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!

14 deaths is incredibly sad but how many millions of babies have been in a sling in those 20 years and been perfectly safe? Being overdressed can be a contributory factor in SIDS but surely you are not suggesting we should ban baby clothes?!

How many children who watched 15 mins of baby sensory ended up with cognitive or mental health issues?

Maybe we should? You can find evidence against literally every single thing of bringing up children. Slings, bouncers, jumperoos, over dressing, screen time.

scaremongering the op is unfair.

Jesus, she said 15 minutes, not that he was staring at the tv all day. Providing that it’s for a short time and he gets plenty of stimulation and play time in other ways then I really don’t see a problem with this.

I really don’t see a problem with this.

^ do you really not see that a mum who is ignorant of research using TV like this now is more likely to make other poor parenting choices around similar issues as the baby grows up? I highly doubt she'll just be allowing 15 mins when baby is 18-24 months. No TV under 2 is quite simple to understand surely.

I don't think even those of us who are arguing against screen time are really saying that 15 minutes is going to cause massive damage. What we are saying is that it is unnecessary, research on this is in its infancy and that even 10-15 years ago parents simply didn't have this "resource" so it is pretty easy to manage without it if, as a parent you do have concerns ( which the OP obviously does or she wouldn't even be asking).

Come on guys its hard enough being a mum at the best of times! Everything you do is wrong in someones eyes.
If it helps i did go to a grammar school..... will that help his development 🤭

Just ignore them! You've done nothing wrong. Bet they're so perfect 🙄

Thank you :) xx

Oh what an absolute load of shit I’d love to see an official document from a recognised health source that says slings are bad. Scotlands baby box comes with a stretchy wrap sling it’s literally endorsed by nhs my midwife showed me how to wrap it.

Yes, this exactly.

How does the show benefit him, exactly? As opposed to popping him into the swing/bouncer/pram in the kitchen and chatting to him whilst you do whatever you need to do?

@Butterscotchbaby Someone will be along in a minute to tell you how grammar school parents are a danger to their children's health. 😂 Honestly you can't ever do right. So just make your own informed decisions and go with it. Your baby, your choices ☺️ (and honestly 15 minutes is nothing and will not harm a baby)

It benefits his mum. She is benefited by being able to do some chores without her baby strapped to her and having to talk to him the whole time. When you have a baby that does not mean you need to become a martyr and ensure that every second is filled with you performing constant entertainment for the baby’s benefit. Of course some of the time, or even most, should be dedicated to entertaining and interacting with your baby, but if a day of that is broken up with 15 minutes of a music video, where you can quietly get on with some jobs, that does not make you a bad parent.

personally I find your post calling op lazy for letting her baby listen to one song online an absolute load of shit!

and fyi from the nhs website:

But RoSPA is concerned about a worrying number of fatalities recorded by parents using certain types of baby slings to carry their children. RoSPA advises parents to be careful with their selection of the type of sling and to be aware that there are risks attached. A sling's fabric can press against a baby's nose and mouth, blocking the baby's airways and causing suffocation within a minute or two. Suffocation can occur where the baby is cradled in a curved or "C-like" position in a sling, nestling below the parent's chest or near their stomach. Because babies do not have strong neck control, this means that their heads are more likely to flop forward, chin-to-chest, restricting the infant's ability to breathe

so there’s more chance of a negative impact on baby if op follows your ‘advice’ than if op just lets the baby listen to a song.

See the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) website for more advice on using baby carriers and slings safely.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/caring-for-a-newborn/what-you-will-need-for-your-baby/

Some of these comments are hilarious! OP your doing nothing wrong what so ever! My 14wk old probably watches overall about 1hour to 1/12 hours of screen time total in a day! He is such a high needs baby and gets bored very easily it’s crazy. ‘let him watch you do the chores’ ‘put something crinkly under his feet’ is hilarious to me, my baby would scream blue murder 😅😂that would not be enough to entertain him hahah! Your giving him 10/15 mins per day it’s nothing and he has no bloody idea and won’t get addicted.
You do your chores, have a brew and then have play time with your baba and get out for a walk or do whatever you like!
Meanwhile let all the other posters have their baby follow them around 24/7 😃

@SpaceMonitor oh get bloody lost! stare at curtains 😂Do you actually have any children/babies? If so how long could you leave them staring at curtains for please may i ask? I would love to know, are these patterned curtains you have or a block colour?

It’s bloody hard being a mum/dad being at home all day trying to entertain a small child, keep them fed, changed, while looking after yourself, and your house 7 days a week. With a 12 week old you are also limited to what you can do with them, it’s not like they are going to play bloody hide and seek round the house is it! A bit of screen time does NO HARM and there is no reason, study or science to suggest otherwise that 15 frigging minutes will do any harm. But you know what does, shaming mums and making them feel like they are doing things wrong all the time.

Um no.

There’s actually a huge amount of evidence that screen time is harmful to babies, especially under 18 months. I won’t paste the links here because there are too many of them, but I’m sure you can just google it.

My DH was watching football on his phone whilst feeding our 11 week old, she loved it but she also loves shadows on the wall so I think at that age anything can entertain them!

I don't think it causes any damage as such so do what you have to do

It’s bloody hard being a mum/dad being at home all day trying to entertain a small child, keep them fed, changed, while looking after yourself, and your house 7 days a week. With a 12 week old you are also limited to what you can do with them, it’s not like they are going to play bloody hide and seek round the house is it!

This makes absolutely no sense at all. Generations and generations of people have managed just fine and still do, because let's face it those putting 12 week old in front of the tv are still in the minority. It's not one of those things that people have just had to manage without until it came along and revolutionised parenting.

For those of us that raise multiple children in the home the TV is often on for older DC and our babies watched it by default. Wasn't intentional years ago. Had it on for older ones. Relax. A few minutes each day won't harm baby if you are doing other activities each day too. Not a big deal.

After two nanoseconds of staring at curtains all of my DC would fuss😂 nice try though.

You act like previous generations were amazing parents. My father told me his mother used to have to put him down in his bassinet for hours as she had to go out and work in the fields after feeding him. He would’ve gotten more care and attention watching hey bear for 15 mins and then being interacted with all day. Yes they didn’t have YouTube but babies weren’t cared for in the same way they are now - baby sensory/yoga/play, tummy time etc so I wouldn’t be harking back to previous generations as a good example. in my own family my younger siblings definitely watched lots of tv as they were in the room with us and we were watching it. There was just no mumsnet to post on and have people like you tell them what a scandal it is.

do people not use mobiles?
not the phone type?
he doesnt need to look at the curtains, he can look at other things in the room,