https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 09 May 2026 20:36:01 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1172248 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 14:46:43 +0000 Kimberlybee 1172248@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>She has been exposed to the TV since my DH has it on during the weekends when he is watching her (5.5 months). She laughs at the sports commentators as if she knows what they are saying. It's really cute but I know babies shouldn't watch TV before 2. My DH sees it as no big deal though since so many of his nieces and nephews watched TV earlier than 2 and they're all very bright. I'm not as stressed out or worried about it like I was at first. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1172068 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 14:16:30 +0000 shopaholic 1172068@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was very concerned about this too, especially since DH always has the TV on and K showed interest in staring at the TV since about 2 months! Now I feel a little bit more okay with letting her "watch" TV here and there (singing and dancing shows). Usually so I can eat a meal or when DH gets home he plays with her and they watch Yo Gabba Gabba.</p> <p>It's too hard to not let her look at the TV at all. I almost never have the TV on in the day and we let he play on the floor. But if she ends up looking up for a minute or two, I don't stress anymore. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1172050 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 14:12:41 +0000 maybebaby 1172050@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: Do you have any recommended online reading on the subject? DH doesn't understand why I was upset when we went out for an hour and left LO with his family and we came back to see DH's youngest brother showing J youtube videos. Granted, they were "baby-appropriate" but I was really upset that they had been showing him videos without asking if it was OK. :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171392 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 11:37:31 +0000 lemondrop 1171392@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We limit it, but TV happens in our house. We try to spend more time out and about or playing instead of parked in front of the TV, but we don't make a big deal out of some downtime watching a show or two here and there. </p> <p>He showed little to no interest before 15 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171312 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 11:18:56 +0000 edelweiss 1171312@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>before LO came we watched a lot of TV. during the teeny tiny days i don't think having the TV on mattered too much because he was somewhat oblivious, although i tended to keep it off because i didn't feel like watching.</p> <p>as LO got older, i noticed that if the TV was on, he would stop whatever he was going and become transfixed. for example, we were trying to feed him and he was just staring at the TV. seeing TV interrupt something that was valuable and fun (whether it be eating, learning how to stand, etc.) has led us to turn off the TV when LO is around. </p> <p>of course, none of this precludes me using TV in the future as a distraction when i have a crazy active toddler who's all over the place! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171277 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 11:12:38 +0000 illumina 1171277@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cherrybee: haha! CBeebies! I'm kind of excited to let her watch TV a little bit because I love Peppa Pig and all that early rubbish! I've waited so long to have a legit reason to watch childrens TV again that she'd better enjoy it when it's time! I don't have the TV on much during the day time apart from when I'm feeding her I'll catch up with soaps or X Factor or something. The evenings are tough though because dh loves to watch it most of the time. I figure her bedtime will soon be 7pm, so she'll miss most of that though.</p> <p>@Revel: I kinda have to agree with your second point, especially in the evenings it's what we do. I'd hate to get to the stage where we can't watch it if she's in the room :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171270 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 11:11:34 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 1171270@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No screen time under 2 in our house. I want my kids brains to have optimum executive function by the time they start watching. We let our 3 year old watch Sesame Street only on days where she doesn't have school the next day, so at most 3 days a week.</p> <p>Our younger daughter hasn't watched TV yet. </p> <p>The evidence base on this subject is growing and limiting TV has many benefits for language, health, obesity, and brain development. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171269 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 11:11:28 +0000 immabeetoo 1171269@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Arden: ditto</p> <p>LO turns into a staring zombie if its on so if he is in eyeshot, it's off. When he was tiny and immobile I watched with subtitles and put him where he couldn't see it.</p> <p>It's a judgment call you have to make for your fam :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171238 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 11:05:42 +0000 Revel 1171238@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I try to limit it to evenings and weekends, and only to when we're actually watching something, not just to have it on as background. LO is only almost five months so she's really just checking out the colors and motion. On Sundays we watch football and she catches some of that.</p> <p>I figure TV, especially sports, is a part of our lives so to artificially keep it from her for some set amount of time doesn't work for our family, and it doesn't hold her attention for too long anyways - she's not sitting through a 4 hour football game! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171211 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 11:02:09 +0000 Mamaof2 1171211@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son didn't watch TV until after 2 but with my daughter we used baby signing times dvd so she watched those everyday starting at 6 months - its 30 mins long - she LOVED them! But any other show on TV she had zero interest! