Say you have a long car trip and your lo is super fussy. Or you just have to get something done. Do you ever give in and put your lo in front of a TV or tablet with a movie playing?
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Never. Granted, my LO isn't here yet, but I raised my little sister this way. No. TV. Ever.
I know that sounds hollow coming from someone who's little one hasn't arrived yet, so I'll check back in two years.
I just feel really strongly about this. Once it starts, it's too hard to stop. If they don't even know TV exists, or aren't attached to TV characters, they won't ask to watch it. Once they know and love Elmo... that's it. Begging, begging, crying, whining, begging, until you finally give in.
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I put on Sesame Street clips on YouTube for LO to watch while I cut his nails, otherwise he won't sit still long enough for me to cut them.
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We have rules about TV just like everything else. For the most part we are outside every afternoon until it is time for dinner (school, homework, outside). TV is off during dinner and then we usually watch a family show and then it is bedtime. We have rules on the channels, and shows, the girls are 10 and 4 so they often aren't interested in the same things so this can be tricky.
I have never had a problem with my kids prefering to watch TV over playing outside, doing an art project, or playing a board game. They would rather do those things than sit and watch TV.
As long as there are limits like everything else I think some TV is fine. I have to admit that we do have a DVD player in our SUV. We only use it for long tripes and then it is limited to one movie a trip. They bring plenty of other things to do in the car, so it isn't that big of a deal.
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We really only watch TV after C goes to sleep, but we do put on a movie every once in a while if she gets super fussy before bedtime and nothing else calms her down. It's not a regular occurrence. I don't think TV is necessarily bad in very small doses.
Just like the thread on soda, if something is forbidden it becomes all the more desirable.
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It seems to me that a LO quietly watching TV on a tablet or Iphone is safer than a LO screaming their head off and distracting the driver! My sister is really strict about no TV, but relents on long drives when her son is just absolutely losing it (he's not a fan of the car. At all.) Only Baby Einstein though.
I don't have my own LO yet, but I think I will be really strict about it in the house, but relent once they are a little older for long car trips, if they hate car trips at least. And, if I'm being honest, they will probably watch sports games or golf with DH on Sundays. I think them bonding would be more important than no TV, even if I'd prefer less. I'll make him read up on the AAP's no TV recommendations first.
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My LO is 14 months and does not like TV. Even when she had a fever and was sick and I was going to make one of those exceptions and put disney junior on so we could snuggle in front of the tv..... nope. She crawled away.
Right now I'm glad she doesn't like tv because they say no tv until 2, and I think it's good that I don't have to worry about it. But as she gets older I'm sure shell change her mind and start liking it. And I'll be fine with it then..... in moderation.
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We had no screen time until age two. Now we allow 15 minutes of selected video once a day... But often we skip days.
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Sometimes I put on the baby channel if I need to prepare his meal without him whining and tugging at my leg. Even so, the most he will intently watch is maybe 2-minute chunks. He is constantly read to, played with, and getting out of the house for various activities, so I am not terribly worried that his brain is rotting.
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I wanted to be a no-tv parent however I love the signing time videos so I did let lo watch it and he does love it.
On days he skips naps its one thing that makes him happy when he's really cranky. I usually only allow it once a week. He also watched it on the plane.
I am coming to terms with it; while pg I said I wouldn't do sooooo many things and when you become a parent a lot changes as you need to do what works for you/lo/you/their sanity!! A little tv never harmed anyone and he is watching only educational things.
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I'll probably be in the minority here, but we let Wagon Jr. watch tv all the time. Since he watches pretty much zero tv on days when he goes to daycare (since he's only home for an hour before bedtime, we spend all that time eating dinner and playing) this only leaves the weekends. The more important thing to us is that he doesn't get addicted to it. If he starts to beg and whine for it, we keep the TV off until that stops. If he's been quiet and good, we let him watch an episode of The Wiggles, part of a Charlie Brown movie, or a rock concert (his favorite thing to watch by far). We don't like to totally forbid it because it'll just make him want it that much more. We know this works for him because when we do watch, after about 20 mins or so he jumps off the couch and says "turn TV off please!" He gets restless and wants to play instruments or do imaginative play instead.
We do the same with videos on our phones and computers, and we don't have an ipad or tablet (trying to resist for ALL of our sakes!) so that's not an issue... yet.
When he's sick though, all bets are off-- the TV is on pretty much all day and we cuddle on the couch, eating snacks instead of real meals and sipping drinks all day.
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When my lo is being super cranky/clingy while I'm showering or getting dressed in the morning i sometimes let her watch baby Einstein. It's a last resort but sometimes it's the only way I can get dressed!
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Lo watches pororo on YouTube. Each episode is 5 mins long. I'll plop her on my bed and let her watch while I take a quick shower. When she's being crazy we Let her watch too. Sometimes I need a break!
She can go without it so it's not something I'm worried about.
Some days she watches 15 mins total, other days it's 45 mins. -
I've done it. When I am home alone and need to shower so we can get out the door, I might not have any other way to get it done.
We only allow certain programs, at the moment we're cycling through a few episodes of Thomas and Friends.
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My LO is only 5 weeks old, so obviously she doesn't watch TV, but I won't be opposed to it when she is older. We will let her watch shows and movies, but with limits. When I was younger I really enjoyed watching a Disney movie here or there, but since I was allowed to I actually chose to do arts and crafts, go outside, play with toys instead. We will see how things go once she is older
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Toddler Girl is allowed to watch videos from zooborns (baby animals from zoos) while she has her hair brushed. She has to be disracted or it's all tears (she has crazy curly hair, of you haven't seen photos)
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@Coco Bee: True. I said no tv under 2 but once she turned 1, I turned a new leaf. I even gave small doses of internet stream video (not technically tv) before that.
My new limit is 5 hours a week. Yikes! Can't believe we are up to that already. She seems very interested in what's happening and it's only educational stuff. She's learned her alphabet, colors etc at an early age.
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I play her short Disney music clips on YouTube every once in awhile. I actually want to introduce her to Disney movies, but it'll be awhile before she's actually interested.
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We try to limit TV around her but we do watch sporting events from time to time. She shows no interest in the Olympics, football or baseball and tends to doze off.
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I say no TV for babies but once they are toddlers, closer to 18 months, I think a show here and there is fine. DD is 2.5 years old now and we limit TV time to 30 min a day.
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My oldest never cared for TV until just before he turned 3.5 years old. He now requests for certain show but I do limit him. We don't have a schedule for him. It's just whenever I feel he's being good and asks for it then I let him watch one episode of it. It's usually something educational though. Same goes for the iPad/iPhone (just once a day for this though if he watches it).
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LO is only 4 months, so she’s too little for TV, but once in a while we let her watch a YouTube video of someone playing an instrument (where the video is up close, so you can see how they play it) because she loves those videos and hearing music.
Don’t plan on letting her watch TV or any shows until she is a few years old, but I’m not gonna lie: we’re flying across country in March on Jetblue and if she starts really misbehaving, I’ll totally let her watch TV on the plane if it calms her down ;-/
When she’s older we’ll let her watch some TV. I don’t think there is anything wrong with TV, like everything else – there’s great programming for kids, and there’s crap programming for kids.
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Only in desperate end of a terrible day emergencies. Maybe 4 times in her life. We've relaxed our rule about watching it ourselves around her, since she stopped going to bed at 7 and now often stays up until 9. That's the end of my awake day, and I physically cannot entertain her every waking moment of my day.
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