In not letting 9mo ds watch children's TV?

[ScoobyC]

I have never put children's TV on for ds, and I haven't bought any Baby Einstein dvds etc and I am suddenly worrying that I am in some way depriving him as I have just realised that (some) other babies do watch TV.
So, this may be a ridiculous question (it really is amazing what you can worry about when you have a child), but does anyone have any thoughts on whether it is good for a baby's development to watch kids TV?
As background, this hasn't been a particularly thought out decision or anything, it's just that ds has never been a baby who sits, he is very active and so he wouldn't just sit and watch TV. For purely selfish reasons, if the tv is on it has adult programs on as I don't want to watch kids tv until I absolutely have to!

DS (first child) didn't watch any children's TV until I was fairly pregnant with DD (born when DS was 22 months).

DD has watched it from day 1 although she isn't really that interested (she's 18 months).

You are definitely not being unreasonable .

oh fgs
do you really think that>

Personally I think no tv at all is far better for children

I certainly wouldnt worry about not having got a child under 3 to show an interest in it.

Playing with toys etc is far more fun!!!!

My son wasnt interested in cbeebies until he was about 14 months and now its on ALL DAY!. Then i looked in my baby and child question and answer book and it said kids shouuld only watch half an hour a day!!!!
Id love to watch gmtv etc but he goes mad if i change the channel.

havign the tv on all day is hugely bad imo

My DS4 can spend a very happy 20 minutes or so gurgling at Tikabilla and he's only 5 months. I put him in front of the TV when I want to do something outrageous.. like have a shower.

i definitely don't think you are depriving him of tv! most people worry about letting them watch telly. incidently, i don't think it matters either way, so long as kid not sat in front of it for hours and hours

My mum said that when me and my sister were babies we were calmer, and she thinks it may be the box of light in the corner of the room that makes children hyper.
I do worry about having the tv on all day and i even asked my husband if we could sell it so it didnt dominate our lives but he say no no no!

Ok, thanks all, I don't really know why I have been worrying about this, but feel better now!

My worry was that, presumably, kids tv is designed to help their development, therefore, depriving them of it may be depriving them of a developmental tool.
I just started thinking about it because we were round a friends and cbeebies was on, friend's child (similar age) was watching it, ds didn't look at the telly once.

YOUR KID WILL
OH YES
DONT BE TOO SMUG

I'm afraid Cod's right! DS didn't have any interest in telly at 9 mo. Boy, was I smug! Now he's 21 mo, and telly is very restricted at home. Result: when we go to a friend's house where cbeebies is on, DS is absolutely glued to it!

I have to say though that some of the programmes on cbeebies are great abd the presenters are very good. My son copies justin on something special when he is signing so it teaches children that disability isnt weird. That can only be good i reckon.

I think you're misunderstanding me.... I don't have a problem with him watching tv, but at the moment it is completely my choice over whether he does or not cos he can't ask to watch it. My choice is not to put it on therefore he doesn't watch it.
My question is, would it actually be better for him to watch it?

"kids tv is designed to help their development, therefore, depriving them of it may be depriving them of a developmental tool. "

No, I mean bless your heart for your trusting nature, but kids tv is designed to sell you stuff

TV is not good for kids' brains.

ha ha - good point!!!

Thats a very cynical view considering there are no adverts on cbeebies

Statement from the AAP:

"Children of all ages are constantly learning new things. The first 2 years of life are especially important in the growth and development of your child's brain. During this time, children need good, positive interaction with other children and adults. Too much television can negatively affect early brain development. This is especially true at younger ages, when learning to talk and play with others is so important.

Until more research is done about the effects of TV on very young children, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) does not recommend television for children age 2 or younger."

yes of course, the CBeebies programmes have no merchandise available for sale at all

We had a potential client looking round our daycare nursery. The daughter was 2 and a half. The mum was literally flinging open cupboards to check that we didn't have a TV in the nursery, even though we'd already told her that we didn't.
Mum says..." She's not at all interested in TV and we'd like it to stay that way."

She signed up. That child knew every word of The Balamory songs.

Perhaps there are no actual ads on Cbeebies, but there's a fair amount of product placement! Trying to buy a pair of slippers without Postman Pat, Bob the Builder, the Tweenies, or another Cbeebies character on them is no trivial task! The stuff's everywhere and of course even DS with his limited telly recognises Bob!

x posted