Toddler TV snobbery

[Notmorewashing]

I have noticed on here and in real life people (mostly middle class) are snobs about letting 1-3ish year olds watch TV.
What do you think? I allow mine at times and when I was pregnant with a child already and then two children it was impossible not to. I think it’s ok as long as you do other activities but people gasp when I admitted doing this!!

Everyone I know lets their toddlers watch TV. I don't think any of us would survive with our sanity intact if we couldn't occasionally cook a meal or chat to an intelligent adult on the phone without being relentlessly badgered and hounded.

MummymummymummymummymummyMUmMMYYY!!!!!!-Ooh! Go Jetters! (ignores Mummy)

God bless CBeebies and all who sail in her. I even bless Tiny Pop.

And sometimes at 6.50 in the morning we can't all have the patience to be distracting a toddler whilst they wait for their porridge! Bravo however to the perfect parents who are able to patiently distract their children at all times of night and day without ever resorting to a bit of tv

Windy so windy - you’re right. But they are perfectly able to wait two Minutes without a screen. That they can’t is truly astonishing and the reason why teachers have their work cut out when these inpatient kids start school. You are doing them no favours.

Tawdry - shouldn’t they learn that sometimes, just sometimes, they have to wait for attention?

She's asking about it, though, isn't she?

And even if you do feel hurt by her OP, you surely noticed she and I are not the same poster.

What research has shown is the negative impact of using screens as a replacement for playing outside, interacting with others, reading.

Moderate use of screens have not been proven to cause any negative effects apart from a study done on children from areas or communities without screens on eyesight, which showed that by exercising your eyes focusing on long distances rather than looking at screens or TV showed the eye muscles were stronger and therefore they had better eye sight (long distance)
This carries on to adulthood as anyone with eye problems will know.

That being said, if someone chooses no screens it doesn't bother me.

Do your research and do what suits

@shitholiday2018 but there is a difference between a 2 year old and a 6 year old. I am a teacher.

just think it’s a cop out, and easy way to shut kids up

Of course it buys parents time when they’re trying to do something else (ie dishes/opening hot oven doors) but if you’re talking about kids under 5 they’re unlikely to shut up for >15 mins!

It is addictive and anti social

Now I feel this about tablets as to plug away on a tablet is a very singular experience. However telly is not and can foster interesting conversations (my DD asks lots of questions about Apple Tree House, is fascinated) PLUS for me it opened my eyes up to worlds different to mine; the principle of children’s telly hasn’t really changed that much in 30y.

My kids are articulate and avid readers

DD3 is so ready for school we are putting her up as early as we can. I credit her utter fandom of Numberblocks for this to an extent, I honestly do. We also watch Countdown as a family over breakfast, mainly because it’s the only good thing on early enough.

While others were watching tv they were learning to love books and about conversation, looking at the world and enquiring into it constantly

It’s far from one or the other...they complement. I read Black Beauty after seeing it on telly as a kid and loved it. DD and DS gravitate towards anything with penguins courtesy of Pingu and this in turn opens up an opportunity to maybe talk to both of them about green issues and how we have to respect our planet to save the penguins’ home in the Antarctic.

The BBC was initially designed on the premise of being there to inform, educate and to entertain. I completely believe the kids’ channels do this, can’t comment on the output of ITV/4/5.

MASSIVE POST

The main surprise here is that lots of people claim not to use it to shut kids up and then go on to freely admit that they do. By all means make your own choices, but be honest with youraekf. You’re doing it to make your life easier, not because it’s in the best interests of your children. And that is fine, but probably requires occasional health checks to ensure your kids don’t become those annoying ones unable to wait for attention/breakfast/a bus without an iPad, and who cause havoc in reception.

Yes I've noticed - I'm only responding to you because you asked if I meant to be condescending. And I said yes, and explained how it was a reaction to being called a snob.

Windy your job ishnt relevant. I know teachers who make terrible parenting choice. Like everyone, teachers are human with a whole range of human behaviour.

Ok, that's fair - I can understand overreacting a bit. No one likes to feel judged.

I do think you might be a bit less quick to jump to conclusions, though. It is silly to assume everyone who is different from you is less informed.

I don't assume they're less informed. I assume they've chosen to do soemthing else with the information, and then called me a snob for making my choice. Who knows why? But anyway, I'll get back to work!

Some programmes are educational, DGS loves Blaze and the monster machines, which introduces children to physics. He can watch TV and play with his toys at the same time but.

Of course I put my children in front of the telly to give me a head break @shitholiday2018

It’s just that by being mindful of what i plonk them in front of I’m not being as irresponsible as your post infers.

If they are learning that theres a big statue of Christ on a hill in Brazil courtesy of the Go Jetters and I can get time to drink coffee, put together a sandwich to take for my lunch and get my make up on then that’s not going against the “best interests of my children”.

Tawdry - shouldn’t they learn that sometimes, just sometimes, they have to wait for attention?

There are 24 hours in every day, and 60 minutes in every hour. Every one of those minutes need not be spent learning and teaching valuable life lessons. Sometimes it is ok to learn about aqueducts from a disco unicorn while mummy goes unpestered.

@shitholiday2018
Nothing wrong with my toddler thank you! He's a lovely boy, who has many different interests, and doesn't require constant "entertainemrbr".
Your post however is a clear example of the judgement and snobbery that the OP is talking about. Deciding that there's something "wrong" with my 17 month old who you have no prior knowledge of, because he sometimes watches Hey Duggee

PaulH - well our views differ then. I don’t think being plonked in front of the telly is in anyone’s best interests. That’s why I don’t do it. It’s amazing how patient kids become when they don’t have immediate gratification as a default setting.

I credit Cbeebies for my child’s encyclopaedic knowledge of sea creatures, dinosaurs and landmarks.

And the certain smugness coming with a little voice (not quite 3) piping up in a supermarket ‘mummy, that’s the Eiffel Tower. But it’s only a model because the real one is very big and in Paris’

TV for toddlers is fine as long as it's not all they do! I was a bit when I met up with a friend from school who had a five month old and she sat him on the floor surrounded by pillows a gave him his iPad (yes, it was his iPad) and put Peppa pig on. He was a difficult baby though so if that's how they coped then fair play. DD is 7 months and hasn't watched any kids TV yet, but I'm kind of counting down the days till she's old enough to be left in front of the TV while I do some housework!

It’s fine to learn about stuff, just a bit odd if you’re doing it because your child can’t wait a few minutes between essential activities like getting dressed and eating.

There are definitely families where watching a lot of TV and using iPads (which are probably worse) is the norm. Ten minutes here or there in a day won't do them any good but won't cause any lasting damage either and makes life that little bit easier when we need a shower or to sort other kids out. Hours on end on a regular basis has been shown to be damaging. That's just common sense. A young child is awake around 12 hours a day. Of those there are probably around 10 available hours for interacting and playing. If you use up 20% of that time sitting in front of a TV and not interacting with people and your environment then yes your development will be affected.

Oh, come on! You did assume people were less informed! You presumed they were ignoring research and WHO recommendations.

If you're not capable of keeping your story straight and/or comprehending what you read, you're not a brilliant advert for the benefits of your lifestyle, are you?

When I read threads like these I'm so glad I had my kids a long time ago, when there wasn't a million and one "rules" you were supposed to follow.
I think some people take "guidance" way too literally and go off too far the other way. That's fine, as long as they don't judge others who don't do the same.

We all judge other people Asta, constantly. We don’t always voice those views. I have never made any negative comments in real life about other people’s xhoices. But if someone says ‘Aibu to think X’, then our value judgements are positively invited. So we are not only entitled to share our judgements, but asked to do so.