babies and tvs

[ivybee]

when me and my baby are in the house we normally spend time in our living room where the tv is normally on. in the morning it's news, at night it's a film/show etc, but during the day i keep baby tv on. i turn the sound off and listen to music (anything from beatles to the most recent UK charts), although the tv screen stays on. our 8 month old rolls about the room, plays with his toys, then stops to watch the tv for a bit, then goes back to rolling, playing with his toys etc.
when i share this with other parents, some (not all) give me judgemental looks, etc. our little one is a very happy baby, has met all the milestones, is very active and interested in the outside world and it does't seem like tv has made him dull or anything like that. so i'm wondering - why is tv considered so bad?

[Dinesaur]

I've no idea. When dd was tiny i watched all sorts with her hanging about. Now she's 18 months she watches peppa, Ben and holly and in the night garden.

Mostly it's just on in the background while she's playing, she's not glued to it 24/7.

[processedbeats]

I don't know my DS (9 mo) has spent most of his days in a room with tv, and seems fine.
Im more concerned about my DSD (10 y) who spends ALL of her time on her iPad and now wants an iphone too...

[Jaffakake]

I have no idea why people think it's so bad.

Both dh & I spent time aboard learning languages and I can say mine is better than his - it's amazing what you learn watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer in German! He didn't gave a TV. Therefore I'm convinced it's good for language. It's also been good for ds learning skills, he cleans his teeth so much better since watching Bing do it on cbeebies.

You may find as baby gets older they'll sit there & watch instead of playing with toys. But you know your kid & what's good for them.

[EmbarrassedPossessed]

It's partly because the in the US and other countries, it is recommended by paediatricians that under twos watch no TV at all. There have been some large scale studies in the US that have shown harmful effects (on concentration and language for example) even after parenting and socio economic factors have been taken into account.

[StepDoor]

What embarrassed said

[Smartiepants79]

Can I ask why you have it on all the time?
My children have watched some TV since they were little toddlers but I can't see the point in having it on constantly.
I think children can learn quite a but from appropriate program's but if its on all the time they start to zone it out and any of the benefits are lost.

[LizLimone]

Yes, am in the US too and the guidelines here are that no child under-2 should watch TV, even childrens TV. Obviously that's pretty stringent and most parents crack before the age of 2 to let the DC watch some TV now and again. In general though having the TV on all day, even if it's just in the background isn't really a good idea for an 8 month old. They shouldn't need TV at that age. They need interaction with people. TV is passive whereas interaction with people is usually a 2-way street.

[Gen35]

Except that dd was mostly just looking at the lights on the tv at that age, not actually watching. I agree I wouldn't have it on all the time but they're not watching it at under a year, it's just a series of colours and noises. More dangerous when they are zoning out constantly in front of it when older.

[stargirl1701]

It comes from the guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (sic):

www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Pages/Media-and-Children.aspx

[ch1134]

Social development and expectations. They will have so much screen time as they get older - at school, work and socially. Already as a teacher I can see the effects of too much of it. Some children are losing the ability to hold proper conversations or make arrangements to meet in the big wide real world. They need to interact with real live people as much as possible to develop language skills, social skills, and a sense of reality.

[EmbarrassedPossessed]

This article from Wired magazine has a good explanation of the reasoning behind the AAP's advice in the US. As the article says, there have been lots of studies about this, and the conclusions seem to be that for under-two's there are no identified positives and several potential negatives to TV/screen time. Given that it isn't difficult to switch the TV off when your children are around, it seems prudent to at least heavily restrict TV/screen time, if not to cut it out completely.

[DurhamDurham]

Don't feel guilty about using the tv to entertain your baby. I used to stick my eldest in from of the washing machine.....she loved it, kept her entertained for ages!!

[ivybee]

Smartiepants79 the reason why the TV is on all day is: in the morning while we eat breakfast, get ready, etc me and DH watch the news. once DH leaves for work, i switch on baby tv/music so i can clean/tidy the house and after that i take DS for a walk/a swim/baby yoga/meeting a friend for a coffee/another activity. we get back for lunch time 12pm/1ish.
once we are back baby tv/music is back on as i need to prepare lunch for myself and DS, we then eat/i tidy up/play with DS/go on ebay/get ready for going to pick up DSS from school. once we get back after 4ish, tv is back on as DSS watches something while DS naps, i start thinking of dinner. once DH gets home at 6pm, we have dinner tv is then on for news, a film, a show whatever.

[Smartiepants79]

As I said I think you just need to be wary of it becoming background noise. If no one is actually watching it then it should be off. I don't think it's good to have it on whist attempting to do something else with the DC. So if you're playing with him on the floor then he doesn't need the TV as well.
Neither of my children took any notice of the television at 8 months. I certainly couldn't have used it as a distraction while I did jobs. My 2 yr old is only just now starting to pay it any attention at all.

[poocatcherchampion]

affects their listening, communication concentration and language.

babies can't multitask in the way adults can - background noise for you means a lot is going on for them.

they need periods of quiet.

we never have the telly on really but do have the radio on quite a lot so I guess the same point applies.