DC at nursery put in front of a laptop watching Peppa Pig, AIBU?

@crostini my daughter was a bit of a big telly watcher in her pre school days.
She was early to talk and early to read (due to subtitles on the screen). At primary school she was writing "fan fiction" based on favourite TV characters - so not all terrible in my view 🙂
Yes it's a break for the adults - that's the point.
The adults have tasks they need to do. They use nap time to do them. But if some of the children aren't napping then the adults still need to do those tasks.

@Needmorelego see I think it is a big deal. I know many parents of toddlers who can say less than a handful of words at 2, who are given the tablet at an alarming rate and their parents wonder why. Children who won't/can't play because they point and whine for the the screen when it's taken away until their parents give in. This is across all demographics and not just a small minority. If these children then turn up to nursery and are then also being placated with screens, then I find that worrying.
It does turn children into zombies.
It does effect speech
It does effect behaviour
It is a break for adults, not a break for toddlers, let's not deceive ourselves

OP says her child goes to nursery in the morning, so maybe she works part time, or she is able to collect her and take her to another childcare setting (whether that be her own home/partner, child minder etc).

There are many people using nursery for sessions other than day long.

Virtually everything they do at nursery you can do for free at home, maybe ban reading stories to them as you can do that for free at home, no going into the nursery garden to play on the swings, you can do that at home for free.

If people are anti screens or anti Peppa Pig they are entitled to their feelings but it seems so odd that it should be based on they can do it for free at home. As you say they are paying for childcare.

@crostini this is the thing - nursery is not needed under the age of 3 unless it's for childcare purposes.
If the OP is so flexible that she can collect her child early then her child doesn't really need to be there.
She can then decide how she wants her child's day to be (ie no TV).
Nursery for childcare is usually a long day with the staff having so much to do and it's physically impossible for them to offer a 1 to 1 service. So sometimes a little bit of downtime watching an age appropriate TV programme is no big deal.
It really isn't.

I've only read the OP's posts.

She says "My concerns are primarily that I’ve not been told DC is having any screen time at all, and on the days when they’re in the baby room (they put toddlers in with the babies on the day when there are not many kids at the nursery), they’ve gone to get DC to bring to me which makes me wonder if they have been trying to keep this from me."

I think it would be entirely reasonable to ask about how much screen time the children get. Not in an accusatory way, but just in the same way you might ask about anything - how much time outside, how much free play etc.

It's not a good parent/nursery relationship if you have an element of doubt about them keeping things from you.

In my day (kids are 25 and 15 now) it was OK for parents to drop by at any time, and we could go right into the nursery. This always gave you a realistic view, and not the one at either end of the day. I think things might be different now with safe guarding and covid restrictions being retained. Oh and they had a telly but not any other sort of screen. Non napping children would get on with quite play.

Things have changed since 20century tv viewing because now screens are everywhere and with 24/7 content. Small kids have tablets/smartphones nowadays and this is causing concern in terms of interaction. Even with adults there is screen addiction.

@Needmorelego there is such a huge difference between a group of children in a primary setting watching bbc learning type programmes together in front of a proper monitor - often times related to what they're learning in class, vs effectively switching a 1 or 2 year old off in front of a small, close screen watching content such as peppa pig for no defined amount of time.

@Breathedeeper if you are able to collect your child early does this mean you don't actually need childcare?
Nursery under the age of 3 is not needed unless it's for childcare.
If you can collect her early then why not just keep her home with you?

@crostini watching TV in one form or another has been normal in schools/nurseries for decades.
Either specific educational programmes (ie the ones made by BBC Schools Programmes) or age appropriate ones for a bit of quiet time/wet play/special treat.
It's hardly a new concept.
BBC Schools Programmes began in 1957.

Yeah this would really piss me off. But it's become so normalised.

Having worked in nurseries, this is commonplace. The awake children are allowed to watch some children's TV programmes whilst they are waiting for the other children to wake up. It's the only point in the day they do this and are playing/on the go for the other 7/8 or so hours in the day. Does your dc not watch any TV at home op? If that was all they did then you might have reason to complain but you saw a small window in the day.

