AIBU to let 6 month old watch tv

[whoopsiedaisies]

AIBU letting my 6mo watch kids tv whilst I tidy up and make a cuppa? Feel guilty, not sure if I should, but means I get ten mins to myself to get sorted a bit!

How does it make a difference unless you have two 'identical in every way' (clones) children and offer one the tv and one what ever you did then i dont get how will know it makes a difference.

At 6 months ads make no odds. Not great when they are toddlers as they can't tell the difference between the program and the ad and are very susceptible. If I was going to let a baby watch TV/specifically put it on for them (mine sees TV as the older kids watch it, but wouldn't put it on for him iyswim) I would go for cbeebies. Actually pretty good quality programming.

Again .. he’s 6 months old! What difference will it make?

The adverts will make him lose interest

At that age I'd have just put ds and dd in a bouncy chair and talk to them while I pottered. Not because I thought there was anything inherently damaging in letting them watch tv, but more that they wouldn't gain anything. Far better to chat to them as you go about your business because it's helping them develop communication skills.

I was wondering if it might make him start pestering his mum to buy him the things when they go shopping

I don't plan on 'limiting tv time' with my baby when the time comes. If she wants to watch a film or tv programme i don't see the issue if she also has plenty of other playtime away from it. My baby is 3 months and turns her head towards the tv to watch the colours and sounds. Me and my partner have tv on quite a bit when we are home anyway

It’s funny, my DD didn’t give a toss about tell until she was approx 18 months old and believe me I tried to make her stay put, agog and engaged.

Now she loves In the Night Garden and I love the fact her 6mo brother is obviously getting something from it too.

Some of my happiest early memories are telly-related so YANBU at all OP.

And sadly it’s not the same as an aquarium

No? Hmm. I have a very busy aquarium with lots of movement in it, figured the telly would be quite the same.

Nothing else for it then, OP will have to get an aquarium

Yep. Go for it. Please don't waste time on guilt.
Due to my ill health all 3 of mine had it on a lot and sort of dipped in and out.
I highly rate many of the programmes they make now.
Mine are now 16, 13 & 11. I have NEVER noted any ill effects. They are all bright kids.

It's your choice but neuroscientists do recommend it's probably best to avoid all screen time until age 2 and above as it's not good for cognitive development. I don't personally think it's worth the risk, plus they don't actually get anything out of tv educationally until they're at least 3 so seems a bit pointless. There's some further info here with reference to studies www.urbanchildinstitute.org/articles/policy-briefs/infants-toddlers-and-television

No? Hmm. I have a very busy aquarium with lots of movement in it, figured the telly would be quite the same.

An aquarium is in 3d, which will help in baby developing a sense of depth perception. Tv is 2d, lots of colours and images one after another with no seemingly obvious link, which could be damaging cognitively (but I doubt 5 or 10mins a day is really much of a problem!)

Ahhh, that makes sense ducks

I’m not sure I’m understanding this, or I’m making a massive error!!!!
Those who say no TV before age 2, that your children didn’t know a tv existed... does that mean you never watched it either when the children were about?
I don’t specifically place my child in front of the tv but it tends to be on pretty much most the day in the background. My LO (age 1) doesn’t really watch it- she doesn’t keep still & plays with toys & me. But it’s still on.

We don't have the TV on unless someone is sitting down watching it. DH and I don't watch TV until the evening, post bedtime really.

While I don't see the harm for ten mins a day I do wonder why your DS can't just play on a play mat or a walker or jumper or whatever? My child is the same age and if I'm making a coffee I just sit her in kitchen with a wooden spoon and she's happy.

I only say this because they get so much tv when they are older its's nice to avoid it for as long as possible imo.

But no ten mins to have a coffee not harmful.

Ignore the preachers! My two watched Baby Tv on Sky (clues in the name) from around 6 months so I could shower! Amazingly they are both incredibly bright, can walk and talk and count and read and everything! And I smelt lovely and had clean hair. No damage done!

This is hilarious! A bit of TV is not going to harm your child! My happy, healthy 10 month old watches CBeebies at home and I can 100% assure you that it's done no harm!

My DS didn't watch TV until we were on holiday and he was a month off being 2.

We didn't have it on during the day so he never knew it existed.

He loves it now though 🤦‍♀️

I thought maternity leave was for watching box sets on the sofa whilst breastfeeding. My mistake...

We don't have the tv on much so it wouldn't occur to me to put it on for my baby. My bigger dc don't watch much still anyway. I definitely believe it isn't a good idea. I didn't realise how much people watch tv until I started a job that involved visiting people at home - everyone has a tv on and often very loud, and rarely was it turned off/down during our meeting.

I still get plenty done, I just chat away to the baby while I do it and let him crawl around after me.

Bloody hell, my kids have no hope then! Seriously OP, no harm in it whatsoever, there were days when I could barely lift my head off the pillow and tv saved my sanity. My kids are both very bright and very ahead in their speech.

We tried dd with TV but she started to have interrupted sleep, stopped when no TV that day. Now shes 2.5 doesn't make a difference. Try it but if affects sleep pattern, you may want to try something else.

does that mean you never watched it either when the children were about?

I try and have it off when I am interacting with my baby because I have been told it can affect their speech development as the confusion of noise might mean they dont pick up and learn what you are saying.

I do sometime sit and watch box sets -orjudge rinder while breastfeeding or having a coffee while my baby is playing alone or in her jumperoo etc. I don't put anything on specifically for her though. She has older siblings so has been known to watch it for short spaces of time which is fine of course as I said upthread. Ten mins here or there no problem.

@Bojangles33 that is definitely what maternity leave is for! I'm currently on my second boxset, and my partner had a month off when baby was born and watched the whole of the walking dead! 😂 we're big tv watchers so its on a lot of the day when we're home.

A good balanced article @AfricanPlume, no scaremongering. Sadly 'everything in moderation' is less newsworthy.