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Original poster

My 15mo dd loves youtube a little too much...

19 replies

Queazy · 29/12/2014 14:00

It's my fault. I showed her it on my mobile phone when she was up really early (pre-5am) and I was ridiculously tired. Excuses, excuses.

I only really twigged that it is unusual for a baby to know all the characters on In the Night Garden when my husband took dd to a little party at a friend's. Their 2yr old never watches TV and obviously didn't get quite so excited by the image of Macca Pacca in dd's new book (Yep, we also read about CBeebies characters), and they said they don't let the lo watch anything at all and won't for a while yet. Mmm, my dd is at least 8 months younger than their kiddy. Youtube in bed has become a bit of a pattern for us, though it's normally nursery rhymes.

Long, rambling way of asking...do your little ones watch TV, and do you limit it to Xmins per day/week etc?
Thanks again x

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Hurr1cane · 29/12/2014 14:03

DS who is 8 now but mentally 2, watches YouTube on his iPad, he also plays games with me, does homework, loads of sports and goes out. It's about balance and learning about the Internet is now a very important part of growing up, as long as she's doing all the other stuff that's important and she's not just on YouTube 24/7 then it's not an issue.

trilbydoll · 29/12/2014 14:10

We watch Mr Tumble at lunchtime (and Show Me Show Me) but have discovered the hard way that too much tv messes up her sleep. A tantrum at 3am for "BEEBIES" was not much fun! Before that unfortunate incident we used to have the bedtime hour on as well.

I still use YouTube, for nursery rhymes, or look up Doodle Baby (the train is a firm favourite). If you want a totally hyper and uncontrollable toddler, look for Yo Gabba Gabba.

Hurr1cane · 29/12/2014 14:13

I might stop the YouTube at night though. Screen time inhibits melatonin production which affects your sleep

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Pastmyduedate0208 · 29/12/2014 14:23

Me and my dp don't watch tv, but we do stream films and the occasional series on the laptop.
We're well into books. our lo is 6 weeks and we fully intend to limit and restrict screen time up to three years of age.
This is the theory!

HyperThread · 29/12/2014 15:10

Sadly, my 18 month old does, and when he doesn't get it, we get huge tantrums. I try to limit the time to less than 30 min a day. If he sees the iPad or iPhone, it's very difficult to stop him.

purplemurple1 · 29/12/2014 15:13

Ds is 16 months, we have the tv on in the morning and 30 min before bed but we are normally watching the news and he interested.

poocatcherchampion · 29/12/2014 15:14

My 2.9yo and 17mo have only seen a handful of things. Dd1 knows who peppa pig is because she has a jigsaw (not bought by me)

I'm really pleased - I've got a thing against too much commercialisation in general - not just for children, and we fill our days well without it. I dont watch much either - by choice.

squizita · 29/12/2014 16:17

Are you worried because of the child's development or a comment from another parent?
If they're developing normally, then that's fine (though as PP say, screen time late can cause bed time issues and it's good to limit it to a set time each day to stop them demanding tv).

FWIW I have a friend who turns other parents paranoid with her "my babies don't watch rubbish like tv". They do however have DVDS of bag puss, magic roundabout, care bears etc. She doesn't tell anyone this, and has rationalised it as in some way not beibg the same as it's vintage tv and ironic. Mmm cause toddlers get that.
It taught me a lot about how much of a pinch of salt to take others with ... seeing her judge parents for peppa pig fan babies, knowing about the secret stash and that her kids knew all the characters to retro shows.
She also has a very secret stash of baby food pouches and hides in the "other costas" from our usual to use them!

Everything in moderation.

Original poster

Queazy · 29/12/2014 20:10

Thanks so much for all your messages and advice - I really appreciate it

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NickyEds · 29/12/2014 20:20

My 1 year old watches tv. Maybe an hour a day split into 3 slots, Timmy Time and Thomas in the morning, Bing Bunny while I get lunch ready and some In the Night Garden before bed. I don't worry about it yet but I don't think I'd like it if I felt he was desperate for it. There's a lot of snobbery around it but I don't think it's that huge a deal really. There's always one whose child isn't allowed chocolate (EVER!!), has never seen a tv (EVER!), only has wooden, handmade educational toys etc and they're usually pretty intolerable.
Put a stop to it if your little one starts calling you Macca Pacca!