I have fond memories of the TV being wheeled in to nursery so we could watch the Mr Men in the 1970s. I passed all my exams and went to Cambridge.

Ask the nursery to tell you the amount of screen time your child has in their care with timings noted. Why not give a child a pile of books to look at? Same idea of quiet time but the child is thinking and interacting differently compared to looking at a screen passively.

You’ve never actually watched Peppa Pig, have you?

You won't be able to win. 😁

Children will have have had structured learning experiences all morning( they will continue in the afternoon after OP's child has gone home) and this is hard work. Play is work: learning to share, take turns, deal with other children, regulate their feelings, develop skills - all this is work, and tiring. Nursery staff are pretty much on the go all day with very short breaks and they work long hours in a noisy and demanding environment.

The awake toddlers will have had stories read to them and need a rest from playing (ie work) - so Megabloks or Happy Street won't cut it, they need rest. Plus they've probably already been put out that week if not that day and they're bored of it. Nurseries only have so much storage space.

It's always a shock when parents discover that nursery isn't staffed and run by Mary Poppins but by ordinary people who do their best most of the time, as we all do. And when else do they do the admin side for parents?

If you are a responsible parent who limits the amount of screen time their child has, but has no idea they get screen time at nursery, how are you going to know how much, if any they should get at home?

I know two women who are classroom assistants in reception class at two different schools and they have both told me that the number of kids who start at infants aged 4 and are not toilet trained is staggering. One said about a little girl who wet herself 3 times in one day and begged the staff not to tell her mum. She said if mummy knows she wont give me my tablet. This set off alarm bells as they didn't know said child was on medication - then it dawned on them that she meant computer tablet. The fact that at the age of 4 they can use a computer but not the toilet is very worrying.

I would imagine a number (if not all) of these children have attended nursery at some point.

TVs are preferable to laptops for toddlers and small children as not so damaging to their eyes - another good reason for the time being limited, but it is lazy child care. Not so bad at mealtimes, when presumably the care staff are helping with the food, but the rest of the time TVs and laptops off and if a couple or more toddlers are awake whilst the rest are sleeping they should be encouraged to do something together which would enhance their social skills.

Regarding the original question about watching Peppa Pig on a laptop in a room of sleeping babies and toddlers HOW THE HELL DO THESE KIDS SLEEP THROUGH ALL THE SCREECHING AND SCREAMING IN THAT SHOW. It wakes me up on the other side of a corridor through 2 closed doors.

It is something you'll have to get used to , whether you like it or not, screens appear to be used for all sorts now in schools.

I would not be happy about this at all (we are strictly screen free at home with the kids) but would probably not say anything for fear of being ‘that parent’.

I doubt they could take them outside or into an other room due to staff:child ratios in the nursery setting.
In some nurseries nap time is also when staff can chance to have their breaks, meaning the staff/child ratio is at its bare minimum.

OK, do you know why we sometimes need the screen to entertain the children for 15 mins? Because we have literally no other time, a part from sleep time, to update the app and upload the pictures and observations (plus cleaning, paperwork, etc)
You'd be the first to moan if that didn't get done. Nursery staff can't win.

Well yes really, that's their job. And nursery staff are not nannies/childminders, they usually get some breaks in the day.

And as for not "interacting", most working parents come home and they have to cook dinner, do activities and homework for older children, do bedtime and bath-time, clean up after dinner, sort the laundry and the house, get everything ready for the next day...

This is the time when 30 minutes or so of TV is most useful, not when young children are at nursery with multiple staff whose job is to look after them.

There is also no why of knowing it was longer than a few minutes, and based on baby/toddler average concentration span, they're hardly glued to it for hours. The nursery is being paid to look after people's children. That's what they're doing, no? If part of that time includes a bit of tv, no big deal. Surely the majority of nurseries have apps and/or written observations and photos of the scores of activities the children do all week that do not include screens.

No. At home mine would free play. They don't have to be engaged in organised activity. Just get the Mega blocks or happy land out.

Even a group together watching a cartoon is a touch better than a toddler staring at an ipad alone.