Babies & TV

[princesspumpkin]

Nope, I don't see a thing wrong with it. What I do find irritating is mothers that have nothing better to do than criticize and critique other mother's parenting.

Ditto

 

[CEDmom]

We didn't adopt DD until she was 9mo but she used to watch Baby Einstein videos as a baby. Isn't wasn't a daily thing but I didn't put them on a few times a week. It allowed me to do things like wash the kitchen floor and do some laundry without her fussing. She's now a bright, happy almost 7 yo who spends more time playing and reading than watching TV.

 

[TENIA66]

i haven't read a word except the original post, and i want to say: the right kind of television is a good thing, it can't substitute for mommy and daddy love but when you need a safe item to occupy their time while you wash dishes or need both hands baby einstien, seseame street, mickey mouse, and yes i hate to say it, BARNEY that *(&*& purple dinasoaur can be great....my 12 yr old, 6 yr old and now my two year old all spent time with them in tv land and i'm greatful that they did instead of finding their way into poison, electrical outlets, outside, fire or water.....i never left them unsupervised to the point that i would put my infant in the shower with me just so i could watch her and take a bath!!!! i've losened up some and my husband doesn't work in the mines anymore so occasionally there;s another parent present.....but sometimes that *()*( purple dinosaur can entertain when mommy is pooped, sick, or just lazy........sorry, don't flame me....by the way, the two kids who are in school are A students to i guess elmo didn't fry their brain too badly............

 

[Kahana-ri]

DS turn out just fine with Baby Einstein - even before age 2

 

[diznygirl]

I let me kids as babies watch tv, too, but nowadays there is concern about using bouncy seats. Apparently, exersaucers are not good for kids because they impede walking and development.

Nooo! Not the exersaucer! I couldn't have survived without my exersaucer!

Where are these experts? I'm gonna have a little talk with them!!


Now - back to watching Dexter's Lab with my son.

 

[Tinijocaro]

As long as the baby isn't sitting ther all day I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Also the no tv before 2 rule only works if you only have 1 child.

I followed that rule with all 4 of mine, but it was closer to 3 before I let them actually sit and watch a show. Little ones are easy to distract.

 

[MELSMICE]

I'm probably the worst parent............I used to pop in a video & put my kids in a play pen/yard full of toys while I would try to get things done around the house. At least I knew where they were & that they were safe!

The experts would have a field day with me!!!

 

[kidshop]

I have a friend who invited me over yesterday for a cup of coffee and to chat. While there she said give me a minute and I'll set the baby up. She then put her baby in her bouncy seat and turned on a tape of Sesame Street. I didn't know what to say. The baby is 4 1/2 months old.

Anyone else besides me think thats totally wrong?

How long was your visit and did the baby do anything other than watch tv? Maybe it is an occasional thing, but some parents only have one tool in their arsenal, unfortunately that may be 'setting up in front of the TV'. I have 2 kids (soon to be three) and I have always used tv to be a last resort for desperate times. I have not put an infant (under 1 year) in front of the tv for the express purpose to occupy them. I would have put the baby in the bouncy at my feet with a toy, while chatting with my friend. I knew someone who 'set her baby up' in the swing in another room in front of the tv all the time (it seemed to me).

I was chatting with a lady last week who was telling me about a visit with her 3 y/o grandson. All he did was watch the Batman movie over and over and over. She said she watched it 50 times! That's all he did and all he wanted to do. It 'worked' so his parents stuck with it I guess. THAT is what you want to avoid with the tv.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

One of the kids I baby sat for loved the theme song of Buffy the Vampire Slayer of all things. Another fav and this one struck me as odd was Iron Chef

 

[southernbella]

Well, vote me into the bad Mommy club too! I have let both of my DD's be distracted my tv show while Mommy gets some work done. Otherwise, we would live in a bigger pig sty than we do now .

My DD's like the usual cartoon fare, but we also watch alot of how things made shows. Our new favorite is "How is made" were they take everday things you use & show how they are made start to finish. Animal Planet is big in our house too.

I personaly grew up in a household where tv was never restricted. I could wait anything I wanted to. I think I turned out alright. My only downfall is I am a wealth of useless trivia (expecially pop culture).

Sbella

 

[dcgrumpy]

I followed that rule with all 4 of mine, but it was closer to 3 before I let them actually sit and watch a show. Little ones are easy to distract.

