Is baby tv OK?

[Momo36]

Hello

My dd is 7 months and I am looking for some opinions regarding watching baby tv. She loves to watch it, laughs and talks to herself whenever I put it on for her. I limit is to about 15/20 mins (usually when I jump in a shower) but am not sure if she should be watching it at all?? Am I creating a habit? Can this have a negative effect on her development? As a first time mummy I'm looking for honest opinions please!

....or Upsy Daisy's amazing pop up skirt!!!!

"Everything in moderation" - most harm from television watching comes from either watching it for extended periods of time (and we're talking hours on end here) or, when older, through watching violent imagery.

Don't sweat it. And, tbh, a lot of the Cbeebies stuff is actually ok - I know because I monitor what my children watch and for how long. Agree that if 20 mins to enable you to have recharging time is whats needed then do it. It's all about balance :)

My son knows makaton because of Something Special. Is that bad?

I reckon a lot of mums on here (not just this thread) are not being totally honest about how much their dcs watch tv - most of my mum friends (all educated, intelligent women) let their dcs, as I do, watch tv for bursts during the day - shower in the morning, preparing food, as part of the bedtime routine etc.

However, as much as my ds loves the tv on, I hesitate to necessarily say he 'watches' it for the whole time it is on. He loves the music, dances along to certain sections (he learnt how to jump whilst dancing to the cbeebies 'Spring' song), responds to what the presenters are saying/doing sometimes but then he wanders back to his toy box and gets on with playing. He only ever watches cbeebies and I genuinely think that the programmes on there promote interaction, not a passive approach.

Of course, neither me nor any of my friends use tv as a baby sitter - we take our dcs out to playgroups, parks, for walks at least once if not twice everyday so providing kids are getting a diverse mix of stimuli, realistically, I don't see how tv is that harmful.

I am totally with you petaluma :)

Very helpful post petaluma! I also think that a lot of middle class mummies actually are not completely truthful about how much TV the DCs watch! Also, the description of DS "watching" a bit, then going off and playing etc, exactly fits my DS. Mine tends to get a book and sit and "read" unless certain favourite programmes happen to be on.

oh i can't believe people actually limit their kids to 20 mins per day! most shows last for half an hour, do you make them miss the beginning or the end?

dp is someone who has the tv on in the background all the time, whereas i don't usually think to turn it on but if dd does i don't limit her because she seems to regulate herself, half the time she'll watch a show and then run outside to play with the dogs on the trampoline

its not a big issue unless they are sitting there staring at the tv 24/7 and i think a lot of parents make it a bigger issue than it has to be.. i.e the 'forbidden' thing

oh and dd has learned quite a bit of spanish thanks to dora and handy manny and she never watched much cebeebies it was more nick jr or playhouse disney, most of the shows are pretty educational too

DD loved BabyTV, I found it to be very calming for her and used to put it on when we were having dinner (me and DH) to keep her occupied. She almost always fell asleep watching it!

When she first wanted to use the computer (about 3yrs - copying mum) I logged onto the BabyTV site and she loved that too, despite not watching BabyTV for some time then.

At about 3 she wanted Dora and Playhouse Disney (handy Manny) which I was happy with - she picked up a huge amount of Spanish from them both.

These days (6yrs) she's still not that interested in the TV, although loves ArtAttack, so I really dont think she has been harmed by it.

She'll watch if she has nothing better to do, but not otherwise.