Television and media


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Right now at four months old I allow her to be in the room while we watch various programming, but I'd like to set up limitations for all of us in the near future. I think 2 hours a night for mom and dad sounds excessive, but sadly realistic as an initial point to work down from.

 

I should do some more in depth study on TV watching. Clearly it is linked to lower activity and greater weight issues as well among other things. I should check out what seems to be a reasonable limitation.  

 

Edit: I should mention that I prefer my daughter isn't actually watching TV at all, even if she is in the room while the TV is on. Ideally we should all probably discontinue our TV time when she is around as supposedly screen time can distract young brains from developing properly and exploring the world around them and interacting with humans. Alas we're not very strict about it - perhaps because I'm not convinced strongly enough of the seriousness of the situation.

Edited by SpiritDragon
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  • 2 weeks later...

How much tv/tablets do you allow your youngsters?

 

I haven't read the comments, but truthfully, probably too much. In my defense, the majority of my daughter's activities on electronic devices are educational, and some really have taught her things. But if we're to be honest, nothing quite beats 1-1 time with a parent who can give real teaching moments. I do allow her to watch certain "fun" shows on her iPad, like Dora (which arguably is debatable lol), and Tinkerbell series. My DD is 4!

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When my daughter was little she loved watching the movie Bambi and could watch it multiple times during the week. I loved listening to her laugh while she watched it.

 

I've never been one for having strict rules about TV watching. For all the choices we make on a daily basis, I think common sense plays a big role.

 

M.

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Oh, I just realized you probably meant TV for a pre-schooler.

 

Same answer from me - unlimited.  But then, I control every single detail of my kids' day.  When I feel TV is an appropriate activity for the time, then I turn on the TV.  The thing is - it's rare for me to watch TV, so my kids rarely watch TV too.  But, we did enjoy sitting down for the Wiggles and Thomas the Tank Engine.  No ipads and iphones then.  But that would be the same even if we had them then - I didn't need these devices to keep the kids occupied.  The TV in the car became a big to-do for care salesmen... never got into it.  None of our cars have TVs/DVD players.  We drive from Florida to Maine with the kids without it.  When the kids were little, looking out the window kept them occupied or talking to us did the same.  My husband and I can talk non-stop from Florida to Maine and the kids join in when the topic interests them.  Lately, we've gotten into the audio books.  So even on our nth time driving the same road for 20 hours, we haven't needed the TV in the car.  My kids do love the TV in my sister's car.

 

The thing I don't like about TV is the spoon-feeding aspect of it.  Every single piece of information is spoon-fed to you without your interaction.  Yes, Dora asks you a question - but your answer doesn't change what happens next.  It's a mind-numbing effect.  A few times probably won't matter much - but doing this a lot starts to train your mind to wait for information instead of make information happen.

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