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!

I don't believe parents that think it's fine for babies to watch television actually only allow 15 mins. It's probably more like half an hour to an hour.

@Gustavo1 you mean I shouldn't let my baby watch Pulp Fiction? Shit that's her favourite... I may need some new suggestions. Shall I switch to Kill Bill? Or Kickass is for kids right?

@Lijay you laugh, but each time I sing the Paddington theme tune (sung by Gary Barlow for our fun fact of the day) I swear I lose a brain cell...

My kids are no strangers to screens but 12 weeks is so young!
You can get bouncers with toys on for your dc to watch and bat at, stick them in a bouncer in front of a mirror - examining their face will give them much more healthy stimulation, let them just rest and observe the world around them!

Your first post made it sound like she’s spending hours in front of a screen so my initial reaction was “wow!”. But then you clarified.

15 minutes a day isn’t going to harm her. The only thing to be careful of is the slippery slope. When DS was 15 months we started using screen time to keep him still when changing a dirty nappy. That slowly became screen time when making dinner, when tidying up, when feeling exhausted, when wanting to eat dinner in peace, to the point where the TV was on half the day by the time he was 19 months. And whenever the TV was off, he’d want it on.

We’ve now stopped all screen time altogether. We’re not against screen time, it just gradually become a thing that was too much and unhealthy.

Oh dear god. I cannot believe the comments on this post. OP gave birth 12 weeks ago. She will still be full of hormones and not getting much sleep. These comments are horrendous. She's a bad parent and her baby will end up a mute because of FIFTEEN MINUTES? She quite clearly is spending the rest of her day interacting with her baby as that's the only time she gets to pop a wash on. Hey bears do tend to only last 20 minutes a time so I fully believe it's only FIFTEEN MINUTES.
I have a 12 week old. Some days he would be content staring at curtains. Other days he wouldn't. On those days of OP needs 15 minutes to herself so do something like put a wash on (What a bad mum jeez) then there is no harm in that. There is harm, however in the rude and judgemental comments on this post.

@Flittingaboutagain Latch Aid claim only 0.5%, or 1 in 200, mothers breastfeed past age 1, against the WHO's advice to continue until 2. Does that mean 199 in 200 mothers in the U.K. are also terrible parents?

15 minutes that's scary if 2 minutes to a 2 year old feels like an hour does to us that's an awful long time. Can't he play in his cot while you talk to him recommend screen time is zero at this age

@SorryForTheRant if you ask Mumsnet 200 out of 200 mother's are bad parents.

Not quite…it would be 199 of 200 mothers being bad parents on MN..as the one judging will be the one and only perfect parent!

What will you do when he screams when you turn it off after 15 minutes and doesn't stop until you turn it on? When he needs it to eat? I've seen loads like this even walking around woods parents pushing prams babies plugged in

@Glitteratitar haha! This true. Apologies my maths is off. My mother didn't breastfeed me until 2 and I was put in front of the TV one time as a child.

@Lijay it wasn't just bad parenting, it was "terrible parenting." Totally agree with your earlier post that the comments on here are a huge overreaction!

@Glitteratitar spot on!

I'd best stop commenting as I cosleep with my daughter (against child health organisation recommendations but it doesn't receive anything like the same level of hate on here), and my screen time of scrolling through Mumsnet (which I ironically joined for support whilst pregnant) might ruin her future prospects.

The people commenting not to use the screens do know that babies are hard, that you don’t get much sleep and that it’s hard to get stuff done because we’ve done it, perhaps more than once, and we know that it’s possible to get through the first two years without screens if you want to, and some years later see the value in having done so. The OP is questioning her choice, and she can still change it if she wants to.

Thanks for all the replies :) i obviously do not want to do anything that could hinder his development so i will try other things :)

Do what you need to do 😊 I wasn't being judgemental btw but 15 mins is not going to do him any harm. I've let my son watch telly a few times. He loves pingu x

It's absolutely what a PP said about it being a slippery slope. I think the problem is when it becomes the automatic default "pacifier" and then a habit. This kind of entertainment technology ( for kids and adults) is absolutely designed to make us use it more and we need to be aware of that. I think the longer you can hold off starting, the better.

I really don't judge, because parenting is hard for all of us, but when I see a young toddler glued to a phone when they are out for a walk and could be having a chat with the person pushing their buggy instead or kids watching movies in a restaurant when they could be reading or drawing or playing an eye spy type game I do wonder if some parents have forgotten that these activities are available instead because the screen has become their automatic default.

My kids are now 14 and 17 and I am so grateful that I did not have access to a smart phone and on demand videos because I can absolutely see the temptation.

Link to UNICEF article here

US paediatric study

Canadian paediatric study

I totally understand what you're saying :)

I just want to come back and say I do not think for a second that the op is a bad parent. Far from it!

Hope this thread has been helpful for you op!

just no need

How do you know op isn’t doing all this? She is talking about 15 mins out of an entire 24 hours. How is it lazy to take 15 mins out of 24 hours to do some housework.

my baby also gets 8 mins screen time a day so I can sterilise the bottles as I like to focus on making sure they are properly cleaned - aside from those 8 minutes she does independent play in her play pen, plays with me in her playpen, goes for countryside and village walks, is carried round the house, watches me do housework, is sang to multiple times, goes for a walk round the garden, goes on a baby swing in the garden, watches her dog, naps, has a bottle, gets some food now we’ve started weaning and plays with spoons and high chair toys etc afterwards, does tummy time, practises the activities recommended by the baby sparks app and goes to baby sensory, baby yoga, messy adventures and to visit her grandparents farm to see cows and calves and other animals and visits her cousins every week. There’s nothing remotely lazy about using a tiny amount of screen time. So get a grip @Rowen32 women like you are responsible for making mothers feel inadequate if they take even a tiny bit of time for themselves to have a cup of tea or do some housework.

I forgot to add we also read around 6 books a day.

Oh do fuck off. Maybe your baby is happy staring at curtains but mine would scream the house down. I’m so sick of people trying to shame mothers for doing what they need to do. A baby watching an age appropriate video for 15 mins will be absolutely fine. Motherhood is hard enough without us all shitting on each other.

No, it is not recommended - and for good reasons.
My DC had no screens until 18 months old, but had plenty of eg. music, audio books, etc from iPad positioned so it was not visible to them. Wind up toys/mobiles/etc were great too, as the movement was all they focus on early on.

@Regularsizedrudy @Butterscotchbaby

THIS

SpaceMonitor
But why does he need to watch a screen because you’ve run upstairs? He’s 12 weeks old and would be just as happy starring at the curtains.

It’s baffling that you want to start this habit so young.

Oh do fuck off. Maybe your baby is happy staring at curtains but mine would scream the house down. I’m so sick of people trying to shame mothers for doing what they need to do. A baby watching an age appropriate video for 15 mins will be absolutely fine. Motherhood is hard enough without us all shitting on each other.