No screen time - is my baby missing out?

[lagoon76]

My baby has just turned one and I’ve never allowed her to watch TV. I know the official advice is to avoid screen time completely before the age of two, but could she be missing out or be bored? Also, can some children’s programmes actually be good for babies by offering stimulation and learning? I was chatting to a friend the other day who said her baby loves a certain programme (can’t remember what what it was now) and it got me wondering. Thanks.

No, definitely not missing out. I think some programmes are educational for preschool age but even then they're certainly not necessary or the only way to learn.

No don't worry about that at all! I bet you didn't have a lot of screen time at that age. Or your parents, or their parents etc. You are the most important thing to your baby.

My baby is just about to turn 1 and he's never really watched tv. If I have it on during the day, its stuff I want to watch. I imagine though when hes older ill start putting stuff on if he asks for it.

Don't worry at all.
My dc had no screen time before she was 7, she wasn't bored, deprived, unstimulated or anything else.

Mine is 2 and doesn’t watch tv or anything on a screen. We don’t put the tv on till she’s in bed.

Why would she be missing out? Screens for anyone is a new development in human civilisation. Specific things for babies are even newer.

Books, toys, random kitchen utensils, stones, pine cones, plenty of chat and interaction, songs etc are plenty of stimulation!

The research on screen time has massively moved on from an unhelpful fixation on measuring minutes on the clock to considering more nuanced aspects such as content, context and contact. The research now tends to distinguish between what is being watched/engaged with(content), with whom and with whom around (contact) and the overall background of the child’s well-being, diet, exercise and happiness (context). You may find Sonia Livingstone’s work really useful here - on the LSE mcArthur funded Parenting for a Digital Future project. A short blog debunking screen time myths is also here : blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2020/12/16/from-screen-time-to-online-experiences/

Mine wasn't interested until about 18 months. We only really watch Cbeebies but it's worth the Licence fee alone in my opinion - loads of really good quality programs with more inclusion & diversity than on adult tv.

You should probably avoid bloody Bing for as long as possible though.

Well it's COVID lockdown time so normal social opportunities aren't available. It's really up to you if you think there is anything on children's tv or on screen pad that might benefit your baby. Children that young need face to face interaction and real life connections and physical toys to play with but IMO a bit of screen time too also doesn't hurt. I say that having DS1 who didn't have much screen time other than baby Mozart dvd until he was 28 months and by time of DD3 she was watching CBeebies earlier for 1-2 hours a day! Meh. She's as bright as her oldest brother is.

Potentially the biggest humble brag I’ve read in a while!

No, hold out for as long as you can!

Covid really did us in.

Now she mostly watches it in French and is picking up bits and I read her books of the cartoons too.

I think we sometimes demonise screen time unfairly. There's a huge difference between some well chosen screen time along with other activities and letting children use screens all day.

It always reminds me of a history lecture where we read ranty critiques of young people rotting their brains by reading novels from authors like Austin (or whatever her pen name was at the time) instead of the bible and serious books...

Plus children growing up in a digital world and I imagine that experimenting with using tables ect from a young age could be beneficial in itself (Small children's ability to pick up and learn to navigate technology is fascinating!).

I actually would have thought they were missing out. Because of covid babies are seeing very little of anything but their close family - at least through the tv they can experience other faces and voices etc

Now she mostly watches it in French

That is a good example of screen time being educational - it’s teaching your daughter a new language!

I actually would have thought they were missing out. Because of covid babies are seeing very little of anything but their close family - at least through the tv they can experience other faces and voices etc

That’s another point I hasn’t even considered!

I think that there is a balance to be struck.

Watching a little TV can be great for concentration, coordination and is a good way of broadening their world experience, and especially just now replicating some of the experiences that babies and toddlers are missing out on due to the current situation.

It can also be great for stimulating conversation with pre-schoolers. In the last couple of weeks of lockdown we made yoghurt and bread because DS had seen them being made on CBeebies, and he regularly asks questions about things that he has seen, so it’s a good way to have a conversation with him and get him to think about what he has watched.

Too much TV or tablet time seems to really impact his behaviour though, and I think it’s quite common.

I don’t know that it’s really any different to my DF telling me I was going to get square eyes from watching rainbow!

I don’t think she’s missing anything, I don’t think they are really interested until they know what is going on in a programme.

[quote Navigationcentral]The research on screen time has massively moved on from an unhelpful fixation on measuring minutes on the clock to considering more nuanced aspects such as content, context and contact. The research now tends to distinguish between what is being watched/engaged with(content), with whom and with whom around (contact) and the overall background of the child’s well-being, diet, exercise and happiness (context). You may find Sonia Livingstone’s work really useful here - on the LSE mcArthur funded Parenting for a Digital Future project. A short blog debunking screen time myths is also here : blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2020/12/16/from-screen-time-to-online-experiences/[/quote]
This is an interesting quote, but it’s not really relevant to babies.
My DS was tracked as part of a university study investigating the benefits of TV to babies and toddlers- devised in response to stuff like Baby Einstein that used to be around at the time. (About 12-15 yrs ago).
Essentially, it concluded that babies (under 16 months or so) do not learn by watching tv, they learn by human interaction. So if you watch with them and do the stuff with them that they’re seeing on tv then they’ll copy. But if they just watch, then they won’t. This changes as they get older.
So a one year old is unlikely to be missing out. She’s also unlikely to be able watch and engage with what she’s seeing. She’s unlikely to learn French by watching tv, unless you speak French with her...

I find teletubbies and the baby club on cbeebies a useful thing when it's a whingey day and I just need to sit for 10 minutes 😂 ( DS is 9 months) and I am dead set against children using tablets /phones etc. But the odd TV program I can't see the harm especially in this bloody pandemic. Beware at the end of the baby club episodes they always say "maybe you might like to try a baby club near you" and I want to throw my slippers at the TV and shout " try telling that to bloody covid!"

@OverTheRainbow88

Potentially the biggest humble brag I’ve read in a while!

😂😂😂 I thought it but you said it!

@OverTheRainbow88

Potentially the biggest humble brag I’ve read in a while!

So it's quite an aspirational thing then? We'd like to be no/less tv but we aren't ( too much effort?) So we get a bit of a dig in. Cool.

No the longer you wait the better

@OverTheRainbow88

Potentially the biggest humble brag I’ve read in a while!

Not really. Some families have it that way. The only reason I can think that you'd write this is that you aspire to it, but dont achieve it. You probably need to make peace with that instead of insulting others.

Not really. Some families have it that way. The only reason I can think that you'd write this is that you aspire to it, but dont achieve it. You probably need to make peace with that instead of insulting others.

It’s like the threads where posters talk about how naive they were before having children and how it all goes to shit once they arrive, as if an external force makes you feed your kids crap, wear certain kinds of clothes and invites Peppa Pig into your home. In most situations those things are in your control, certainly with a healthy one year old.

There’s nothing smug or self congratulatory about deciding what to expose your child to and sticking to what you think is best.

Ha, no my kids are older and watch an hour ish a day, very happy with that considering we’re in a lockdown.

Weird thread considering lots of people are working full time with kids at home and probably using the tv more than they would like.

Would would genuinely think not watching tv is a problem and create a thread about it?

Would would genuinely think not watching tv is a problem and create a thread about it?

Err, me? I was interested to hear other people’s views as I’m not sure it’s as simplistic as “all TV/screen time is bad”. @RestingPandaFace’s post gave me lots of food for thought for example.