I admit that I have been planning to binge watch some TV shows when LO gets here in 6 weeks or so. I feel like screen time is when the baby is actively viewing / interacting with the screen. Are shows on the iPad while nursing for example really "screen time" for the kiddo?
You might also enjoy...
-
I didn't count that as screen time!! As soon as she started trying to watch I stopped though... That was probably around 8 weeks or so.
-
To me, screen time is the baby watching TV.. So if he's watching the show, or if you're using it to keep him happy while doing tummy time
Really though, I don't think it's a big deal. I've already bought a few seasons of Breaking Bad that i'm going to binge watch on maternity leave and i'm not worried about it even a little bit
-
I did the same as SSLM - I watched a lot when she nursed when she was a newborn, but tried to stop having the TV on all the time once she started actually looking at it. Now we do put the TV on in the evening sometimes while she is still awake but she probably gets less than an hour a day exposure to it, and at 13 weeks isn't really "watching."
-
Erm, no way. I binge watched NCIS. She only recently will watch the tv now....and it's almost always the baseball game. She stares at it for a little bit and then goes about looking at other stuff, so I'm not concerned. She's not that focused on it. And hey, the baby needs to learn to like baseball from a young age
-
@blackbird: lol. Our exceptions to no screen time are football, and hockey. M actually cranes her neck to watch the tv, so we've been trying to keep it off when she's awake!
-
@blackbird: you are a woman after my own heart. Our baby will be here during baseball season next year, and SOMEONE has to indoctrinate him/her, right?!?!
-
@sslm, haha. Yeah, if E was actively paying attention for long periods of time, i'd feel different. She's drawn to the lights, stares for a couple of minutes, and then finds something else more interesting. But she's at daycare all day without tv so I'm really unconcerned with the minimal second hand 'screen time' she gets at home
@lovely plum- Dh and I aren't going to deprive ourselves of baseball season! I watched soooo many day games while on maternity leave! E has team onesies and matching glittery bows
-
Honestly, I wouldn't count it as screen time, but it's bonding time (for feeding, regardless of method).
-
I'm not counting it as screen time. She isn't looking at the screen, she is usually looking right at my boob. And yes, feeding is bonding time, when she eats for a full hour as a newborn, I get bored.
My bigger concern is that she will look at the TV while we bounce her to sooth her in the evenin fussiness. She looks out the window more an I think it's jut the light but as she gets older I'm going to cut it out. I don't mind having the TV off all day (we like to sing along to classic rock on pandora these days) but Dh always turns it on at night. She's only 5 weeks old but once she is older and actually watching well be turning it off (except golf and some football).
@MrsTiz: we are binge watching breaking bad too. I think it's a little funny that we had a baby and started obsessively watching a show about meth dealers but whatever
-
@Foodnerd81: Haha didn't think of it that way! My mom is always telling me to watch it, so I figure over 6 weeks I should probably be able to get caught up, right?
-
Like some of you, my LO cranes his neck to look at the TV if it's turned on - he's impossible to distract once he's watching it! So we generally just wait until he's gone to bed to watch anything. Occasionally I'll make an exception and plop him in front of an infant stimulation video on youtube or something if he's being particularly fussy and I really have to put him down to wash bottles or fold laundry or something.
-
We took full advantage of Netflix after LO arrived. I don't count it as screen time until the child is watching/interacting with the device. We slowly quit watching our shows a bit before 6 months, and finally cancelled it just before LO turned 1.
-
Heck no! LO will be 4 months tomorrow and only JUST started to get distracted by screens (she totally recognizes my iPhone now when I whip it out to take a picture of her..).
-
I didn't count that as screen time! When he was a nb, I watched the entire show of Parenthood, mostly during nursing time. He was almost always asleep...
I only count screen time as BABY watching the screen. -
I watcged TV in the early days, maybe the first 6-8 weeks, and didn't count it. I only watched while DS was sleep-nursing, and stopped as soon as it started waking or distracting him at 6 or 8 weeks. It was a nice way to unwind if I needed it, and it also kept me from falling asleep on the couch while he nursed.
-
I didn't count it as screen time since he wasn't watching it. He was looking at my boob or sleeping. I watched a ton of Netflix while on maternity leave. Some days I sat on the couch all day while he nursed and I HB'd on my ipad or watched TV.
-
Whew... that's what I was hoping all of you would say
-
@daniellemybelle: lol yeah, don't even worry about it. I would not have survived maternity leave without Netflix & Amazon Prime.
-
@blackbird: love that! I will have to get a onsie...or in our case, two, since we each have a different team. MLB network is pretty much all that is on in our house from April to October anyways (except for Saturday in the fall). Baseball is summer's background noise, right?
-
God, I hope not! I wouldn't have survived the first 12 weeks without tv. My son had to be held.all.the.time so I lived on the couch.
I watched tv til he was 12 weeks, about to 8 weeks with my daughter, they never even looked at the screen.
Go for it - babies eat a lot and whilst the bonding time is lovely... It's also pretty boring. I don't like to sit still so tv helped me adjust to long periods nursing and holding babes. -
@lovelyplum, "baseball is summer's background noise" LOL That is THE TRUTH! It's always on in our house, even if we aren't watching, because I'm listening!
-
No, I don't count it unless it has LO's attention, which it rarely does even at 1 yo. I never put on shows specifically to entertain him and he doesn't really seem to care about TV. He IS interested in the remote though and loves to change the channel. If I want to entertain him, I try to put on music instead of TV which he loves.
-
I feel like that is when baby is watchign TV, we have the TV on all the time when we are home but LO never watches it, she is too busy playing. We aren't really watching it either, it's just background noise.
-
No way. Pretty much all I could manage during maternity leave was to BF and watch tv 24/7. I didn't count it as screen time until she was turning her head towards the tv and watching it. Now I don't have it on while she's awake but the newborn period was a different story.
-
No! Unless he's actively sitting and watching the TV, I don't count it. We have the TV on constantly in our house (we like the background noise), but D never really pays any attention to it, and we have never put on a kid show for him. The only time he ever paid attention was when I'd be watching So You Think You Can Dance, ha ha!
-
no way! i LIVED off of netflix during mat leave..
-
I agree with others - to me screen time is when you pop LO down in front of TV and turn on a show for him/her.
I only count screen time as BABY watching the screen. 
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
27 comments