Do you let LO watch tv?

lilmom3

I'm just curious if you allow your LO to watch tv? Do you turn the tv off when your LO is awake? Do you think letting your child look at tv that it's considered the tv is babysitting? I just read another post that said it's a bad habbit to let the tv be baby sitter and she was talking about an 8 week old baby.

xDanniellex

My LO will watch the TV.  He especially likes watching football with mommy and daddy.  I don't consider it a babysitter though.  He'll lay in his Boppy and watch while I'm folding laundry or doing dishes.  But he isn't solely watching the TV, his attention span isn't that good. 

I have the TV on alot during the day, but I'll usually play with him while it's on.  

mopsie

I sometimes watch while I nurse DD, but I don't put it on just to entertain her.  DH sometimes watches cartoons from his childhood on his computer with her (like Peter Pan, the Sword in the Stone, etc)

JoBieger05

She watches it sometimes if DH and I are, but she's not too interested in it yet. She does prefer football and baseball over cartoons. DH loves that. Haha )

jagdlg2010

im not one of those people thats anti tv..i do believe it shouldnt consume children's lives..but i dont think a little tv can hurt.  i put on nick jr. & she sits in her bouncy seat & watches it for an all of ten-fifteen mins maybe. and we'll do that maybe twice a day..sometimes i lay her on our bed to watch it on the big screen but she usually ends up staring up at the ceiling fan the whole time.  she loves ceiling fans!! i am all for tv shows that they can learn from (even though dd is only 4 months old) my 3 year old cousin can count to 10 in spanish & and to 5 in chinese..he also knows a few words in spanish..etc. he learned all that by watching nick jr.

rednecklover

I let DD watch TV on some occasions.  I have also read that it is not a good thing to let children watch a lot of TV in the first 2 years.  We watch things like "Yo-Gabba-Gabba" and Animal Planet.

klm1221

I agree with the last post.. we put Nick Jr on for her especially in the mornings when we are getting ready for work, or if i have to fold laundry etc. She loves it and the shows on Nick Jr are educational. Yo Gabba Gabba is one of the many on there.

bigalb25

i've been having to turn it off a lot during the day because it distracts LO from nursing.  but if she's sleep eating i'll turn it back on.  and if she's super crabby and i can't fix her i'll leave it on while we do fart crunches.  she always stops crabbing if the tv is on.  but i don't put it on specifically to let her watch it or entertain her.  i read an article about how it slows development...for speech i think.  because they can't control how fast they talk on the tv, it sounds like one long speech blurb and babies can't decipher it.  once they start understanding what we say of course.  something like that.  but the lights are so pretty!!  ;o)

lilmom3

xDanniellex:

My LO will watch the TV.  He especially likes watching football with mommy and daddy.  I don't consider it a babysitter though.  He'll lay in his Boppy and watch while I'm folding laundry or doing dishes.  But he isn't solely watching the TV, his attention span isn't that good. 

I have the TV on alot during the day, but I'll usually play with him while it's on.  

This exactly. What is with them liking football? My LO loves it. I'll put it on and sit with him and sing or talk to him. He doesn't look at it for longer then  a minute at a time.

poolrat00

We have the TV on a lot for noise if I am home for the day. In the morning we probably watch/sing/play through about 15 minutes together before I head off to work and leave her with daddy. In the evening it's usually on Jeopardy or sports (more often sports) and it'll catch her attention. I don't think there is anything wrong with this amount of TV. She goes on 2 walks a day; plays a lot; watches daddy work outside etc. so I'm sure she's learning what to do besides TV. But neither of us could avoid sharing Sesame Street (especially once we found the pre-Murray episodes on Sprout) with LO; and in the new version she loves Abby Cadabby, always flaps her arms around and really starts to coo when that portion comes on (about 5 minutes long; watches while mommy packs up diaper/work/pump bags for the day.) So in my mind for those five minutes, it isn't the TV watching her but Abby Cadabby as the babysitter!

mopsie

lilmom3:

xDanniellex:

My LO will watch the TV.  He especially likes watching football with mommy and daddy.  I don't consider it a babysitter though.  He'll lay in his Boppy and watch while I'm folding laundry or doing dishes.  But he isn't solely watching the TV, his attention span isn't that good. 

I have the TV on alot during the day, but I'll usually play with him while it's on.  

