Baby screen time guilt

[Stripeyshirts2450]

How much TV does your baby watch? Every morning I let my 3 month old play on his mat and I sit on the sofa with a hot drink and some breakfast to wake up. I've started putting the TV and he watches it almost transfixed!! I've tried distracting him but sometimes I just let him look too as I'm exhausted and want a bit of time to relax before we start our day. Normally we do a class later or go for a quick walk or meet
a friend. Is this bad for him? On chillout days we watch a lot more TV.--

I'm also on my phone way more than I expected to be. Like now! But normally it's because I track his feeds, nappy and sleep. Although once on there I'm very guilty of checking Facebook. I start when I'm nursing.

Anyone else do this and feel guilty? How much screentime is too much?

I wouldn't worry about it. Worst thing about being a parent is the guilt over everything.

Just do what works for you both

I don’t know the science of how much is too much etc but don’t be tough in yourself. It is full on having a newborn and wanting to entertain them so you get a few minutes to chill and have a hot drink is nothing to be ashamed of!

I could have written the same with ds1. I wouldn’t worry about it too much - just make sure you’re dedicating time to singing and playing with him too. As soon as he’s on the move, there won’t be any more chill out days watching the tv. Relax and don’t stress. When you nurse, does he look at you? That’s a nice time to have a bit of eye contact and a smiles

I did the same when my LO was that age, I'd put him in his bouncer and put sensory videos on for 20 minutes so I could wash bottles and brush my hair ect. He's 1 now and he has programmes he likes and he gets half an hour before bed to wind down but I still use it occasionally throughout the day if I need him to sit still for 10 while i do something. As long as he's not staring at the screen for 12 hours a day there's nothing wrong with doing it here and there!xx

I spent most of DS1's first 6 months breastfeeding while watching horror films. He's perfectly fine and now studying for his GCSEs

I spent most of DS1's first 6 months breastfeeding while watching horror films. He's perfectly fine and now studying for his GCSEs

We have the TV on more often than I would care to admit for our 9 month old. We do plenty of play time, trips out, stories etc., but if we are home, the TV is generally on in the background. It's always baby sensory videos, nursery rhymes or educational videos on YouTube, and sometimes a bit of Peppa Pig! But he's hitting all of his milestones and a good boy overall so I'm not worried. I've decided there's enough mum guilt about everything else, so if I can get 15 minutes peace and quiet whilst he's transfixed on the tv, I'm not going to feel guilty x

The only way I can trim ds fingernails and toenails is to put baby sensory videos on YouTube on the tv. I also recently introduced him to teletubbies mainly for my amusement to see how he’d react. I don’t have the tv on much at all but at the end of the day he’s gonna watch telly when he’s older and as long as it’s not affecting development I don’t see the issue.

30 mins a day isn't going to hurt! I put on the tv for my 2 year old while I make dinner every night. She would happily watch more but I try to cap it at 30 mins a day MAX unless we are having a family movie night or if it's pouring rain outside and we can't go out.

Oh and we are potty training too so sometimes I put potty training videos on kids tube for her while she sits on the potty.

Carry on OP. You need a bit of time when you're not completely focused on the baby. Take advantage while he is interested in the TV 😂

Well I obviously have low standards as our toddler watches cbeebies/kids YouTube on the iPad if she wakes up early hours and we aren't awake enough to function 🤷🏼‍♀️ has done since she was younger. She's a bright and sociable toddler with good language skills. Still feel guilty but honestly I'm so sleep deprived and it's working for us. She watches a bit of TV during the day too but I do limit that.

My 9 month old has started showing an interest in CBeebies and I’m surprised by how educational it all is! I have zero guilt letting her watch a programme about making ratatouille!

Don't feel guilty. We were the same at that age and now at 20 months we watch half hour of cbeebies in bed in the morning (more if she's up before mummy and daddy's brains are working), half hour before bed and the odd slot during the day as and when we are in. She asks for the Gruffalo and Andy's dinosaur adventures and if it's when she's starting to need a chill I usually let her - we like to sit together under a blanket

I read somewhere not to feel too guilty about screentime, but make sure it's always age appropriate. Some of the children's videos on YouTube are incredibly repetitive...it's actually 1-2 mins of the same clip repeated 30 times over and I don't want DD watching something like that. But channels like Sesame Street or PinkFong tend to be well-made and educational. Use the YT kids app to make sure there aren't any ads appearing in between or pay a tiny bit per month for Youtube Premium (absolutely worth the money especially if you tend to watch YT videos yourself).

My DD (14months) probably has a bit too much screentime for her age, but I'm alone with her 12 hours a day, 5 days a week so that's the only way I can get a pause to do some washing up or food prep. She watches around 2.5 hours a day, although half of that is just the laptop running in the background and she likes to play a bit with toys, then watch a few minutes while passing by and then move onto something else.

I feel the benefits outweighs the risks. Letting her watch 20mins of cartoons from her high chair is safer than trying to cook dinner alone while she races around unsupervised. Or simply giving myself a 10min break to drink something, go to the bathroom and answer messages.