to let my 6mo DS enjoy watching the tv??

[Cher87]

at a mother and baby group I attend with my 6mo DS, one of the helpers was saying that you should limit tv time to half an hour per day.
Now my DS loves the tv and watches it for more than half an hour per day! When Waybaloo comes on he stops dead and is glued!!
Im really not that concerned as its not on ALL day and and we do go out and interact with people and eachother everyday.
I knew I would have a tv addict from the start as when he was a week old I was changing his nappy on the living room floor and he was transfixed by corrie!!

My mum says its sad that he enjoys the tv so much at his age....what are your views on children and tv???

I think by 6mo TV probably should be limited. For tiny babies I don't think having the TV on does any harm; it's just another form of visual stimulation. But by 6mo they need more interaction. And just because babies enjoy something, doesn't mean they should be allowed to do it all the time. My 1yo DD loves chocolate (thanks MIL ), doesn't mean I let her eat it non-stop!

Well, as long as it's not all day every day.

We limit the tv in our house just because I can't stand listening to it anymore.

We used to have it on all the time and my toddler would just take it or leave it. He really wasn't that bothered by it.

Now we have it on for an hour in the morning so the toddler can watch it while I'm making beds/showering etc etc and an hour in the eve for bedtime hour. It's also Waybaloo's that makes my 6month old stare at the tv for the whole programme but he's usually asleep by 6.30pm so that's all he watches.

I don't see anything wrong with the odd programme here or there as long as it's not, like I said, all day every day.

Agree TV should be limited at this age. No one really knows how TV impacts on brain development in young babies. My suggestion would be no TV or only very limited TV until about 2yo, and restricted after that too - apart from anything, you'll be setting up good habits for the future.

My TV is on a lot, either on the news or music channels, and it doesn't worry me. My DS is 13 months and LOVES teletubbies and the odd cartoon but otherwise goes about his business regardless, ignoring TV completely (except for when Lady Gaga comes on an then he dances like a maniac, oddly). He is very sociable and active (NEVER SITS STILL) so I am not worried.
When I was a child I watched loads and loads of TV and so did all my siblings and I think we turned out ok, non-obese, all social skills in tact, so that is probably why I am relaxed about it. As long as kids aren't plonked there all day with no other stimulation, it's ok IMHO.

I let my DS (7months) watch some TV. Mickey Mouse is his favourite! He will watch about 20 mins in the morning so I can do dishwasher, laundry blah blah blah and then about 30 mins in afternoon. I prefer him playing with his toys and interacting with me really, but his little face lights up when he see's mickey!! He laughs along and claps!

Agree with keeping it to a minimum, but a little won't do no harm.

Doesn't bother me too much either.
DS (3) watches a fair bit, more Disney movies now.
But he's very interactive, we watch them a lot together and I explain what's going on etc
Honestly it was a bit of a godsend earlier on, half an hour here and there to get something done.
I would agree about bad habits though, so I would try not to let them get too used to it

I would set a time limit each day. Although I don't think it does any harm, the time your DC sits and watches TV is time he isn't playing with toys, moving around, interacting with other people etc.

thanks for your replys! Im quite happy with the amount he watches as its not all day long and to be honest by the time waybaloo has finished he has pretty much lost interest anyway!
As exhausted said its a godsend some days when Im trying to get on with a few things!

My 4 month old loves Waybuloo and watches the Hoobs in the morning as she is an early riser and I find it hard to get going but we don't watch anything else. There's nothing wrong with a couple of things a day- I think the secret is to not let on any other programs exist!

I don't let mine watch it for ages, except for occasional films and when they're ill. They are 2 and 4. The only rule I have (except for no complaining when I turn it off!) is that they do nothing else when the TV's on. The moment they start to play with other stuff and start zoning in and out it goes off. Otherwise it loses its power.

Gosh, I thought it was sort of forbiddan until they reach 3.

I think I have been reading too much MN.

I put youtube on the iPad and let DD (14m) see two mins of whatever cartoon I find once per week so I can cut her nails while she is sitting quietly. I felt guilty and horrible about it.

I feel better now!

I do think every day might be a bit much though. But as someone else said, we had the TV on all the time when we were children and it's not fried our brains.

I think half an hour a day is more than enough for a baby.

You should read the book Toxic Childhood and have a re think.

DD didn't really watch any (apart from the occasional bit of sport with her grandpa!) until she was 2. I know that the evidence that it can be harmful isn't particularly convincing but I thought it probably wouldn't do her much good even if it wasn't doing her harm iyswim.

Shortly after she was 2 we went through a phase of her watching quite a lot in the morning while I washed up and she's still a bit obsessed with Fantastic Mr Fox (but not capable of watching it all the way through still) but hardly watches any now, occasional ten minutes first thing in the morning while I get her dressed.

Who cares as long as they are entertained my son loved watching me play Red Dead Redemption when he was born, I don't know why he found it so fascinating, he is still very interested in games and wants to play them.

TV he only watches adverts and Top Gear, at 10 months old he will not even watch Tellytubbies or that thing with the apes on the island nothing.

I can't believe someone would feel guilty about letting their child watch "two mins of whatever cartoon I find once per week so I can cut her nails while she is sitting quietly"? Horrible and guilty?? Are you for real?

I put a Baby Einstein DVD on sometimes to get some housework done (makes him clever of course). Also, I am not sure if most posters here have just the one DC, but once you have an older one it is much harder to limit the amount of TV your baby sees, unless you want to keep them in a separate room to your older children, and my DS2 loves interacting with DS1 even when cBeebies is on. I think a little in the morning and evening is not going to harm.

Ohh Baby Einstein.. Thats a good one camperfan!!! He loves it!

I thought Disney were forced to refund parents who bought BE DVDs because they were shown to impair learning, not improve it?

I agree camperfan I didn't let DD watch cbeebies-type programmes/channels until she was about 3 (unless we were at a friend's house as all my friends seem to have it on all the time - not being judgy!). However, I think I'll struggle to keep DS (3mo) away from it for as long as big sis watches bits and pieces of it at weekends.

However, I don't think a bit of appropriate TV at any age will do harm.