Original poster

Queazy · 30/12/2014 11:58

Ha ha! I think she dreams of living with Macca Pacca! I've started reading time instead of youtube in the morning and stopped bedtime hour tv (it was only ever 20mins of the hour!). I thought the comment about another mum letting her kiddies watch 'retro kids tv' was really interesting too. We had a friend who only let her child watch black and white 50's Mickey Mouse cartoons. Fantastic. Mickey's grasp of the English language is no better than Macca Pacca's and the characters tend to be repeatedly chasing and beating each other! Each to their own, but I agree there is definitely TV snobbery out there. I started watching eastenders last year after scoffing at it for decades. I used to read and now I watch a soap 4 times a week. So glass houses, stones, etc Ha ha!

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BocaDeTrucha · 30/12/2014 16:05

Ds is 15mo and not really interested in TV or YouTube. We sometimes play the Barefoot Books on YouTube or maybe pocoyo but nothing really holds his attention and he prefers his toys. He never watches cartoons on the TV but that be because we hardly ever put them on .

BotBotticelli · 30/12/2014 20:53

DS just turned two and he has watched about an hour/90 mins per day over the last week whilst on holiday from nursery.

His new faves include monsters inc, Kung uf panda and Disneys Cars...!

Doesn't seem to be interfering with his behaviour or sleep.

Plus I am 10 weeks pregnant and sick/exhausted and just not up for playing endless games of cars with him on the floor at the moment.

As long as it's part of a varied day including outings, outdoor play etc I don't think it will do any harm.

My little brother watched about 2 hours of Pokemon a day as a child and he got 5 As in his A Levels and is a very well adjusted lovely young man :-)

Isolde85 · 04/01/2015 15:42

My 16 month old DS watches the iPad practically every day, I use it if I am busy with cooking/laundry etc and need him to be still as otherwise he roams around the house clinging to me and crying if I don't play with him!!! I have massive guilt (apparently they aren't even supposed to look at a screen til after age 2??) but he LOVES it, and will happily watch Baby Einstein / Teletubbies for ages and gives me a much needed break. He does lots of other things as well though, and it works for me. Just never thought I would be the kind of mum that carried the iPad everywhere - eeeek

MrsDiesel · 04/01/2015 15:50

Mine is a youtube addict too, he is 2.5 and I bought him a 4inch tablet for Christmas especially. If he wakes up before 6 (rare now thankfully) he can have the tablet, similarly if I am trying to cook or help the other two with homework or get some work of my own done. Sometimes we have bedtime hour on too.

That doesn't mean he is on it all hours or all the time but it comes in handy at times, no one wants to cook with a toddler hanging off their legs and if someone says let him help, ee have tried that. He didn't want his own pan with pasta in or a spoon he wants to stir the hot pan on the hob or chop with the big knife, not the kiddy knife!

Artandco · 04/01/2015 15:54

We aren't a tv family here. We don't own a tv, but through cinema or laptop my eldest has now seen about 10 films. But he's just turning 5. He probably didn't watch anything the first 3 years or so.

violator · 04/01/2015 15:57

Don't worry about it.

DS watched Baby TV and moved on to Thomas. He likes CBeebies too.

He's 3 now and very bright. Chats nonstop, has a fantastic imagination (he thinks he's a train a lot of the time) and yesterday decided to count to 20 in Spanish - turns out he learned that on YouTube.

My nephew watched a lot of telly as a child, he's about to graduate with a degree in medicine.

306235388 · 04/01/2015 15:58

Yes my kids both wAtch TV though my youngest only really watches it if she's unwell, like today.

They are both doing fine for their age.

Original poster

Queazy · 04/01/2015 17:53

It's good to know other mums whip out the iPad or tv on occasion too. I absolutely love that your little boy learnt Spanish via YouTube too. My dd won't watch programmes - it's just endless nursery rhymes, but only the ones she approves of. I didn't even know that lo's aren't supposed to watch screens until 2yrs. My dd used to sit and 'watch' X factor with me at 5mo during our no-routine-just-relentless-reflux days!!!! Mmm

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