To let baby watch TV?

[JammyRedRooo]

My 3 month old DD is wonderful but still very much a velcro baby. My DH works out of the house so I find it very hard to get a minute to get anything done during the day. I recently discovered Hey Bear sensory videos on YouTube and DD will actually sit and watch in her bouncy chair (previously she would cry if I put her in it).

It means I can get a drink, have a wee and a wash but mainly just have a few minutes where she isnt attached to me.

However I mentioned this to a friend who has a slightly older baby and she said she wouldn't be letting hers watch TV until he is much older. It made me feel like a shit mum tbh. I only do it for max 15 minutes a day.

Please tell me this is ok??

It's perfectly ok. Whatever gets you through the day it's not like she's in front of the tv all day.

Fine for a bit. What about a carrier?

At three months they are velcro. They are really new so it's very very normal for them to want to be with you. I say that because lots of people don't get it. A baby happy to be put down and left (evolutionarily) would have been a dead baby. It's perfectly normal.

As for the TV, judging is what people do. Make your own, informed choices.

Absolutely fine, I've done exactly the same.

I think there have been studies which have concluded that's it's not ideal.
I, however, have used CBeebies liberally otherwise I would have gone insane with two kids 17 months apart!!!

It is 100% absolutely fine!!

Intrigued by your friends reason? Genuinely - because it will do no harm. You are describing small bursts of TV, you aren’t suggesting plonking your child in front of the telly 24/7.

I know children who have started nursery who do not know how to play properly or interact with others because they have always had a phone / device / TV in front of them. That is a whole different ball game.

Don’t let people make you feel guilty for having needs of your own. Every generation has found ways to distract their baby for periods of time to let them do other things. This is no different is used appropriately.

@secsee she will sleep in the carrier provided we are outside so she gets 3 x 45-60 min walks in it per day when we walk the dogs. But anymore than that kills my back!

15 mins - no problem!!

My BILs partner boasted about how her 4 month old had watched three films in one day (curtains closed) and that I did comment on 😂

[quote JammyRedRooo]@secsee she will sleep in the carrier provided we are outside so she gets 3 x 45-60 min walks in it per day when we walk the dogs. But anymore than that kills my back![/quote]

Fair enough, they're great... until your shoulders give way.

My little girl is giggling away to Mickey Mouse club house as we speak- and means I can wash and sterilise her bottles! Maybe even sneak in a bag of crisps! Lol like others have said- as long as they are lint in front of the tv all the time it’s fine. You are not a shit mum. You’re doing great

It's fine - although watching the washing machine spinning round can be just as interesting for a baby

Baby Mozart was my saviour. Sticking my oldest in her bouncer in front of it was the only way I ever got a shower.

@Legoisthebest fantastic shout!! Will try it tomorrow

I think it’s fine for a short amount of time. I can see why it would be a problem for long periods but I really can’t see what damage 15-20 minutes a day will do. And I vividly remember how tough it is at that stage. Slings are brilliant but you can’t wear them for 12 hours a day and you can’t wash while wearing them (although I did once see someone on here saying she showered wearing hers).

@Sadiequeenofscots she didn't explicitly say it just did a shocked face and said she wouldn't allow it but I got the impression she thinks its lazy parenting. I get it, but at the same time her baby is a lot 'easier' in the sense that she can just pop him down and he will doze off. Mine doesn't do that!

I got the impression she thinks its lazy parenting.

My annual rant about this. Making things more difficult is not moral. Working harder than someone else for no additional results isn't better, it's stupid. Lazy people are nature's inventors. You think one of these judgemental arses invented the washing machine? Nope, lazy person. Using animals for agriculture? Lazy. Computers? Lazy. Lazy people drive humanity forward. Otherwise we'd still have people saying, "oh you use a bridle? How lazy, I prefer to plow by hand".

Personally I love nanny CBeebies - my youngest is currently playing watching Go Jetters understanding that once it finishes it's going out wee time to go and get her brother.

TV is a very good time marker for them

Put the baby in the bouncer and get a cup of tea woman!!!

Of course fifteen minutes are not an issue. A rested mum (or slightly less exhausted) mum is a better mum. Enjoy your drink and wash guilt free!!

15 minutes is nothing. You wouldn't worry about leaving them under a nursery mobile for that amount of time and if it means you get clean or a drink, who would begrudge you that?

You matter too! If you need 15 mins to have a snack or a cuppa go for it. 0 harm will come from it. A little bit of screen time In the background was the only way my daughter would do any sort of tummy time x

I'd rather my baby watch 15 minutes of tv than have an exhausted, frustrated caregiver.

You're doing just fine OP!

Op, everyone knows YouTube baby sensory is a gateway drug to cocomelon.

You need to be very careful or it will be Blippi before you know it and then you'll be absent mindedly humming along to the excavator song or worse "I like to ate ate ate apples and banaynays".

Do what gets you through and don't beat yourself up

I don't really understand this - do people who do zero screen time not watch TV when their child is around? Surely if they're lying on you and the TV is on that's not really different from a little bit of baby telly?

Of course it's fine! Your friend needs to lighten up, get off her high horse and stop being so judgy.