Screen time
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Honestly I wouldn’t worry about “tv time “ that much especially when there’s bad weather or anything like that if you fixated on it it will drive you up the walls
Great thank you both! 🙂
I have a lively 3 year old and a 2 month old. TV time saves my sanity regularly, it just needs to be used carefully in my experience. I try to avoid overstimulating shows like cocomelon as it makes my toddlers behaviour more challenging. Same goes with the length of time he watches. We don’t limit the time, but I do find the more he watches tv the more he wants it. That being said I wouldn’t be without it! Sometimes my toddler or I just need the time to decompress
It’s not bad at all imo, it’s just about balance. Like we’ve been out all day, a bit of telly is fine. We’ve had a fair amount with our first and I try not to demonise but I have some none negotiables. No small screens (ie. phones) unless desperate/out of the house, never in house. No tablet in house, only on long journeys (not car but we don’t have one currently anyway) but trains/planes are ok, try to only do last resort in a restaurant but I don’t stress if we do. Only CBeebies programmes (and Pip & Posy/Cosmic Kids yoga on Sky), even then I try to avoid American accents or intense shows (ie. Spidey). NO YouTube whatsoever. No cocomelon, and controversial but no ms rachel. In an ideal world we’d make it communal/family time, talk about it. Films we can watch together we also don’t mind (ie. Moana/Frozen are big time here).
When babies are this little I don’t think background tv you are watching while feeding is a problem, they aren’t really watching as still can’t see that well and it’ll be light attracting them. But for us we have gone with no screens. I have an almost 2 year old and 8 week old. We do FaceTime family every so often. The recommendation is no tv before 2 and then only 30mins/day and supervised watching. So for me I just thought well 30mins doesn’t really buy much time. My daughter can independently play (with some help) longer than this and she helps me do washing etc. I think it helps that I’ve never known it any different. I play music and we sing & dance. So many books too. We will do some tv shows in time but no tablet/phones. I think TV before 2 is fine if it works for you, we’ve just gone this long now it feels easier right now to keep going. Dancing fruits is however something I wouldn’t use and would try to wait until at least 1+ and have boundaries in place.
Personally I wouldn’t take the risk. I don’t think there is enough research to know what it does to newborn brains. I also do believe it does impact on attention, it reduces connection, play and conversation time with you. I didn’t let my last baby watch TV until they were 3. Even now I notice that she is so unregulated after watching it and picking up bad behaviours that she’s watched. There are times when it’s been a saviour but personally for my newborn, I’m trying to go as long as I can without. (That’s just my opinion!)
I rarely had my tv on but now that my husband’s grandmother moved in she wants it on constantly I put something on that my son wouldn’t be interested in and sometimes he pauses to watch briefly and most of the time he’s too busy with his toys or books. Lately I’ve just been taking him outside before she even gets up. She’s annoyed by it but oh well. You’re a guest in MY home. I don’t want the tv on all day
Honestly I wouldn’t worry about it - as long as you’re not watching it all day every day, a bit of TV here and there is fine. There is so much out there that can make mums feel guilty about it but sometimes it’s needed! I use the dancing fruits for my LO and my eldest can get through nearly all of a Disney movie - which is really helpful if I’m trying to get a fussy baby to sleep!! My rule is that a bit of TV is fine if we’ve already been out of the house for a couple of hours. Totally each to their own!