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Toddlers: 24 Months+
Bedtime TV
I'm watching America's Supernanny and something she says all the time makes me uncomfortable.
TV at bedtime is apparently a no no.
DS pretty much can't sleep without Sesame Street, Curious George or Diego. He's not screaming or crying; he's just roaming the house, having hot wheel races, turning on my computer and staring at my screensaver, reading all his stories to himself cute but not at 2am. He eventually ends up squeezing in between DH and I and smacking us up til the alarm goes off. I know where he got it from: me. DH and I are constantly at lighthearted odd about it. I have to be pretty tired to fall asleep without background noise or else I hear every creek and crack and dog whine. I got it from my mom who concluded as a kid that her father was home and everything was ok when the RCA was on.
Is it really so bad for him to watch Elmo till he drifts off?
TV at bedtime is apparently a no no.
DS pretty much can't sleep without Sesame Street, Curious George or Diego. He's not screaming or crying; he's just roaming the house, having hot wheel races, turning on my computer and staring at my screensaver, reading all his stories to himself cute but not at 2am. He eventually ends up squeezing in between DH and I and smacking us up til the alarm goes off. I know where he got it from: me. DH and I are constantly at lighthearted odd about it. I have to be pretty tired to fall asleep without background noise or else I hear every creek and crack and dog whine. I got it from my mom who concluded as a kid that her father was home and everything was ok when the RCA was on.
Is it really so bad for him to watch Elmo till he drifts off?
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Re: Bedtime TV
IDK, to each their own I guess. I'm pretty big on healthy sleep habits, so there is no TV for LO after dinner at all. TV keeps a part of your brain 'on' even though you're exhausted and your body's trying to sleep. It also interferes with how deep you sleep. I've read in a few places that any TV (including children's programs) before bed can cause nightmares in kids because of the way TV activates their brains.
You're LO is conditioned to sleep with the TV, which is why he has trouble sleeping without it. He doesn't know how to settle himself without it. Seems like it's an ongoing thing in your family.
We have a solid bedtime routine that involves bath, brushing teeth and books. Then, lights out and everyone sleeps in their own bed. I believe this teaches healthy sleep habits and works really well for us.
Charlotte Ella 07.16.10
Emmeline Grace 03.27.13
Yeah, it's a learned thing, not a necessary one. And there is lots of evidence that suggests it's not healthy for their brains, in the long run.
We do let DD watch Dora on my phone before bed while she brushes her teeth, because it's the only way I can get cooperation out of her for tooth brushing. I don't like it, but I figure I have to pick which evil I want - huge fights over tooth brushing or 20 minutes of "TV" on my phone. As she gets older, I will be trying to eliminate that, though.
Personally, I would not be a fan of allowing a kid to fall asleep to the tv each night. It may be a tough habit to break but I'd try. You know how hard it is to have to have background noise, be really tired, etc to fall asleep. Wouldn't you rather try to prevent that for him?
We allow our kids to watch one, maybe two, 20 minute shows after dinner and before bed. Then it's upstairs for brush teeth, books, bed. Once in bed they are to stay in bed. We went through some bed time issues to get them to do that (especially right around 3 - that seemed to be a difficult time for going to bed) but sticking to our guns has made things much easier now.
Could you maybe trade it for a night light that moves, and maybe some radio/music instead...so he has the light and the noise for company...and then maybe look at removing one of those things. Either turn the radio down, or move it to static or generic ocean noise or something.
I can understand wanting background noise, but if it's something like the TV then his brain will be engaging with it. I would imagine that as he gets older he'll be able to stay awake longer and longer to watch his TV.
After dinner we have the TV on in the background but it's "adult" things like the news or documentaries.
You need to do what feels right for your family, but if you're concerned about this now then while it would be a hard habit to break, it will only be harder as he gets older. When he can get up and turn his own TV on and put what he wants to watch on etc etc.
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
This.
While I'm not totally against TV, DS watches a couple episodes of Diego (or Wonder Pets, or Dora, or whatever else is on Netflix) while he's winding down for bedtime, but I'm adamant about him not having a TV in his room, or watching while he falls asleep.
The reason why your son can't sleep without it (and you) is because, like PP said, it's a learned thing.
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I'm also adamant about no TV in his room. Or my bedroom (well, what will be my bedroom when I'm not sleeping in my daughter's anymore!) either. It's just awful for healthy sleep habits on a number of levels. DD will not have a TV in her room... until she can afford to buy her own TV in a room she is paying for. Yes, I'm a harda** on that, but it's because I had a TV in my room growing up and I don't like the negative effects that took years to undo.
I had a learned association of needing music to fall asleep. I could *NOT* sleep without music of some kind. Usually something instrumental (it was the soundtrack to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves for a long time
). But my husband likes it to be as quiet as possible. So, over time, I turned the volume of the music down, had it play for not as long, and learned to sleep without music. It's so much better!