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171154 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 10:52:19 +0000 Silva 1171154@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We try to avoid letting her look at the tv, and plan to follow the aap recommendation. I think the concen is about rapidly changing images/ flashing, etc. we have skyped with family, and she often looks at computer screens when my husband holds her while working, but those are just text and she's uninterested.<br /> We watch shows after she goes to bed. On football Sunday, if our team is playing a game while she is awake, we use our during rack and blankets to create a screen! She play on the floor, and we can still watch.<br /> I don't want tv to be a big part of her life growing up, so I try to lead by example. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171152 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 10:51:43 +0000 Cherrybee 1171152@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm glad you asked this! </p> <p>DH likes to put music channels on and dance around with her in the carrier. She loves pop-punk apparently - and she cranes her neck to see the TV as he dances around. DH noticed how much she liked the moving images and started pulling her bouncy chair right up to the TV so she could "watch". I was pretty mad with him at first but when I saw how she responded to CBeebies I didn't know how to react. She was smiling and cooing and waving her arms about, it completely captivated her. I don't put the TV on when I'm home alone with her (because I don't enjoy it) so surely a little bit of baby TV in the early evening can't hurt??? Can it?</p> <p>@Arden: You are completely right - this is what happened to us! I was in the "no TV camp" but because I wasn't strict about it, I've ended up giving in. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171145 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 10:49:21 +0000 Arden 1171145@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a "absolutely no screen time under two" rule that means that if I'm watching a video on my laptop or we're at someone's house that has a TV (we don't have one), I either position her where she can't see it or I turn it off. She doesn't get to see a moving screen, period. </p> <p>That might be a little more extreme than necessary, but I feel like if we don't set a hard and fast rule than it will just gradually start to become more and more. So we made it a strict "no." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171117 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 10:42:55 +0000 swurlygurl 1171117@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>L loooved the TV for the longest time (birth - 4 months), and I was really worried (DH and I watch quite a bit of tv, and like to have it on in the background even when we're playing with her). But, now that she's mobile and playing with toys, she has ZERO interest in it. As she gets old enough to start paying attention again, we'll limit it to after she's asleep. But, for now (9 months), I'm not worried yet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171107 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 10:40:25 +0000 MamaMagpie 1171107@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>H has done this, too, and I wondered the same thing! There's been a few times when he was in his swing and turned his head to "watch" the TV. Glad to hear that pp think it's not really a big deal! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171092 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 10:38:03 +0000 mediagirl 1171092@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When I was home with my newborn and was watching TV, I would just lay her on my legs facing me or put her in her bouncer seat facing away from the TV so she didn't get entranced by it. We are trying our best to limit as much as possible before 2. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171089 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 10:36:53 +0000 LuLu Mom 1171089@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In moderation I'm not against it, my LO is almost 13 months and wants nothing to do with TV. Sometimes I wish she had a show we could sit to have her calm down/unwind too, but she's always on the go constantly. In an infant I think it's the movement that they like, not really the "tv". </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171086 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 10:36:31 +0000 Bookish 1171086@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sometimes LO chills on the couch with us while we are watching football. She doesn't 'watch,' but she does seem pretty entranced by the movement on the screen. I'm more concerned about the fact that when we lay her down on her activity mat she turns her head to watch the tv! (we started turning her mat out of the viewing area!) We limit it, and never just plop her down in front of the screen, but I'm not terribly concerned about it at the moment. When she starts eating solids there will be a no-tv until after she's asleep rule. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1171072 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 10:33:43 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 1171072@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The "rule" is no tv until after 2, but we let our LO watch a little of Baby First TV. Some of the shows are pretty cute and appropriate. Some are a little lame. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/infant-watching-tv#post-1170712 Thu, 24 Oct 2013 09:05:51 +0000 illumina 1170712@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Seeing as it's postathon afternoon and I've got a napping LO on me right now, I'll make the most of it and get all of my questions out there!!</p> <p>Obviously I use the term "watching" loosely, but when I'm holding S after a feed she seems to enjoy staring at the TV. How bad is this? I really don't want to become one of those parents that has to plop their child infront of the TV for hours each day just to get a break! Should I let it happen or more actively try and turn her around so she can't see it?</p> <p>Whilst on the subject- at what age should babies/children start watching small amounts of TV? </p>