Well I don't think it's fair not to let my 3yo or almost 6yo not watch tv becuae I also have a 1 1/2yo. I have a small house so all three of them are usually in the same room during the day.

 

[va32h]

I let me kids as babies watch tv, too, but nowadays there is concern about using bouncy seats. Apparently, exersaucers are not good for kids because they impede walking and development.

Any "baby containing device", be it bouncy seat, swing, exersaucer, or even mommy's arms, will impede physical development if the child is never or seldom given an opportunity to play freely on the floor.

Of course there are times when the parent needs the child to be safely contained in one spot, and no device is intrinsically bad.

But it's just common sense that a child who is never given an opportunity to roll around, crawl, pull up, walk, isn't going to just magically start doing these things one day.

 

[nja33]

My 3 month old nephew likes Star Trek, the Yankees, and just about anything else that comes on TV. No, he doesn't watch it all the time but if we have it on while we're feeding him he will watch as well as watch the dog or someone who walks by. Do I think there is anything wrong with that? No but maybe that's because I don't have kids and am still a "kid" myself. I also don't think it's wrong that my 18 month old cousin watches TV. When I baby sit, I usually bring over a Disney movie and will sit her in her Dora chair in front of the TV. Does she watch the whole movie without moving? Nope, not at all. After the first 5 minutes she's up, moving her chair, grabbing some toys to play with. Ocassionally she'll go back to watching the movie but for the most part it's her background noise. Oh, and did I mention she can already count to 10?

 

[Bob Slydell]

Any "baby containing device", be it bouncy seat, swing, exersaucer, or even mommy's arms, will impede physical development if the child is never or seldom given an opportunity to play freely on the floor.

Of course there are times when the parent needs the child to be safely contained in one spot, and no device is intrinsically bad.

Bolding added by me.

I agree with what you've said, but I think the bolded part is the part people tend to skip over when they jump into a tirade about how evil bouncers (or TV, etc.) is for kids. It's often assumed that if you put your child in a bouncer or exersaucer that the kid spends most of their life in there, not that it's used sparingly. Most anything in moderation is normally not detrimental.

 

[golfgal]

Bolding added by me.

I agree with what you've said, but I think the bolded part is the part people tend to skip over when they jump into a tirade about how evil bouncers (or TV, etc.) is for kids. It's often assumed that if you put your child in a bouncer or exersaucer that the kid spends most of their life in there, not that it's used sparingly. Most anything in moderation is normally not detrimental.

I agree. DS14 LOVED his bouncy chair. It had a toy bar on it that he would play with. He wasn't in his bouncy chair all the time, but he was in it a lot. He sat on his own by 3 1/2 months, crawled at 5 months and was running by 8 months. I don't think the bouncy chair impeded his walking. They didn't have exersaucers when he was a baby.

 

[Maleficent13]

What Bob (and va32h) said. No toy or device is intrinsically bad...and no parent looking for 10 minutes to pee, eat or take a shower is intrinisically bad either.

 

[puffkin]

I personaly grew up in a household where tv was never restricted. I could wait anything I wanted to. I think I turned out alright. My only downfall is I am a wealth of useless trivia (expecially pop culture).

Sbella

You sound like me I can't BELIEVE the amount of useless pop culture knowledge that is crammed in my brain....sometimes wonder if it is impeding the absorbtion of useful information. I was allowed to watch TV with no restrictions and I turned out fine. I <<GASP>> always studied in front of the TV and had a 4.0 GPA in college.....

 

[Bob Slydell]

What Bob (and va32h) said. No toy or device is intrinsically bad...and no parent looking for 10 minutes to pee, eat or take a shower is intrinisically bad either.

As long as you're not hovering.

Sorry, couldn't help myself

 

[AtlantaSue]

I was just curious if anyone knew what the Baby Einstein people (Disney, I think!) have to say about the "no T.V. before age 2" idea; Surely they've had to address that at some point.

I agree w/ the moms who have used Baby Einstein and limited T.V. w/ their little ones. I have 3 young children, and none seem to have attention span problems as a result of early T.V. (But we also made sure they spent plenty of time doing other things, as well).

 

[MrsPete]

If it made no difference whether or not kids watched Sesame Street, as long as they were reading books as well, how can you say that SS is the worst show for kids to watch?

It's the worst show for kids because of the short segments -- the attention span thing. Other cartoons encourage kids to follow the plotline for more than 60 seconds.