To not want DS to have a TV in bedroom?

[Zebragiraffes]

DS is 7 months and we are decorating his bedroom ready for him to move in. I'm currently in the middle of a huge dispute with DH over whether or not to put a TV in his bedroom.

Until I met DH I very rarely watched TV and spent my time reading or doing outside activities ( I still watched the occasional tv show but maybe a couple of times a week). I never had a TV in my bedroom growing up and the only room we had a TV was the lounge. DH on the other hand was brought up in a household where every room has a TV, very little reading, or anything other than screen time.

I try to avoid screen time for DS but whenever we take him past anything with a screen he is glued to it (and DH and in-laws allow him to watch TV when I'm not there). I'm not against him having limited tv time but DH wants him to have a small TV in his bedroom as he thinks he's going to "need" one when he's a little older and he enjoys watching it now.

To me this is completely crazy at his age and I feel that it's not acceptable for a TV now or throughout his early years. I'm happy to reconsider as a family once he's a teenager and old enough to have his own input.

DH says I'm being old fashioned and boring. AIBU?

...long post. Well done to those who read all of it and thanks in advance!

7 months? You are not unreasonable at all!

YANBU.

A 7 month old does NOT need a TV in their room. What they have never had, they will never miss.

My DCs don't have tvs in their rooms. I was about 13 before I had one. I honestly don't think it is necessary when they are young. Mine love the TV and would be glued to it most of the time if they could so another reason why I wouldn't put it in their rooms.

I'm with you on this Zebra.
We have one tv which I confess I watch too much of- crap too!
My children share a room and I am not going to allow them a tv.
In the evening after tea they are not allowed tablets either otherwise it would be Minecraft until midnight.
Stand Firm!!!

YANBU - too too too too too young.

I do not like televisions in bedrooms & don't have one in ours. My 9 year old does not & will not have one, I prefer him downstairs with everyone instead of closeted alone in room watching TV. I also like him to read a book before bed, not watch TV as I think its important that he reads. He can watch TV if he likes, he just has to do it in the living room & share it with DS2.

As you say, reconsider when he's a teen :) there is absolutely no need for one at all.

Utterly stupid. DH had a TV in the bedroom until he met me. TVs in the bedroom mean less sleep for everyone and less sex for couples. Bad habit.

Seven months is far too young.

We had a TV in my kids' shared room for about four years. We put it in there not so that they would watch more TV, but so that the TV that they did watch could be moved into their room.

Anyway it never worked, they never used it, they always hung out with us in the TV snug. When we reconfigured the shared room as 2 bedrooms last year the TV went into the basement, and it's still unused. They're always with us in the family snug!

That's ridiculous! Tell him you will consider it when he's older.

What I like about the iPad is that I can let the DC take it into their room occasionally when I want to send them back to bed at 6am but I'm in control and can take it away again.

YANBU. Even for a teenager I would really hesitate, but 7 months is much much much too young!

No one NEEDS a TV in their bedroom, child or adult. I have never had one, and neither did my children. They never asked for one either, despite most of their friends having them, so I can't remember it ever being an issue.

We had one in the living room and another small one in the kitchen/family room. That way I could monitor what they were watching and we could talk about some of the issues in programmes as a family. They had stereos in their bedrooms (yes, this was the dark ages of the 1990's!), so could listen to music if they needed some entertainment.

Far far too young. My DC 6&4 don't have and will never have a TV in their rooms much to the chagrin of my DM who fell out with me because we said no to DD getting a tv for her room for christmas. They can watch TV with us downstairs or not at all. I rather they read books.

Having a television in his room is likely to lead to sleep deprivation. Obviously, you can control this at the moment, but in a year's time, he may well be able to turn it on for himself, and certainly he will be able to by the time he gets to school.

Sleep deprivation will affect his moods, and his ability to learn.

My DC do not have televisions in their rooms, although they do all have ipads, etc, now (15, 13 and 11). The 11yo is not allowed to have his ipad in his room overnight, as he started waking up and using it at about 3:00 am, until I discovered it happening. (He would have been 8 or 9 at the time.) His teacher had arranged an appointment with me, as his attitude at school had changed so much. She thought there must be trouble of some sort, at home. I caught him in the act of "midnight-padding" on the day before the appointment was arranged.

My son is 8 and hasn't got a TV in his bedroom. Nor will he until he is in his late teens. Call me old fashioned, but I don't think it is necessary.

I would only even consider it for a teenager.

In the US, the AAP guidelines say no TV for under 2's, and there are calls to do the same here. So no way could a 7 month old possibly 'need' a TV in their room.

My ds got a tv in his room when he was 11 and I thought that was too young. He's the only one in this house to have a tv in the bedroom. 7 months is way too young and pretty pointless.

WTF does a 7 month old need a TV in their bedroom for? YANBU!

We don't have a TV at all and having tellies in bedrooms is definitely not happening until they can install one themselves!

Not necessary at all

What possible reason does he have for thinking this is a good ideA? Under no circumstances! I thought you were going to say he was 7 and even that I think is far too young.

Yanbu.

My son is 7 years old and doesn't have a tv in his room. Him and his sisters always yack on about how their friends have got tv's in each room. I think it's horrendous.

I didn't get one until I was 13 and neither will they! It's so unnecessary. Let them be children and play

I sure don't think so. I'm liberal about screen time, but I don't think a kid needs a TV in their bedroom.

Why is your DH so adamant about DS having a TV in his bedroom?

Bedrooms are for winding down, songs, stories and sleep at that age. Maybe play during the day if that suits your setup. If someone in the house wants to watch TV with a little one, fine (not at bedtime imho but whatever suits you) , but not in DC's room.

What really ?

What?! 7 months?? No way.

I'm not a fan of tv in bedrooms full stop for children but at 7 months? Yanbu.

DP and I have never had a TV in our bedroom and we are 49 and 54, nobody "needs" a TV at all. DD and DS were allowed a TV in their bedrooms about mid teens if I remember correctly.