How much TV exposure for infants?
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Anonymous
My best friend has a 2.5-year-old and a 7-month-old. I've got a 6-month-old. Her kids seem to be thriving and well-adjusted and I really respect her as a parent. Anyway, we just got back from a vacation with her and her family, and I am shocked by the amount of TV she and her DH have their kids watching. Not just the older one--they will strap the younger one in his bouncy seat in front of Yo Gabba Gabba for an hour or more, multiple times per day. I actually think they don't realize how much they are doing it, especially since both mom and dad do it at different times. (Kind of like how I don't realize how much time I spend on DCUM, because I choose not to keep track and it would be depressing to actually know 
We have not put our DS in front of the TV yet, but we really haven't needed to since he is in daycare all day and we try to stay as busy as possible on weekends. My friend is a SAHM with an active toddler and an infant, so she faces different challenges. I guess I just kind of thought nobody really did TV at this age, but maybe people do and just don't talk about it. I know it sounds like I'm being judgmental but really I'm just trying to figure out if I can cut myself a little slack and pop in Baby Einstein once in a while. 2 questions: Since this is an anonymous forum, be honest--when did your kid first start watching TV and how much does s/he watch per day? And a related question: do you think it's OK to occasionally have the TV on in the room but make sure the child is turned away? (Like when DS gets up at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday and I am barely functioning and he would be perfectly content in his jumperoo while I catch up on Nurse Jackie?) |
Anonymous
| lol you remind me of the lady asking if skyping with grandpa counts as tv time LOL |
Anonymous
OP here--I get that you are making fun of me in some way but it went over my head, sorry! I'm a total overthinker first-time-mom so looking for some perspective from the real world. Clearly you think I am missing something obvious, so fill me in if you don't mind. |
Anonymous
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DD is 2.5 and she watches ZERO television. We literally never turn it on while she's awake.
Upside: It would never occur to her to whine/beg for TV like many of our friends' kids do. Downside: We need to entertain her and/or plan activities and/or encourage her to entertain herself (which leads to other types of whining). One caveat: I sometimes watched TV while nursing. She was always turned away from the TV, but it's probably not ideal. |
Anonymous
| We have 5 month old twins and an 8 year old. We do not let the babies watch tv and our 8 year old is allowed 1 hour a day. However, we do have the TV on sometimes when the babies are present but we make sure they cannot see the screen. We turn their swings so their backs are toward the TV or, if they are being carried, we make sure they cannot see the screen. |
Anonymous
| Stuck to the AAP recommendations--at 2 DS watched TV. He's 4 now, and gets to watch about 30-40 minutes a day (when I prep dinner). No TV in the AM before school. On the weekends, we usually watch a movie (Disney, Pixar) together as a family on Saturday night. If we're super busy or sick, DS gets to watch more. |
Anonymous
| My son is 11 months old and is allowed to watch one 18 minute wiggles episode a day at most. Many days, he doesn't watch it, but if he is too tired to play anymore, and we want him to stay awake a little bit longer in hopes of avoiding an insanely early wakeup time, we will put one episode on for him. He likes it if we sing along with the songs and do the goofy hand motions and dances. |
Anonymous
| 21:51 here, I forgot to mention that we use videos and Netflix. We don't have regular or cable TV. We've avoided commercials thus far. |
Anonymous
| DD is one and we pretty much never have the TV on when she is awake and in the living room. She caught glimpses of the world cup and tour de france and was completely fascinated! |
Anonymous
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I have 2 DDs, 5 and 2. We did not allow the older one to watch TV until she was 2 and we introduced slowly, starting with Blues Clues and then Backyardigans and Dora, prerecorded or on demand. She now mostly watches movies as a treat on weekend evenings.
The younger one just turned 2 and really never watched any TV to speak of, but has watched a little bit of home movies of herself in the past couple of months. I watched a Dora with her last weekend because she is becoming interested. We on occasion let her play when her older sister was watching a movie, but she never watched more than a minute or two, she was simply more interested in her toys. We, like OP, have had our kids in daycare or preschool since before the age of one, which is an advantage in this area. |
Anonymous
OP you're clearly over sensitive. There was a thread here a few months ago discussing if skype conversations with family count as TV time and it was really really funny because someone mentioned (joking) they put their hands in front of their kids eyes if there's a TV on. I just mentioned your post reminded of that thread. No, I was not laughing at you, you can sleep peacefully. |
Anonymous
| We don't let our 6.5 month old watch tv, but occasionally if we are watching something, he'll play on his playmat facing away from the tv. We're not huge tv watchers, so this happens maybe once or twice a week. |
Anonymous
| what's the problem if the baby is positioned towards the TV during tummy time? |
Anonymous
| I have a 3 year old DD & an 8 month old DD. I can unapolagetically report that both watch tv every day. The 8 month old doesn't exactly "watch" tv, but she is in the room when my 3 year old watches Kipper or Calliou or Sid the Science Kid. I am not worried about stunting their development & we do active things together in & out of the house every day too. |
Anonymous
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Mine was a fussy and resistent napper. I used to put him in front of Teletubbies in his bouncy seat at 4 months. He would fall asleep in 10 minutes. However, other than using it for naps, he didn't watch TV until he was 2 1/2 and it was PBS. We did have him in the room when we would watch TV news in the evening, but he wasn't necessarily paying attention as an infant/early toddler, but playing with his toys. We live in an apartment, so the living room corner was always his.
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