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My personal opinion: might have long-term ramifications and is best avoided in infancy/early childhood. There is enough research-based evidence out there to support that early screentime (and I include smart phones, computers, TV, and anything related in this category) can potentially have long-term ramifications. I avoid/avoided it with my girls. It just didn't seem like the positives outweighed the negatives. I would encourage you to do some of your own research. There are lots of excellent books on the subject (I can wall you a list, if you're interested), as well as scholarly articles. That way you can make an informed decision.

I'm sure there were things going on that I wasn't aware of, but our son Charlie got a decent amount of screentime early on and I didn't notice a huge difference in his behavior. Then we cut out most screentime, and he still seemed the same.

Then he got some more screentime when he hit 2 or 3, and wow... screentime had a HUGE impact on his behavior at that point! Even still now at 4, if he's watched a video... he's more likely to throw tantrums and meltdown later that day.

So my general sense is that at least for our kids, screentime can result in some serious behavioral changes. I have no insight into how it affects infants though.

As an infant, it didn't bother me. I would watch tv during nursing and when we were wearing him out. Now as a toddler, I work really hard to limit it. I keep the tv off while he plays. It only goes on when he's in bed. Interesting to hear the behavior effects at 2+ years old. I'll keep that in mind for future.

My personal opinion (based on no fact at all)? There are a million things that will affect your kid-- good and bad. You can drive yourself crazy trying to do everything just exactly perfectly… or you can do your best and enjoy your life without stressing out. I don't feel like TV is worth stressing out over. I expect our kid will see TV a bit, especially in the first year while I am nursing and just hanging out with her before she can DO too much. Once she is old enough to play more I'll probably try to keep her away from it a bit more, and not use TV as a babysitter. But regardless, all things being equal, I don't think TV is going to ruin my child.

@Mrs. Twine: I would love some more information on the research you have, if you are comfortable sharing.

As an infant, I really think it's not a big deal, as long as it doesn't replace meaningful interaction. As a toddler, I think it becomes a bigger deal.

I think just like everything else, there needs to be boundaries. As soon as it becomes a 'problem', then compromises need to be made. I grew up in front of the tv and I turned out fine. I guess it all depends on your own personal views of screentime. There is a difference of plopping your child in front of the tv all day, and allowing 1 or 2 episodes of dora and then change activity.

Here is a great Ted talk on media and LOs.

I feel like as an infant they don't know what's going on.

With our 19 month old he has had too much screen time while traveling and over the holidays and Iy think it affects his behavior negatively.

I go with moderation in everything. Mama needs a break too, so we use screen time for that. I'm human and can't be "on" all the time entertaining him, and don't put zero screen time as a big priority, but I also make sure he's not a tv/ phone zombie and gets lots of physical activity too.

I don't think it's a huge deal. Since I've had HG this pregnancy, DD's gotten her fair share of Sprout and iPad letter games. She can take it or leave it, but it doesn't seem to affect her negatively, and I don't stress over it if she wants to watch Caillou.

@Dagny: thanks for posting that video, i thought it was really helpful. i know it doesn't encompass everything about media and children, but it was a nice concise presentation--i shared it with my husband. thanks again!

@Vegmama: that example is really going to stick with me. thanks!

I just turned off tv for us, all of us this last week since reading this. I never had a tv until recently and I am hoping to raise lo that way (with occasional family movie night).

It has actually gone really well. DH and I read to each other and visit again at night (so it is/ was affecting us as adults I think more than we realized too.) I remember someone once said "people don't care about what is going on in their lives as long as they can watch a little tv at night, it is such a comfort." Anyhow it has been an interesting project in our house and yesterday I actually played my guitar for the first time since having lo. We'll see how it goes but right now I am kind of excited about it.

I've always left the tv on. I need something to listen to and have as background noise because staying at home with a baby/toddler is so repetitive!! But dd barely watches the tv at all. She just isn't interested. So in our case I think as long as I wasn't too distracted by it that I missed something with her it wasn't a big deal. It's a little harder now that she is a toddler because the meaningful interactions come less from feeding/changing/etc and take more effort than they did before (meaning she moves quicker and needs more mental stimulation so she often needs my full attention whereas when she was an infant I could listen to something and multitask with her easily.)

I'm aware of the research and I know that it is not the best for furthering positive development, however I agree with PP that there are a million things that could screw them up and screentime is something I choose to not obsess over. Although I largely agree with @Mrs. Twine, I also am super laid back. Part of this is coming from my circumstances too - with being in school FT, J spends more time playing iPad games and watching Daniel Tiger or Signing Time than I would prefer. I feel bad, I do. But if I drive myself crazy over it, I might as well drop out of school so I can focus on him 100%.