Baby Einstein/TV
chickybuns
Posts: 1,037 Member
What are your thoughts on letting baby watch TV? I have the baby einstein DVDs and let him watch one today for about 20 minutes while I pumped and he seemed to enjoy. I know some say no TV until 2. I don't look at it as a substitute, I still talk to him and read to him a lot. But is it better for him to watch that or just lie on the floor while I'm doing other things? Sometimes the TV is on in the evenings or when hubby is home, but I try to keep him away from looking at it.
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With my son he hated t.v. until about age 5 I couldn't get him to sit still long enough or to keep his attention long enough till then and I was fine with that. I tried the baby einstein with him and he had absolutely no interest in them. Now my daughter loves the computer and is fascinated by it but as far as watching t.v. she has no interest in it at all, plus there hearing is better right now than their eyesight anyways. My husband has put on Barney and sesame street for her so he can get some housework done, but she usually likes the music and could care less what is going on. I used to be very against t.v. for my kids, but now I seem to have become less strict. Maybe its my old age or am too tired, but if our t.v. is on I do not try to shield her from it because they will be exposed to it, but its up to you what you expose them to. T.V. does not ruin a child and as long as you aren't using it as a babysitter or a substitute for your attention if you turn it on for them so you can do something else for a short period is fine I also will sometimes instead of t.v. I will turn on the music stations on our t.v. and play her music instead or turn my ipod on she loves music. I will also turn her swing and her bouncer away from the t.v. so she isn't staring at the screen.0
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My son is two (well, 26 months), and it's still hard to get him to sit down to watch anything for more than a few minutes. I had the TV on for my own purposes as well as background noise when he was an infant, and he always seemed to look at the TV when there was music on. So I started streaming Pandora instead, and he definitely seemed to like having music on (I listen to a lot of random stuff, but no hardcore rap or R&B or anything "harsh" sounding). He still pays attention to the TV if whatever is on is music-heavy, and that goes for all types of music!
When he was a baby, I did try a lot of those baby shows through Netflix, but he didn't have much interest in them. I tried stuff on YouTube, too, even finding things he might like, like other babies and puppies and stuff, but no dice.
I don't think you're doing damage by having the TV on (though I agree that if you have him confined to something like a swing or a bouncer, I'd face it away from the TV so that, if anything, there's only sound stimulation). I'd focus more on what you're doing with him, like reading books and playing.0 -
TV in and of itself isn't bad. They say no TV under 2 because when you're watching it you aren't interacting with your kid and that will reduce verbal ability. If it's 20 minutes here or there in order to be a person, or even if you're discussing what's going on in the episode with the kid (we like to watch documentaries and chat through them) then there isn't anything wrong with it. The powers that be just don't want people plopping their kids down for 3 hours instead of playing/talking with them.0
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This is something I'm struggling with too! Glad you posted it. Usually Jaxon is in his walker or bumbo next to me when I'm doing something but I do turn the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on for him when I'm trying to keep him awake when he wants to fall asleep before bed time or when his teething pain is getting to him and I've tried everything to soothe him the tv usually works. Also, the tv is almost always on with my shows but unless he's eating, we're always up and around and I talk to him all day so I don't feel that's an issue
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I have the tv on fairly often while Max is playing on the floor. Sometimes he watches it, sometimes he doesn't.
At first I was worried that I was a bad mom, but as long as tv doesn't replace personal interaction, I don't think it's anything to worry about.
Glad I'm not alone!0 -
I took a shower this morning and came back in my bedroom, and my 8 week old son was fascinated watching Dr. Phil of all things... LOL
He is just starting to get engaged with lights and sounds, and we let him watch the TV a bit (maybe 30 mins per day when I'm preparing dinner or showering or something).
I think as long as it's not something you let them do all day everyday, it's fine.0 -
I played Einstein videos for our son when he was about 2/3 months and he got so scared and started crying. lol so we didn't play those for him for awhile or really anything till he was older.. he did start to like mickey mouse around age 1 and picked up on talking really fast from it. Same with my daughter. they were limited to 1 or 2 episodes. But for over a year now we are TV free. So they don't get any Tv time but i will play a few youtube videos for them on a rainy day. or a kid show on netflix..0
