Comments on: Should You Let Your Child Watch Television?

By: Nicola

Nicola — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:21:09 +0000

I have a 22 month old daughter who is obsessed with Peppa pig and Mr Tumble from Something Special. She is advanced with her talking and a very happy child. She can play on her own as well as play nice with other children.
I am a full time parent and play and talk to her all day but lately she has been asking to watch her Peppa Pig dvds and I have let her. Our conservatory has been adapted into a playroom for her and there is a TV and DVD player in there. Sometimes she will sit and watch it and other times it is just on in the background while we play.
I dont think that this is a problem. If I shoved her in front of the TV all day and she was behind in her developments, then I would understand the concerns but as it is proper English and she enjoys it, I cant see it doing any harm.
Do others disagree?
Nic

By: Dr. Cason

Dr. Cason — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:23:13 +0000

Lissa- Wow – 4! Wow do the older kids babysit? I wonder what recommendations the AAP will have in another 20 years. I might shudder and say boy have times have changed we would NEVER do that now!

By: lissa

lissa — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:20:36 +0000

We have 4 kids. The oldest is now 20 and the youngest is 17 months. When we had our oldest we were in high school and she watched a whole lot of MTV. We would put her in her high chair and put her in front of the tube and get ready for school or work. The 2nd and 3rd girls were pretty close in age and entertained each other. They were born in 1998 and in 2000. Everyone seemed to watch videos. I felt like a bad parent because we couldn’t really afford them. Our latest child, a boy, hasn’t really watched tv. We home school and the tv isn’t on that much. He now will stop and look at the screen but moves on quickly. I love it. When I was pregant for him I told my husband that we were going to get those videos everyone has and when I went online to check it out I ran across the AAP warning. So we didn’t buy any.

lissas last blog post..Going South

By: Dr. Cason

Dr. Cason — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:32:49 +0000

AxeCity-

I’m actually shocked that more educators haven’t picked up this bit of info. Intuitively we know T.V. is not good for the brain! Babies need lots of laughter and and talking and social interaction. It’s this social reciprocity that is critical in developing the human capacity to RELATE to one another.

White Hot or Magik ( I haven’t decided which to call you! White or White Hot or just Magik or the whole thing White Hot Magik- hmm I’m thinking I might post something about that! Anyway I digress!)

My first child saw plenty of TV too. I really picked it over and settled on the best. It wasn’t until I did more research that I saw how potentially bad it was. But still now there are definitely TV days and then we go into spurts when it’s just tiny bits. I don’t recommend an all or nothing though. Kids need to know how to balance TV. It can be a great source of education and entertainment. But it also can be trouble for those that are very sedentary.

Recently there was a report out that found that when kids turned off the TV they didn’t necessarily exercise more and then lose weight(I think this is what most people think including myself- just turn off the TV and get outside!) But they did find that the kids ate less. Eating less then translated to less weight gain. Good to know!!

By: Admit 2 » Blog Archive » Should You Let Your Child Watch Television?

Admit 2 » Blog Archive » Should You Let Your Child Watch Television? — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:30:33 +0000

[...] Should You Let Your Child Watch Television? I know the AAP recommends no screen/TV time before the age of 2. My question is, if the AAP recommends that, how come there are so many videos for children under 2? (Baby Einstein) I don’t allow my daughter to watch a video or TV … [...]

By: White Hot Magik

White Hot Magik — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:17:34 +0000

My kids saw plenty of tv before they were two. Most of it we watched together and participated. Most of the time we watch together, I have noticed on days when I am sick or something and take the easy route and let them watch cartoons all day they are turds, and so am I. If we keep to simple entertainment for short periods we are okay.

Nora

White Hot Magiks last blog post..Does this upset you?

By: AxeCity

AxeCity — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:36:59 +0000

Parents should really concern about that, impaired language development due to watching TV by those under 16 months sounds serious!

I am wondering why such findings aren’t spread to inform people about it, if this is just to save the baby media business, I think it’s so cruel of them!