DC at nursery put in front of a laptop watching Peppa Pig, AIBU?

[Breathedeeper]

Went to collect my DC from nursery the other day and she was sat watching Peppa Pig on a laptop with 2 other toddlers in the baby room while the other babies and children were still asleep. 2 members of staff there, am I out of line for thinking this is not right and one of them should have taken them outside or to another room to play while the rest were asleep? Never seen this before but I walked in to collect DC rather than her being brought out to me as usually happens. I think the nursery owner was off that day so possibly something the staff have done without her knowing? Not sure whether to approach the owner about it or just let it slide…

I’d ask the nursery to get the full picture. I think as a one off / for short periods in the day I’d be okay personally.

At my kids school I know the younger ones often watch an episode of Go Jetters or something at pick up time when they’re getting sorted and presumably paperwork and admin. I have no issues with that, I’m super happy with my kids school, they do a great job!

I feel sorry for nursery staff and the ridiculous complaints they likely often get after reading this thread.

OK, there's a few things here.

Personally I never worried about my daughter's "screen time" (within reason - I wanted her to enjoy a range of activities, and watching films/TV was among them) given that I was raised on quite a lot of TV, (its a common aspect of the culture I am from) and still managed to get my Oxford degree etc etc - I generally have never seen any persuasive evidence that watching some TV as a child harms your development in any way.

However. OP pays for a service, and she it sounds is pretty anti "screen time". She at least has the right to know how much "screen time" is happening, so that if she doesn't like it she can take her custom elsewhere. I do agree she should be told honestly about this.

OP, in your position I would write a calm, polite email to the manager requesting clear information about how often your child is exposed to TV/laptop etc at nursery, exactly what the content is, etc. Accept that they may need to generalise - ask them for an estimate of the average each day or week.....

And go from there..... Good luck!

As long as it's not all day I don't see the issue.

I'm a 90s baby and one of my most vivid memories is being at nursery and watching an episode of the teletubbies 😂😂

@RedHelenB Total over reaction

Why? There's literally hundreds of things they could or should be doing rather than watching Peppa Pig especially in a baby room. Even watching something else would be better, Peppa is pretty much trash. I'm a parent who relies on a bit of tv to make dinner etc and my DC can have some downtime after nursery. If she had already been watching TV during the day that quickly adds up to too much screen time IMO.

It was a few minutes of Peppa, not like they were binging Bridgerton.

I find that parents that are this precious about screen time that isn’t under their watch are either parents who constantly need their poor child to be ‘doing something’ or they let their child do nothing but watch screens at home and trying to avert that guilt with the hope that nursery are keeping them fully occupied on their behalf. Either way, what possible harm is there in a few minutes of quiet cartoons when half the room is asleep anyway?

I’m twenty four. That makes sense!

Twenty years is pretty good going. I suppose children probably don’t notice if their shows go off the boil/get a bit dated or repetitive though!

You try working in a nursery, it's a hard job, hard ratios to maintain, I am more surprised they don't use TV more, it works well

yes you are a keyboard warrior idiot

So staff are expected to provide stimulating learning experiences everyday for 10/12 hours without any downtime just so the parents can feel better about putting the TV on in the morning and after nursery and not having to engage and interact themselves because they are too tired from working.

Because they were in a room with sleeping babies. Watching Peppa gave the awake ones downtime and kept them quiet. I wpukd hope they'd been read a story too. Kids are at nursery 8+ hours a day, you cant expect them to be on the go all the time. When mine was at nursery they used to watch a bit of TV at the end of the day, whilst the clearing up was going on. No problem with that at all, dc was tired put by then.

I agree with having a bit of quiet time but watching TV no. The staff should be reading books with them or other calm activities. notthat anything is calm with toddlers.

No. At home mine would free play. They don't have to be engaged in organised activity. Just get the Mega blocks or happy land out.

Even a group together watching a cartoon is a touch better than a toddler staring at an ipad alone.

