Babies and TV

[taliac]

How much is okay? Any? Some as long as its age appropriate / educational? I've researched but can only find scare stories or PR for baby dvds online - does anyone know what the facts are (assuming there are some?)

Any opinions / info appreciated.

dh has been discovered watching Sky News with dd2 (8 months) when its his turn to get up at 6am after a crap night...if it was dd1, I'd have complained. This time, I'm with Twofalls

Completely agree with Macneil re the shocking music used by Baby Einstein (only know the toys not the dvds - presume its the same?). Plinky plonky versions of beautiful originals, chosen surely to avoid paying actual musicians / artists. Seems very wrong. Could be blind prejudice but surely a CD or DVD of the Berlin Phil or similar playing Mozart is going to encourage my dd's development far more than Baby Einstein's rubbishy version of the same tune?

The DVDs, for anyone curious who hasn't bought them, feature 5 minutes of ads for Disney owned Baby Einstein related products, then a slow unveiling of the letters of the title (eg Baby Mozart) one by one (presumably to waste more time) then toys, usually executive toys, like those with coloured water suspended in oil that whirl and drip in pretty patterns, or children's electrical repetitive toys, like those penguins who climb the stairs and slide down a chute, or the patented Baby Einstein puppets who come along and blow raspberries at the baby. The latter, in my experience, is the only thing that engages the baby. The music is piped through on a bontempi organ, although there is the odd one played on a piano. The Baby Beethoven is especially amusing because they purport to do it in symphony order, and tell you and baby the symphonies as they come up with a title card. How's that for sophistication? There's a close up of the toy/executive toy whirling around for about 2 minutes at a time, and the whole shebang lasts about 20 minutes, before it's back to more ads for Disney Einstein products.

The credits thank the people who loaned the toys, which is when you tend to shout 'You didn't even buy the toys?' at the screen, and 'You sell millions! Where are you spending my £20 you gits?'. I felt quite a mug after bringing home two of them for my baby. Now, In The Night Garden, with Derek and his RP and his counting games and the gentle flowers and beautifully composed music, and lush expense winking from every frame, is what I would recommend for a baby.** Unfortunately, macneil can accept no responsibility if Night Garden gives your baby a behavioural disorder.)

Message withdrawn

my dd watches beebies for around 1hr a day, its on most the day but she runs in and out of her bedroom playing in there with toys, bringing toys in here, linking her toys to whats happening on the programme, but mostly she plays and just sings to the songs in the background!

she is brilliant at entertaining herself when she wants to, and she involves her brother a lot. she does tantrum but shes 2.9yo so i expect a bit of that, and she sleeps through the night. ds at 9mo dances to a few of the theme tunes but doesnt acctually watch the programmes.

My DS would turn up his nose at crappy organ music. He likes the Prodigy, Johnny Cash, the Chemical Brothers, Orbital, Ulrich Schnauss, the Pixies...

(rofl at bouncy seat as cue to poo)

Am i right in thinking that all these plinky plonky classical music renditions are also slightly off key? I'm also thinking of the symphony in motion mobile

yes - must be agony for anyone with perfect pitch!

Hi Taliac, you could look at Aric Sigman's book called 'Remotely Controlled'. I know its been talked about on here before. It's interesting. I've got five children, the eldest is ten and they haven't watched any actual tv for nearly two years. Dvd's once a week or so maybe. I'd got fed up with them fighting and moaning, especially when i turned it off. One day i just had enough and got rid of it. I don't watch it either, just in case anyone thinks i sit watching it secretly.

Aric Sigman famously said that telly before 2years increases risk of autism. Presumably he gives evidence for this assertion in that book?

I think TV is very much a double edged sword. DS wasn't really interested in TV until he was about 18 months old and really couldn't be bothered with Baby Einstein. I know he behaves better when he watches less TV (He is 3). On days when he doesn't watch TV, I get more done because he gets into the groove of amusing himself, and for DD (9 months) there is no contest between watching a real live brother play and some strange child on the telly... but then there are the days when I haven't had more than a couple of hours of consecutive sleep and have been up since 5.30am and I would be a danger driving heavy machinery - atleast the people on Cbeebies can form coherent sentences

I hate Baby Einstein. Its just bollocks. Why don't you just take your baby round the house to show them random objects? I also despise 'educational' programmes (Barnaby sodding Bear and Tikkabilla). Much prefer giggly, silly, pure entertainment programmes - Pocoyo, Higgledy House, et al.

