Screentime for 12 weeks old

[Butterscotchbaby]

At the moment he watches a hey bear sensory video on you tube each day - he loves it, follows the screen im guessing more the light rather than the actual images - my question is am i doing him harm? Will it cause lasting damage? He also sits in his bouncer chair and plays with the dangling toys but also the tv in on in the room and he will look at that too!

That is so ridiculous and lazy, honestly. Let them watch you, talk to them, play music. Get a beautiful play mat, stick Priya and Peanut sensory cards up for them, how on earth do you think they need screen time, that's so sad

I don’t think one video per day will do him any harm. I also wouldn’t have bothered just because I don’t think he’ll really get it at that age? But maybe he likes the music, and I don’t see that one sensory video with music per day will do anything awful.

Screen time for a 12 week old is absolutely bonkers! They don't don't need that kind of stimulation and I disagree with posters who say it does no harm; there is plenty of evidence that the passivity of this kind of entertainment has a detrimental effect of brain development.

Hey Bear is baby music. It’s literal just music with a dark screen and usually some fruit or something on the screen.

I like to think of Mumsnet a bit like an online mother in law. There's some great advice, occasionally they really care but there's alot of judgemental comments thrown about.

FIFTEEN MINUTES of hey bear will not do your 12 week old any harm. And if those FIFTEEN MINUTES ( louder for the judgey comments) means you can have a breather and go back to your 12 week old refreshed and a better mum than it may actually be a good thing. The WHO studies have always been about screen time displacing activities. fifteen minutes in a 24 hour period isn't going to displace much and your baby can get back to curtain watching and talk to lamps ( wtf?) Afterwards.

They fact you're worried about it and asked the question tells me you're a great mum, doing a great job. ❤️ 12 weeks is a hard age OP take that 15 minute breather please! and view the comments on here like you would any comments from your MIL x

Good grief. As a mental health practitioner there is no hope.

@TwigTheWonderKid exactly.

People who say it does no harm are living in cloud cuckoo land.

It does.

Anyone care to share this research they reference in their comments? Most studies on screen time reference 2+ hours per day, which is not what the OP is suggesting.

The WHO guidance specifically references screen time detriments in relation to activity levels, not cognitive development, and the same study says children shouldn't be in a sling for more than an hour, yet people se far more incensed by screen time than sling wearing.

A study in the U.K. in 2019 concluded there is no evidence of a "toxic" effect from screen time alone.

My boy is 6 months old. He absolutely loves Teletubbies and has watched it pretty much every morning since he was born. Does them no harm.

Or what @Lijay said, who made the same point but better

It forms a bad habit.

Under 2s- no screens.

Babies can be left safely on the floor or in a bouncy chair. I used to put my baby in their bouncy chair while I showered and they watched me. I chatted away to them.

Ridiculous. Hey bear is some dancing fruit and music. Hardly reservoir dogs or pulp fiction.
Whatever gets you through the days OP. Babies are hard.

15 mins now then longer and longer and longer.

children are coming to school with the speech ability of a typical 3 year old. That’s a national trend. Parents are relying on screens more and more.

do you know what happens to an infants brain when a screen is on? Not a lot. Activity slows. Conversely when a caring adult interacts with an infant- might brain explosions where crucial neural path ways are laid and developed.

Birth to five matters talks about this. Also ANY early years textbook from Level 2 and up. Look at the Anna Freud foundation as a starting point.

Oh nobody will share their research. Because the studies they’ll be referring to (as you’ve said) are not studies of children being damaged by 10-15 minutes of music on the iPad in the middle of a day of one to one care and attention.

Girl he can watch you drink tea. That's fine.

NO child is having an adult interact with them every waking moment of their lives. It just isn’t possible. Nobody does it. A short time of listening to music on an iPad and slowing activity for that short time will not do the child any harm
and will allow the parent to feel free to do all that wonderful caring interaction.

From the BMJ:

bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/1/e023191

Negative effects are linked to obesity and inactivity. Weak evidence re cognitive development.

15 mins watching an episode of Paddington with my 1yo is one of my favourite parts of the day, I'm clearly a shit mum 😂

A shitty one by the sounds of it

It's fine, 15 mins while you get stuff done isn't going to cause any harm

At that age my eldest was totally enthralled by our air conditioning unit. If I put my head in the way she’d try to look around me to see it LOL.

Completely unnecessary for a 12 week old and you really are setting up a need for constant entertainment. What is a sensory class?? I’d put mine in a bouncer or on the floor on a mat and talk to them while I did the chores. Or just leave them alone for a few minutes with their best friend the a/c!

@SorryForTheRant why thank you. I actually thought you made the point better!
Gosh it must be all the screen time messing with my brain cells. 🫠

@Remaker it's a class for babies... That's sensory.
You know bright colours and shiz. Encourages tummy time and baby massage. I guess there's some WHO study that says that's bad too yeah 🥱

He doesn’t need tv while you do chores. He’ll get plenty of stimulation doing pretty much anything else for 15 minutes. Babies need down time too.

^ yes.

This is terrible parenting. You are going against the WHO guidelines by using passive TV as a childminder. Your baby doesn't need it. Put the washing on then go back to baby. Baby will be fine. Baby can be in the room with you whilst you do all your chores!

How will he learn to keep himself amused if he is not allowed to develop those skills

It is not terrible parenting 😕 honestly I am not a fan of lots of screens, my kids don’t even have iPads/PlayStations or anything. But if 15 minutes of music while you do jobs makes you a terrible parent then nobody is a good parent, because no one is interacting with their child 24/7.