Babies and screen time

[rockinrobins]

Exhausted first time mum, so go easy please!

My partner is out tonight. My baby is 6 months old. I'm eating a ready meal in front of the TV. Baby is in the bouncer with some toys... he has sight of the TV and is mainly looking at it rather than his toys.

Yes I could turn the bouncer away from the TV but then he'd probably get bored and want playing with. I just want to switch off and eat my dinner for 15 mins.

He's sort of half facing me, half facing the TV, for 15 mins whilst I wind down.

Is this really all that bad? If so, why? (He gets plenty of interaction, baby groups etc in the daytime - honestly, we are both obsessed with him!)

Don’t worry, just enjoy your meal

Just enjoy your meal.

Enjoy your meal, you need rest and downtime too🥰🥰

There is nothing wrong with 15 minutes of dancing fruit while you eat. If you have one child and they actually sleep, try and rest when they rest or do some self care. I wish I played more and did less housework.

You are a great mum, enjoy your dinner in peace and i hope the wee one sleeps from now until the morning x

Just turn the TV off and let him play on the floor for 15 minutes.
It's ok if he gets bored.
The worst habit to get into is using screen time to pacify whenever a baby has a feeling. I know it seems like the easiest thing now, but it is so much harder to stop later.

I did this from 12 months onwards for very short amounts of time when I needed to eat or prep my babies’ food and he was crying. The only issue we had is that he got used to it and kept demanding the TV and would cry if I don’t switch it on. Be careful not to create a bad habit, once they get used to it, it can be hard to stop it.

Yes I could turn the bouncer away from the TV but then he'd probably get bored and want playing with. I just want to switch off and eat my dinner for 15 mins.

So why are you Mumsnetting? 😳

YABU to post about this knowing it will attract the perpetually judgemental especially since you’re either on your phone/tablet or computer rather than even watching the TV.