This exactly. What is with them liking football? My LO loves it. I'll put it on and sit with him and sing or talk to him. He doesn't look at it for longer then  a minute at a time.

DD loves football, too!  MIL once came over while DD was sitting in her bumbo watching the Patriots game, and she blocked DD's view and DD started screaming and leaning to the side to keep watching.   She only does that with football... if you change the channel, she'll stop watching. 

ASmallWonder

I don't put it on specifically to entertain him but it's definitely on when he's up and around.  Sometimes he watches it for a bit but if I think he's paying too much attention to it I spin his seat/mat/swing to face away from the TV.  I don't want him growing up addicted to TV but I don't think it's the horror some people make it out to be.

BelhurstBride

Short of watching football on Sundays the TV is rarely, if ever on while LO is awake so she doesn't really have the opportunity to watch TV. I've never placed her so she could easily sit and watch it, either.

There are shows DH and I like to watch in the evening, but DD's in bed by the time we turn the television on. I personally feel like if she's up there's better things we could be doing with her than to have the TV on. (For her or for us to be watching) 

bakedlaurabean

I never have the TV on when DS is around. But then again I don't watch it much anyway. If I need noise, I turn music on. There are plenty of studies saying that babies zone out the same way adults do and also linking tv watching to ADHD. I just don't find the need tO have it on at all. I do make an exception for when grandparents are watching DS and want to watch a Giants game, though.

naylon511

mopsie:

I sometimes watch while I nurse DD, but I don't put it on just to entertain her.  DH sometimes watches cartoons from his childhood on his computer with her (like Peter Pan, the Sword in the Stone, etc)

HAHA, same exact. I generally have it on in the background, usually HGTV or something.  But DH has been really enjoying showing her old School House Rocks stuff on YouTube. 

bakedlaurabean

BelhurstBride:

Short of watching football on Sundays the TV is rarely, if ever on while LO is awake so she doesn't really have the opportunity to watch TV. I've never placed her so she could easily sit and watch it, either.

There are shows DH and I like to watch in the evening, but DD's in bed by the time we turn the television on. I personally feel like if she's up there's better things we could be doing with her than to have the TV on. (For her or for us to be watching) 

I should've just said this!

KRISTA555

Yeah, we let her watch it. It's not like we plop her in front of it and walk away, but when we are watching something she often watches it with us. I'm not concerned about it. Frankly, I really don't care what the "experts" say. I'm not worried that my 3 month old daughter is going to develop ADHD because of staring at the pretty moving colors on the big black box.

When she's older, we'll limit it.

storms19

They like the colors...what is so wrong with that?  Let them like what they like when they are so small...

single_mama1991

DS watches tv all the time and he actually likes it and pays attention to it until he falls asleep usually for about 20 mins unless he's really tired. I love tv so he watches it with me all the time. Also in the mornings his nurse will turn on Dora for him because he starts to smile everytime her theme song comes on. He likes anything thats on he'll watch spanish soaps with my mom or whatever sport is on with my dad. But no I don't consider it baby sitting or at least not to him. The tv can keep him entertained but it sure doesn't baby sit.

anvloveskme

We don't turn it on for her, but it is on in the background pretty often...can't believe so many other babies like football too!  DH is an avid sports fan and DD will crane her neck around to watch it - like someone else mentioned, I think it is the contrasting colors that she likes more than anything.  We will also limit it when she gets older.

matthew24

KRISTA555:

Yeah, we let her watch it. It's not like we plop her in front of it and walk away, but when we are watching something she often watches it with us. I'm not concerned about it. Frankly, I really don't care what the "experts" say. I'm not worried that my 3 month old daughter is going to develop ADHD because of staring at the pretty moving colors on the big black box.

When she's older, we'll limit it.

Totally agree. I have the tv on often, honestly to drown out my neighbors, but she loves it! I typically turn her away but not gonna lie, she loves football and tennis. We will put her in the swing and she goes ape shiit cooing, yelling at the tv; it seems to entertain her and I can actually get stuff done. I don't feel guilty about it or think it will slow her developmental. 

WildcatPrincess

We don't.  I keep it off during the day (except when she's napping) and if we're over someone else's place I just make sure to hold her facing away from it.

