouldn't put a tv in my kids room until they were atleast in highschool. The bedroom is a place for sleep, if theres a tv in there then they will surely go to bed, but they will not sleep. When I was about his age I used to get put to bed and then alittle while later I would come out of my room, so my mom just set the vacuum infront of my door and that was the end of getting up at night. I wouldn't leave my room and I would go to sleep.

Answer 11

I think it's a bad idea. There's much scarier stuff on television...Especially for a two year old. Also, he could get into the habit of leaving the TV on all night, which can keep him up and not give him a good night's sleep. Just leave a light on very dim in a hall or bathroom.