Just wondering about my Radio 4 addiction and if it might be bad for 20 month old DD. Any thoughts?

[norktasticninja]

I tend to have Radio 4 on all day most days, I enjoy it. Since I've had DD I find something on listen again turn it off if there is something with an unpleasant or disturbing atmosphere on, but other than that it's never occoured to me to censor it at all .

DS (6 weeks) seems to find it calming and it's doesn't seem to bother DD either, but she's 20 months old now and understands quite a lot. After something DP said last night I'm wondering if I should stop listening to it so much. I'd certainly never randomly leave the television turned on when she's around but I'd never considered that wall to wall speech radio might also have negative effects too. TBH if I've thought about it at all it's just been as another way of normalising English (DD's bilingual and we live overseas).

What do you think? Is it a Bad Thing (repeated news etc)? Do I need to cut down? I really hope not...

Would censor The Archers. Its quite dull and possibly could be damaging to a small child to hear too much about Shula.

Lol MovingOutOfBlighty

Don't let her listen to quote, unquote. that's harsh even to adult ears.

if it helps, I am a bit of a radio fiend, and have it on in the background constantly. 2.3yo DD's speech is clearer and better than most of her peers, so the negative effects on speech development can't be that pronounced.

I read somewhere about a spurious very sensible piece of research which surmised that speech radio had beneficial effects on the developing vocabulary of children.

It was in the Guardian, so it must be true.

I heart Radio 4. I love the listen again function, but must confess that Radio 7 has had more of my attention of late. I feel the urge to cheat on R4 with R7 as it's sometimes a bit quirkier and more sexy.

I also think I need to get out more

lol

Both my DDs (34 months and 8 months) have R4 in the background of their lives most of the time (apart from the occassional break for nursery rhymes/loony dancing in the kitchen to my varied collection of music). DD1 has very clear speech and nursery say she's very clever - must be R4 influence as I don't think it's me!

I have Radio 4 on most of the time but will turn off the news when certain things come on. I don't want to listen to it, never mind letting my 8, 5 and 4 year olds listen to it. I rarely have the tv news on when they are around now.

Lol - I'll carry on as normal then! Cheers all

I think as long as you turn it off when she needs you to listen fully to her.

There were times when I tried to tell my Mum really important (to me) things and she hmm-hmmed but was really listening to R4. So I ended up not bothering and going to tell my friend's mum.

And now my Dad does it with his grandchildren.

Otherside - I still have a note DD wrote me years ago that says, "I no you think lissening to the archers is important, but sometimes I need to talk to you!"

As long as she doesn't start quoting from the dire "Midweek" or "You and yours" you should be OK.If she grasps the rules of Mornington Crescent,please enrol her with Mensa.

Ps I found that the "Shipping forecast" was very soothing in my sleep addled breastfeeding days

That sounds awful Othersideofthechannel.

I do always make time for her when she want's to tell me something but TBH I'm more likely to hmm-hmm at her (and DP too) when I'm MNing. Unfortunately Thankfully having two DCs under two has turned out to be a been a very effective remedy for curbing my MN habit.

I LOVE R4. I'm only half joking when I say I think it's kept me (semi!) sane over the years especially when I was at home all day with three babies.

Lol squilly - I too have been straying guiltily over onto R7 of late. I also need to get out more

i'm a recovering r4 addict, in the sense that i do think it's important for children to have silence sometimes. if it was up to me it would burble away 24 hours a day, but i make an effort to switch it off if i'm not actually listening to it.

My parents had radio 4 on all the time, so I've grown up with it my whole life. Was years before I got the rude jokes on ISIHAC... But I was way ahead of my friends on cool comedy "oh yeah, heard that on R4 a couple of years ago", and still love it now.

Just avoid Count Arthur Strong...

Without radio 4 do not think I could be a SAHM.

Figure I dont have the tv on or use the computer in the day unless both asleep/am feeding the baby but my saintliness does not extend to turning off radio 4 . Do listen to them though (though not if DD is telling me for 1000th time that she is now to be addressed as Derek).

Does anyone know - does R4 still play that selection of strange pieces of music very early in the morning before the farming programme?

I seem to remember 'What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor' being one of them.

I used to listen to that when it coincided with a night feed. Ah those were the days..

I loooooooove radio 4

It is important to have silence sometimes. But I don't think there's much on R4 that will harm them.

And I wouldn't worry too much about news items etc - it is much harder for children to understand isolated speech on radio, rather then words actually spoken to them or on the TV where they have the visual context to help.

DS (3) occasionally repeats chance phrases from R4 and sometimes "laughs" along with the comedies in a very "har har" fake way. But he definitely doesn't understand even 10%.

BTW I have a friend whose parents have a strong regional accent - she grew up with R4 on all the time and spoke "standard" pronunciation pretty much from birth. She reckons it was due to R4!

It gets worse as they get older; try explaining to an eleven year old "I'm sorry I Haven't a Clue" why everyone is laughing so much at Samantha's exploits. Seriously though, the news is the only thing I ever had to turn off for the sake of my children (too grim and frankly explicit on times) and that's the same on all radio stations.

By the way - tip for parents who like comedy but not swearing - I took 2 dds to see Bill Bailey when they were 10 and 12, and he was perfect.

It gets worse as they get older; try explaining to an eleven year old "I'm sorry I Haven't a Clue" why everyone is laughing so much at Samantha's exploits. Seriously though, the news is the only thing I ever had to turn off for the sake of my children (too grim and frankly explicit on times) and that's the same on all radio stations.

By the way - tip for parents who like comedy but not swearing - I took 2 dds to see Bill Bailey when they were 10 and 12, and he was perfect.

My own dd has always had an amazing vocabulary and has recently started offering opinions on the constitutional monarchy - does the Queen have to approve Acts of Parliament if she doesn't like them? - and other big issues of the day. The credit belongs to a constant background of radio 4 my exceptional intellect and parenting.

I'm now wondering how long it will be before she asks us to explain the jokes about the lovely Samantha.

Habbibu - can I share your at Count Arthur Strong.

Radio 4 controller - if you are reading this: WHY? Seriously - why? Why would you do this to me? It's my license fee and I'd like whatever proportion of it you spend on that programme BACK please.

Tsar, no, it's been replaced by a news briefing. There was quite the kerfuffle about it (but I was glad, as I hated it. Then I got a DAB radio, and went for the World Service instead at that time).