WildcatPrincess

bakedlaurabean:

BelhurstBride:

Short of watching football on Sundays the TV is rarely, if ever on while LO is awake so she doesn't really have the opportunity to watch TV. I've never placed her so she could easily sit and watch it, either.

There are shows DH and I like to watch in the evening, but DD's in bed by the time we turn the television on. I personally feel like if she's up there's better things we could be doing with her than to have the TV on. (For her or for us to be watching) 

I should've just said this!

LOL me too.

ttimmerman

Nope, I don't let her watch it. If it's on and I see her trying to watch it I'll turn it off. I don't want her watching too much tv when she's older and I think it's best to set a precedent now...I don't want to try and get her to not watch tv and play on her own when she's 2 or 3 and totally used to watching it.

I don't think tv is evil and there are definitely shows I like to watch once she's in bed - I just don't want it to be a big part of her life and I want her to be able to find other ways to entertain herself (like reading a book when she's older). 

ka2shaz

I try my best to never let her watch TV. My husband is not as vigilant, as he is addicted to TV.

shortms6

KRISTA555:

Yeah, we let her watch it. It's not like we plop her in front of it and walk away, but when we are watching something she often watches it with us. I'm not concerned about it. Frankly, I really don't care what the "experts" say. I'm not worried that my 3 month old daughter is going to develop ADHD because of staring at the pretty moving colors on the big black box.

When she's older, we'll limit it.

completely agree with all of this

lisa5201

I'm not anti-tv, but find it ridiculous that parents think they can use it as an educational tool. Use it as a distraction, I really have no problem with that and admit that I am guilty of occasionally letting dd  watch the tube for a coupla minutes so I can get some stuff done, but don't kid yourself into thinking it's good in any way for your baby. It's not. Every study ever conducted has found that it is not benificial in any way, even (sometimes especially) if the program is labled educational. No screen time whatsoever for children under two is the recommendation

It's like calling Ben and Jerry's healthy because it contains some calcium. Any good is far outweighed by the bad

hikerbeth

I kept my DD's screen time to virtually zero until she was 2 (I say virtually because I didn't shelter her from TV's that were in restaurant bars and we let her watch once when we were both sick and a couple times when we were in hotels and needed her to be quiet while we were getting ready).

I think it's important.  I do see how it's going to be tougher with DS since DD is allowed to watch some TV now.

MelonieK

20 minutes max.  She watches Mickey's Clubhouse while I pump in the morning.  Even then she barely pays attention to it.  She is more interested in the toys on her exersaucer.

We watch a lot less now that she is here.  With 2 full time jobs, an 11 year old, and a baby, who really has time to watch?  Football on Sunday is still must see, and she sleeps through most games.

LakeGenevaBride

Yes, they watch Baby Einstein.  It is 25 minutes that I can make bottles and eat lunch.  It also gives me a chance to have one on one time with each baby b/c the other one is occupied with the TV.  We watch it once or twice a day.  I never thought I'd be sitting my 3 month olds in front of the TV but it has been a lifesaver for me.  Plus I have to do physical therapy for my DS with torticollis and it is much easier to do if he is distracted by the TV. 

CarolinaKatie

I'm not one of those people who thinks the TV should never be on, but I do try to limit it. My older son watches a little TV a day. LO hardly pays attention if at all. yesterday he was focused on football though. Kind of funny.

With my first son, I watched while nursing during the day and thats about it. But as a SAHM, it was on at random times, especially in the winter! He never watched any kids shows till he was like a year and a half and that was like a baby Einstein after his afternoon nap when he was grumpy. :-)

indomesticbliss

I have the news on when we do our morning feeding fo about 15 minutes and that's it. DH will have a hockey game on while he is playing on the floor with LO, but that's about all. We really aren't a TV family...we only have 1 TV in our house and it's in our basement rec room.

kayteatrudeau

Our LO loves TV! I DVR some of her favorite little 30 minute shows and it may make me a horrible mommy but I pop one in while I'm cleaning, getting ready to go out or needing to take care of something. I don't think it's an issue at all.

I think if you leave your baby infront of the TV all day then that would be a bad thing. But most of the time she's playing on the floor, in her swing, or I have her on a pillow infront of me having face time so she learns how to use her mouth to make all sorts of sounds.TtV is on in the background for noise and it helps me not feel shut-in.