Worried about the amount of TV for 16 month baby

[WhosThere44]

Hey all,

With the lockdown in the UK coming down and my wife being disabled, we started letting the baby watch TV. Specifically Loo Loo Kids, Ben and Holly and Twirlywoos. With me working from home and us having a small house and my wife being disabled, she watches more than I would like ideally but given the situation (England have brought in more restrictions for mixing households from Monday), she has very little to do.

We play with her, I take her for walks, I take her out for drives, I take her to my mums for a few hours so she can see someone (she's in our support bubble as she lives alone) and I do a lot but when I'm not pushing to do something, she's either playing in her pen with her toys or watching TV.

She's very clever, she talks etc (not properly but deffo chats!) and she definitely has a good balance of activities, but when I was reading about kids before and after she came along I keep reading from studies etc it can be bad for her to watch TV (at all). I don't see the issue in moderation (or to be honest sometimes over if it's raining etc) as it keeps her happy. She sleeps fine, she eats fine and nothings wrong with her, but the studies and what I read say anything from 10 minutes to not at all because it could damage her mentally.

I'm posting here to ask genuine parents if they've let their kids watch TV (educational) at this age and if they turned out fine. My gut feeling is they do, but we don't know many people so I can't really ask so decided to post here. Thanks!

Well how much is she watching a day?

At that age, my son was allowed 2-3 Hey Duggee episodes in the downtime’s between dinner and bath time which equated to around 15-20 mins.

His tv got a bit out of control over lockdown because we were trying to juggle him and get work down, but since his nursery re-opened, we’ve cut it back again. He’s almost 3 now and has around 30-45 mins of tv a day, again usually in the gap between dinner and bath time. We don’t usually watch tv at any other time of the day aside from the occasional rainy day movie on a weekend.

Tv itself is not the problem. The problems come when the amount of TV means she is not getting enough of the other types of stimulation she needs.

Not at that age, no. How much a day?

Oh, please dont worry. Ours watched more at that age, particularly our first, who was really high needs and needed constant attention. Theres only so many books and messy play activities and park visits to do!

He watched less and less as he got older and could do more.

So much pressure on parents nowadays.

Former primary school teacher btw.

@Notashandyta

Oh, please dont worry. Ours watched more at that age, particularly our first, who was really high needs and needed constant attention. Theres only so many books and messy play activities and park visits to do!

He watched less and less as he got older and could do more.

So much pressure on parents nowadays.

Former primary school teacher btw.

Thanks so much, honestly it's a couple of hours or even three a day. We literally run out of stuff to do, she plays with sticker books, she has her toys etc, but like I saw on another thread, I'll do a tonne of stuff and it'll only be 10am!

@FizzingWhizzbee123

Well how much is she watching a day?

At that age, my son was allowed 2-3 Hey Duggee episodes in the downtime’s between dinner and bath time which equated to around 15-20 mins.

His tv got a bit out of control over lockdown because we were trying to juggle him and get work down, but since his nursery re-opened, we’ve cut it back again. He’s almost 3 now and has around 30-45 mins of tv a day, again usually in the gap between dinner and bath time. We don’t usually watch tv at any other time of the day aside from the occasional rainy day movie on a weekend.

Ours is about 2 to 3 hours a day. She's up from 6am to 6 at night, sometimes 7 to 8. She isn't going to nursery until she's 3 and as I say with my wife being disabled, I get run ragged trying to do all sorts of different things nonstop.

My LO is the same age as your DD. We usually have CBeebies on in the background whilst we’re in living room during the day (especially during lockdown when we had no visitors for months!), and although she stops to watch some programmes like baby club and twirlywoos, she’ll generally play with her toys and occasionally look up at TV if some colours or music grabs her attention. I have friends with kids similar age who say their kids don’t watch TV, but they do watch tablets which is same thing in my opinion! We’ll go out for a walk, read some books etc during the day but as a previous poster has mentioned you can’t really entertain them for the entire day! She has seemed fine and settled into nursery pretty quickly after starting a couple of weeks ago, and is sociable with others, is speaking with some clearer words now (like saying dad) so I don’t see what the issue is.

Yes, my son has always watched CBeebies here and there whilst playing. He is three now, very articulate, is able to concentrate well and plays well with others. Neither I nor his nursery have any concerns whatsoever about his development.

He has plenty of toys, enjoys books and drawing and building. We visit family or go somewhere for a run around in nature every day. We've just baked a load of muffins. But he's settled to watch a bit of TV now while they're in the oven.

My son is almost 2 and doesn't watch any TV but I have actually tried to get him interested in it and he just doesn't care. Your situation sounds tough and we can all just do the best we can.

Well, IMO, three hours is rather a lot but equally you’re trying to juggle a lot and if you’re trying to work and have no formal childcare support, then sometimes you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. Some kids have the tv on literally all day. I think there’s truth to the saying that if you’re worrying about how much tv your child is watching, then it’s probably fine. It’s the parents who don’t even think about it which are more likely to watch totally excessive amounts of tv. And I’m sure limiting tv for under 2s work fine for the first child but I’ll bet by the time baby number 2, 3, 4 comes along and the older siblings are watching more tv, it’ll be very difficult to avoid exposing the youngest child. She’ll start to reach an age where hopefully she can play a bit independently. My son discovering wooden train sets around 18 months was a game changer for keeping him entertained.

Mine has probably watched an hour or so per day from about 18 months as she wasn't interested prior to that, she probably has closer to 2 since lockdown. We have set times for the TV and she has to help tidy away toys before the TV is switched on.

I think you would need to look at your childcare options - if you're finding it a struggle to balance now it's only going to get more challenging, especially once naps disappear, the demands to play increase and the physicality increases. I'm a year further down the line and honestly my DD could be on the park for two hours without a breather! I'd be concerned about you burning out (this is meant kindly, I'm not being a dick!)

Mine is only allowed a couple of hey duggees when tired in the evening to wind down - so we don’t watch tv that would engross her for long. But I often have the tv on in the background when playing in the living room - felt a bit guilty when she recognised the bbc news intro... hubby never has background tv though.

Sounds like you are doing the best you can. Do you qualify for the under 2’s nursery placements? Or tax free childcare? I’m sure you have looked into it, so don’t mean to be patronising, but sound like you really could use some help.

Good luck op.

My two weren’t interested in TV at this age. They were both at nursery/grandparents for 3.5 days a week while I worked so not an issue for us. Your situation sounds tough. Could you get a childminder or nursery for a day or two a week?