But my little one (16 mths) does adore the telly. She is a proper little addict , says 'telly', gets the remote... I don't really mind her watching it but I hate hate hate having the telly on as 'background' (to eating, playing etc). So as soon as she isn't watching she knows we turn it off (and obv her telly is limited).

My belief is that telly is only bad because of what they could be doing in that time. So if they are spending half an hour a day not playing with pasta or stacking cups or playing peekaboo then fine but if they are not getting any of that all day then obviously it is not fine. I think thats why I hate educational programmes so much - it just pretends to be explorative interactive play ('lets do a puzzle together...' um, huh?) rather than actually being telly that you watch and enjoy.

I can't honestly believe that half an hour or an hour a day of television a day is seriously going to harm your baby's development. Surely the bigger picture is what matters? Of course if you stick your child in front of the television as a small baby and leave it there, using the TV as a babysitter and not interacting with your child, it's not going to help. If you watch television with your baby, painful though it may be, and talk about what is happening on the programme and enjoy it together and try to relate it to things that have happened in your baby's life (my 11 month old daughter and I have had some fascinating chats about the Tomblibous brushing their teeth) then your child will learn from it and learn from you at the same time. Plus, it will be a social experience not a solitary one. And sometimes, you just need to have half an hour to drink a cup of tea while it is hot and email your friends and if you child is happy and entertained while you do it, isn't that better tha putting him or her in a playpen for half an hour while they whinge to be picked up?

Apologies for the appalling typing in that last message.

I don't think it hurts as long as it's in moderation.

DD1 used to watch probably no more than an hour a day when she was little (Tweenies, Teletubbies etc.) - she's 9 now and has always been very bright and at the top of her class so it's obviously had no ill effect on her.

For some reason (and despite personal evidence that it does no harm - ie. DD1), I am more anti with DD2 (2.5). Probably because of all the negative press recently.

Come on you guys.

Posts like this are the reason I don't use Mumsnet very often.

I take it all you 'absolutely no TV' mums are also the same mums who only use organic food/have never given your kids jars when weaning/breastfed exclusively for 6 months/don't give your kids chocolate or juice? Of course not! If you're not that kind of mum, then i think posts like this are rather hypocritical. And if you are, you're certainly in a minority.

You're not going to get many 'average mums' contributing to posts like this, and why? Because we're all too bloody scared of what'll be said to us if we admit our kids watch TV/eat jars/have forumla milk. Lets face it - we're not "perfect"!

For the record, my 15 month old dd watches Cbeebies. She loves it. She's even picked up a few words from it. She's ALSO very sociable, and can happily entertain herself. So shoot me.

As my name suggests, I'm sick of feeling like I'm being judged by other Mumsnetters. Why can't we live and let live, and allow others to parent how they see fit?

(Walks off in a huff )

DD 25 months can recognise and name Daleks(and do a passable impression), cybermen and the Slytherine. Is she the world's youngest DR Who fan? Actually she's never watched it before anyone gets too upset, just has 2 older brothers who want to make sure she knows all the important stuff.
She loves In the Night Garden etc some days I probably let her watch too much sometimes we have better things to do and just don't have the time. She talks the hind legs of a donkey, has a wonderful imagination, can count to 20 and count objects up to 10, recognises most colours etc.and can sing The yellow Submarine with Actions (well Lellow Suberlarine anyway). A child prodigy I know. Shall I stop showing off now

My first daughter (then 4) told me all about gravity - she had picked up from the telly.

My second daughter (now 4 then 3) learned the whole of the AA Milne poem "when I was 1, i was just begun" from Nick Jr! Totally impressed the head of the school we went to visit until I told him she'd picked it up from the telly!

I wouldn't let them watch Eastenders or Corrie - but they can pretty much watch what they like on CBeebies. Some of the programmes are really quite good - Numberjacks, Something Special (baby 3 can do "look" with the sign just like Justin!).

My daughter is 7 months and loves tv, especially the adverts. She is not plonked infront of it all day but will crane her neck to see what's on. A couple of times a day I will put Baby TV on Sky while I am preparing food/ cleaning etc and she is so excited to watch it. I don't know how young babies cannot be exposed to some tv in a family house unless it is never switched on whilst the baby is in the room (or at all).