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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To put TV and VHS player in 3 year old DD's room?

89 replies

LauLauLemon · 01/07/2011 23:35

DH suggested we put a TV in DD1's room today with a VHS player so she can watch old disney films.

I've always been against it but I found myself thinking it was a good idea and doing it. There's no Freeview or even normal TV channels, just the VHS player and TV.

Too far for a 3 year old? She doesn't watch too much TV but enough that The Princess and the Goblin makes me want to hurl myself into a wall despite it being my childhood favourite.

AIBU?

OP posts:

ScarlettIsWalking · 03/07/2011 23:11

No way

VanillaRooibos · 03/07/2011 23:18

No would not ever have TV in any bedroom, let alone child's bedroom

exoticfruits · 03/07/2011 23:22

I don't think TVs belong in bedrooms-I would hate one in mine. I wouldn't let a 13yr old have one-so def not a 3 yr old.

sheepgomeep · 03/07/2011 23:28

I disagree seeker, a good book can keep you awake and stimulate your mind so much that its difficult to sleep. Ive done this many times myself

seeker · 03/07/2011 23:31

It's not a matter of opinion though - it's a matter of brain scans.

exoticfruits · 03/07/2011 23:31

Not a 3 yr old though sheepgomeep-they mainly have to go by looking at pictures.

GothAnneGeddes · 04/07/2011 00:06

I'm loling at Thursday's post about having 'one of those pesty kids who is up at five. I agree with tv in that situation.

I am not anti tv. I had to sing both the Peppa Pig and Charlie and Lola theme tunes to DD at bedtime last night, but for me tv in rooms is a big no no as I think children should be self soothing, or at least have portable soothing tools! Also, I like to control what she watches, plus she's funny watching telly, I love watching her reactions.

So OP, YABU.

RuthChan · 04/07/2011 07:55

I agree that some tv can be a good thing, but I think it needs to be controlled.
TV before bed is ok, but should be watched in the sitting room before going into the bedroom to sleep. The two should be separate.

I don't think a reliance on it to go to sleep is a good thing.
What do you do when they wake up in the middle of the night and ask for the tv to be put on so that they can go back to sleep?
Don't think I'm joking. Seriously. When my DD was 2 she had awful problems getting to sleep at night. Among hundreds of other things, I tried giving her a CD player with a lullaby CD. It helped her for a couple of days, but it wasn't long before she was coming into my room in the middle of the night asking for me to turn on the music again. The CD player was soon removed from her room!
I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to watch TV when she woke in the middle of the night too!

flipthefrog · 04/07/2011 08:42

seeker so how does that work with a kindle?

Andrewofgg · 04/07/2011 09:28

Sometimes I think DW and I must be the luckiest parents in the world.

DS slept through from six weeks and never woke us at night again. And if later on getting him to get up in the morning was an issue, well, at least he wasn?t a 5 a.m.er.

But no, I wouldn?t put anything with a screen in a 3yo?s room. Not right.

KatieWatie · 04/07/2011 09:31

I wouldn't do it (but it's easy for me to say as I don't have kids yet so might change my mind when it comes to it!).

I don't think there's anything wrong per se with the way you say the tv/video is being used at the moment (no channels, just disney vids) but it could easily lead on to bigger things e.g. pestering for freeview box when she's 6, and this would be harder to say no to and justify if there is already a TV in the room. Also the point about electronic things being disturbing/annoying is spot on, they bother me too.

AuntiePickleBottom · 04/07/2011 09:39

my ds 5 has a tv and dvd combo, it is used when he goes to sleep after a story and a good night kis, it is the only thing that keeps him in bed all night.

previous to that i had 4.5 years with broken sleep, sometime up to 6 times a night. It may be lazy parenting but now i have the energy to do lots of activitys in the day

pleasekeepcalmandcarryon · 04/07/2011 12:13

I have a son with ADHD, we put a TV/DVD in his room at age three on the advice of his consultant (he slept about half the amount of a normal 3yr old and the TV kept him in his room rather than wandering about the house causing mischief, waking siblings).

He is now 7 and whilst the advice worked at the time we are now trying to wean him off watching streams of DVDs all night using a timer and limitation methods. I find he falls asleep earlier if we encourage him to read books rather than watch telly.

These things are fine in moderation but do need firm rules about how much and what time it switches off. I think I am trying to say what works at 3yrs old may have repercussions later on.

BTW my DS has a TV/Xbox combo these days which he uses for watching dvds as well as playing games. It has a family timer facility which I use to give the DC a set amount of time per day. When it's done it stops working until the next day, I find this really useful as the DC seem to accept this far easier than just me saying 'times up'.

harassedandherbug · 04/07/2011 13:25

My dd is 5 tomorrow and would love a tv in her room (she also asked for a laptop for birthday ), but she's not getting one!

She does have a portable dvd player and was watching that in bed in the evenings but I found that it was actually keeping her awake rather than helping her drop off. So a no from me!

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