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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to have let my toddler spend most of today watching TV?...

90 replies

makemineamojito · 15/12/2010 23:07

It's so blinking freezing at the moment and we didn't have anything in particular to do today so we stayed in all day. There's one programme that my DS loves and he's watched it over and over again. I've watched with him but also got quite a lot of chores done...now I'm feeling guilty that he's spending too much time in front of the TV!

OP posts:
A1980 · 15/12/2010 23:10

One day wont harm him

Megletitsnow · 15/12/2010 23:11

yanbu. That sounds like a normal saturday in our house.

AuntiePickleBottom · 15/12/2010 23:16

sound like my sunday, apart from the chore bit

stickersarecurrency · 15/12/2010 23:17

Listen, my 3yo has been ill on and off for a month. We've also had shedloads of snow. Plus I'm BFing a 3 month old baby. We've had the bloody tv on SO much. He's quite obsessed with it now but otherwise unscathed. I'd have lost the plot without it!

Feelingsensitive · 15/12/2010 23:18

Sounds like most days in my house at the moment.

musicposy · 15/12/2010 23:27

YANBU. If you were doing it every day of his whole life maybe, but a few days in the middle of winter with not much else to do won't hurt him.

My 11 year old DD sometimes spends vitually whole days watching disney channel pre teen crap quality programming back to back and she is turning into a perfectly well adjusted and sociable human being.(I hope)Grin

It's all about balance and as long as it's not every hour of every day, I can't see a problem.

MsKalo · 15/12/2010 23:29

I find it quite surprising that noone yet thinks YABU - letting your child watch tv ALL day is not right - of course you can do what you like and others can flame me all they like for saying it but no-one can really argue that watching tv all day is a good thing.

I have two under three and also bf the youngest but make a conscious effort to only have the tv on a bit - you know it is mind-numbing if it is on all day, you know about all the studies done and it is not good for your child

musicposy · 15/12/2010 23:34

I wasn't saying it's a good thing, I'm saying you have to live in the real world and everything in moderation. One day of TV when OP's post implies they usually go out somewhere seems to me to be moderation.

I'm sure the studies involved houses where TV was a constant all day every day, not a one off day.

I know I need the odd mind numbing day!

MsKalo · 15/12/2010 23:38

I need a shed load of mind numbing days :-)

bigbitch90 · 15/12/2010 23:45

my tvs always on

my kids dont sit in front of it all day
its like a background thing :)

MsKalo · 15/12/2010 23:49

There have been lots of studies that say having the tv on in the background affects children's speech

Having the tv on all day would bevso easy but I don't as it isn't good for children or for anyone!

walkinginaWUKTERwonderland · 15/12/2010 23:54

One day is no harm, I wouldn't think. Everything in moderation.
It's difficult to keep them amused stuck in a house all day in the depths of winter.

My DD loves Waybuloo, I always let her watch it when we get home and I need to do dinner. I love to watch her doing yoga with them.

MsKalo · 15/12/2010 23:56

Watching a bit is ok walking watching all day is not !

snowyweather · 16/12/2010 00:00

You have to figure out what is the worst hazard for your child:

  1. One day of TV killing brain cells ...

versus

  1. The possibility of a serious accident or sickness because of trip hazards such as toys and objects left around or having an unhygienic house because you don't have any time to tidy up.

  2. Stressed out parent unable to think straight because of the chaos surround him or her.

Go figure.

AuntiePickleBottom · 16/12/2010 00:01

i couldn't have kids show on all day.

my son prefers to watch how stuff made, animal documentrys and dvd's

snowyweather · 16/12/2010 00:01

Can someone point me to any studies that prove Waybuloo or In the Night Garden is damaging?

Surely not.

walkinginaWUKTERwonderland · 16/12/2010 00:03

One day, MsKalo, won't hurt.
Makemineamojito doesn't seem like she uses it all day every day, now that would be damaging.

classydiva · 16/12/2010 00:08

Dont have young children my youngeset is 17, cant remember the last time the tv was turned off from when they were young.

OnEdge · 16/12/2010 00:10

I bet he loved it, relaxing in a world of his own. How can it be bad for them ? Load of crap.

walkinginaWUKTERwonderland · 16/12/2010 00:18

OnEdge, it can be bad for them, but like anything else, moderation is the key.

snowyweather · 16/12/2010 00:30

OK, sorry for the thread hi-jack. Since about 7 months my now 1 year old has been watching an hour of TV a day Monday to Friday.

1/2 Waybuloos in the morning (I rush around making lunch, doing washing and so on)

1/2 IN the Night Garden (again I rush around doing stuff, making beds etc, running bath, dinner)

In addition my DH sometime watches music DVD's and sings and plays with our 1 year old. All types from classical, blues to dance musicals.

Is this wrong??

TLESinChristmasStockings · 16/12/2010 00:43

my tv is still on Wink

Fernie3 · 16/12/2010 05:02

My oldest watched no tv as a toddler my second watched only what I carefully selected for my oldest) my third and fourth watch it way too much BUT even though I carefully planned educational games and pastimes especially for the older two they both ended up in speech therapy, my second with global delays. My third is way ahead at 20 months talking, counting and singing. Only a sample of one family admittedly but in our case my rubbish activities were no match for agent osos countdowns when it came to teaching counting.

Fernie3 · 16/12/2010 05:03

Auntiepicklebottom my four year old recently discovered mythbusters ....