There is also no why of knowing it was longer than a few minutes, and based on baby/toddler average concentration span, they're hardly glued to it for hours. The nursery is being paid to look after people's children. That's what they're doing, no? If part of that time includes a bit of tv, no big deal. Surely the majority of nurseries have apps and/or written observations and photos of the scores of activities the children do all week that do not include screens.

Well yes really, that's their job. And nursery staff are not nannies/childminders, they usually get some breaks in the day.

And as for not "interacting", most working parents come home and they have to cook dinner, do activities and homework for older children, do bedtime and bath-time, clean up after dinner, sort the laundry and the house, get everything ready for the next day...

This is the time when 30 minutes or so of TV is most useful, not when young children are at nursery with multiple staff whose job is to look after them.

OK, do you know why we sometimes need the screen to entertain the children for 15 mins? Because we have literally no other time, a part from sleep time, to update the app and upload the pictures and observations (plus cleaning, paperwork, etc)
You'd be the first to moan if that didn't get done. Nursery staff can't win.

I doubt they could take them outside or into an other room due to staff:child ratios in the nursery setting.
In some nurseries nap time is also when staff can chance to have their breaks, meaning the staff/child ratio is at its bare minimum.

I would not be happy about this at all (we are strictly screen free at home with the kids) but would probably not say anything for fear of being ‘that parent’.

It is something you'll have to get used to , whether you like it or not, screens appear to be used for all sorts now in schools.

If you are a responsible parent who limits the amount of screen time their child has, but has no idea they get screen time at nursery, how are you going to know how much, if any they should get at home?

I know two women who are classroom assistants in reception class at two different schools and they have both told me that the number of kids who start at infants aged 4 and are not toilet trained is staggering. One said about a little girl who wet herself 3 times in one day and begged the staff not to tell her mum. She said if mummy knows she wont give me my tablet. This set off alarm bells as they didn't know said child was on medication - then it dawned on them that she meant computer tablet. The fact that at the age of 4 they can use a computer but not the toilet is very worrying.

I would imagine a number (if not all) of these children have attended nursery at some point.

TVs are preferable to laptops for toddlers and small children as not so damaging to their eyes - another good reason for the time being limited, but it is lazy child care. Not so bad at mealtimes, when presumably the care staff are helping with the food, but the rest of the time TVs and laptops off and if a couple or more toddlers are awake whilst the rest are sleeping they should be encouraged to do something together which would enhance their social skills.

Regarding the original question about watching Peppa Pig on a laptop in a room of sleeping babies and toddlers HOW THE HELL DO THESE KIDS SLEEP THROUGH ALL THE SCREECHING AND SCREAMING IN THAT SHOW. It wakes me up on the other side of a corridor through 2 closed doors.

You won't be able to win. 😁

Children will have have had structured learning experiences all morning( they will continue in the afternoon after OP's child has gone home) and this is hard work. Play is work: learning to share, take turns, deal with other children, regulate their feelings, develop skills - all this is work, and tiring. Nursery staff are pretty much on the go all day with very short breaks and they work long hours in a noisy and demanding environment.

The awake toddlers will have had stories read to them and need a rest from playing (ie work) - so Megabloks or Happy Street won't cut it, they need rest. Plus they've probably already been put out that week if not that day and they're bored of it. Nurseries only have so much storage space.

It's always a shock when parents discover that nursery isn't staffed and run by Mary Poppins but by ordinary people who do their best most of the time, as we all do. And when else do they do the admin side for parents?

Many thanks to everyone who posted sensible comments and advice. I’ve decided not to speak to the owner about this, but will instead collect DC a bit earlier and not give any screen time at home on days she’s been in with the babies for nap time. Appreciate that nursery staff work very hard (never in doubt), and don’t want to upset the apple cart on this occasion even though personally I’m not mad about screens.

You’ve never actually watched Peppa Pig, have you?

Ask the nursery to tell you the amount of screen time your child has in their care with timings noted. Why not give a child a pile of books to look at? Same idea of quiet time but the child is thinking and interacting differently compared to looking at a screen passively.

I have fond memories of the TV being wheeled in to nursery so we could watch the Mr Men in the 1970s. I passed all my exams and went to Cambridge.