How much TV exposure for infants?

[Anonymous]

My DS is 8 months and has been exposed to TV since day one because I tend to have the news on for a large part of the day. He is always playing and doing something else with me or with his toys or activity center and rarely glances at it. However, I do not intentionally turn his back to it. In addition to this, I occasionally turn on a 30 minute baby Einstein for him when I'm desperate to get dinner started or go to the bathroom, etc. I started this when he was about 5 months. Not what the APA recommends, but I take an "everything in moderation" approach to life.

[Anonymous]

I'm with PP...DS has "watched" TV since birth. It's always on in the background when we're getting dressed in the am or playing at night. He's not sitting staring at it, it's more background noise, but it's usually on when we are in the house. I try to keep it on Sprout but sometimes I slip in TMZ or some trashy reality show on Bravo when he's engrossed in something else.

[Anonymous]

Same as the 2 previous posters. We've never actually sat down our 7 month old and let him watch a program designed for babies. BUT we often have the TV on while he's around. Sometimes he looks at it and sometimes he doesn't. We're trying to get better about it because as he becomes more aware I don't want him seeing anything inappropriate or watching too many commercials.

I will say that our approach is a lot more conservative than any of our friends. I've seen all of them let their very young children watch tv programs and movies. I think that nationwide that's a lot more common than zero tv.

[Anonymous]

Ours is 6 months old and we try to avoid having him watch TV. For the most part the TV remains off until he goes to bed, but occasionally we'll have a game on in the background. We tried putting on Baby Einstein Mozart, but he had little interest. Your friends seem to use it in excess, but it's their decision and I certainly wouldn't say anything. To each their own!

[Anonymous]

I watched TV all the time when nursing, but stopped when DD got interested.

Then, no TV until age 2.

Now, at age 2.5, he watches DVDs or WETA Kids for a total of an 2-3 per week.

I HATE the TV news, so I never keep it on, and other than that, we just don't watch much TV, except for sports sometimes.

[Anonymous]

DS is 18 months old. I never have the TV on around him (though when he was nursing, I watched TV All.The.Time). Daycare sometimes has TV on as background noise, but the kids there are always running around with each other and never seem to be paying much attention to it.

However, I will be having a baby next year and fully expect that my son's TV watching habits will change.

[Anonymous]

I have always had the tv on since DD was born. I need that background noise while I nursed, played, folded laundry, etc. I never intentionally kept her back turned because she never paid attention to it anyway. At 18 months she started to notice it so that is when I let her start watching Sesame Street. She can’t sit still for the entire show so she will watch 30 minutes or ask for Abby or Elmo then continue to play on her own. I introduced movies when she was 20 months and we watch those as a family or on long car rides.

[Anonymous]

I watched TV all the time while nursing but stopped as soon as DD became interested. Then as when she was older and able to move around and play on her own a little she just was not interested except for football! Of course, when DH was watching her, they'd watch football together. Not ideal, but it didn't happen very often. Now she is almost 3 and watches one show a day while I'm making dinner. We prerecord it on DVR and it's Sesame Street so doesn't have commercials. She still can't sit through a full length movie without getting bored so she doesn't really watch more than the one show.

[Anonymous]

We have a 12-month-old. He never sees the TV on except for about 2 minutes a week when I cut his fingernails! It's the only way to get him to sit still and not fight me, and seems worth it.

[Anonymous]

I have two kids -- almost 4 and 5.5 months. The baby never watches TV; occasionally he's been in the same room while DH watches a sporting event, but we turn it off if we see he's paying attention. The big kid watches Sesame Street episodes on the computer while I cut her nails (maybe a total of 10 minutes at a time) and can watch TV while I'm putting the baby to bed if DH isn't home (usually around 30 minutes). Our only TV is in our bedroom, so it's not around reminding DD, so she almost never asks to watch it.

[Anonymous]

Our 10 month old watches Sprout for about 15 minutes a day, usually in her high chair while chomping on a teething biscuit or some Puffs. Sometimes it's necessary to put her down somewhere safe while we get ready for work or cook a meal. After 15 minutes, she's had enough and loses interest.

Otherwise, we never have the TV on while she's awake.

[Anonymous]

DS is 14 months--no TV.

[Anonymous]

OP, please keep in mind that you are the parent of one (1) six-month-old -- jolly, friendly, stationary, easily distracted, capable of being amused by nothing more than a spatula and likely taking 2-3 solid naps a day. You are solely responsible for this single child's daytime entertainment and well-being two days out of seven.

You went to go visit friends whose kids are less than two years apart, and whose mom is home with them all day, every day. Counting pregnancy, the mom likely hasn't had a full night's sleep in over three years. Or a restful daytime nap, either -- that whole "sleep when the baby sleeps" goes out the window when there's an older child marauding. When you noticed the older kid parked in front of the TV (probably so that the parents could deal with the baby or the household) did you offer to play Candyland or build a fort? When you noticed the younger one strapped in front of the idiot box (so that the older kid could have some attention, or so dinner could be made), did you offer to hold the baby, or take her for a walk?

In other words, did you at any point offer to help your friend by taking one or more children off her hands for an hour or two, or did you just sit in judgement while "Dora" scrolled by for the third time that day?

I would recommend trying on your best friend's shoes for a bit before you get too smug. Chances are they're going to feel just as uncomfortable on you as they do on her.

[Anonymous]

I have the TV on most of the time when I'm home. Even if I'm not watching it, I like the background noise. It's a bad habit I've had my whole life. That didn't really change when 14 mo DD came along, despite my best intentions. We don't encourage her to watch or put on shows for her, but she is "exposed" almost every day. She mostly ignores it, but occasionally pays attention. I was surprised recently when I had "America's Funniest Animals" on and she started laughing at a video of a cat chasing a ball around in a circle; I hadn't realized she was capable of actually "watching" TV.

[Anonymous]

No TV til 2.5. Still nothing other than the occasional (every week or so) showing of "Cars", or a sporting event. TV is the equivalent of second-hand smoking. Won't kill 'em, but it sure as Hell won't do 'em any good. "I watched lots of TV growing up, and I'm not an axe murderer" is a pretty weak endorsement.