Under 2's and TV

Metranil_Vavin

Do you/did you/would you let your under 2-year old watch any TV, if so how much?

I'm talking about children-specific tv..Cbeebies etc.

jodiej1987

i have an 18month old and she likes to watch cbeebies etc but i only let her watch it in small sittings. mainly for an hour after ive done the school run in the afternoon. i allow her to watch it while i sort dinner etc i wouldnt allow her to sit there all afternoon watching it, she would if she could though as she loves charlie and lola, waybaloo and night garden

nickyhutch

My son is 18 now. We used to watch educational videos (Barney, Fun Song Factory etc.), Fireman Sam and Thomas the Tank Engine. It did him no harm. He's just finishing sixth form, got 12 GCSEs and is going to university in September. He is sociable, thoughtul and compassionate, and works part time as a Lifeguard. He has a good social circle, a good social life and a girlfriend.

We didn't watch crap TV, mostly stuff he could learn from - he could count and read/write short words before he went to school. He also wasn't subjected to adult TV, including soaps, until he was much older. He did watch the news, though

I never sat him in front of the TV while I got on with stuff; I always watched it with him.

NAR

Our 2 year old (just) has been getting about an hour a day of Cbeebies for the last year and we feel it has helped him with speaking, "singing" and dancing. He joins in with the programmes and really enjoys them.

geoffky

No harm in educational programmes, IT becomes a problem when it becomes the babysitter...

Tigsteroonie

Sometimes I wish Andrew would watch children's television ... He shows no interest whatsoever. Now Monty Python's Meaning of Life, that held his interest. Peculiar boy

Walk_Me_Home_Cheddar

The research says younger children don't benefit from television but over twos can benefit providing you're watching it with them. My little boy enjoyed Baby TV from eighteen months or so. Now he's over two he's moved on to CBeebies and programmes with more of a 'plot', initially Bob the Builder and now Timmy Time, which he never seems to get tired of.

As a speech therapist, I don't think TV is all bad - like with a lot of things it's a case of everything in moderation. The problem is the children who are lumped in front of the screen all day with no adult input and limited access to books and other types of play.

I think Timmy Time, for example, is a nice show to watch with your child. Because there's no dialogue you naturally find yourself commenting on what the characters are doing, just as you might do looking through a book that's only pictures and no words. Similarly, because my little boy likes watching the same episodes we can now talk about what will happen next etc, developing predicting and other verbal reasoning skills.

So yes, TV's okay - just hope they settle on watching something you don't mind sitting through too!

Metranil_Vavin

Thanks for all the replies.

My son is 17 months old, and I occasionally will put the tv on at the end of the day for half an hour or so if he is bored, although I try to get out and about with him as much as possible on Thursdays and Fridays (I work Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays)

He isn't that interested in tv a lot of the time though, and will wander away and find something else to occupy him, so I often turn it off anyway.

angelil

I've heard there is to be NO screen time for under 2s full stop. This not only includes TVs but also smartphones, Nintendo DSs etc. It equally extends to even being in the same room as a parent using one of these devices.

Sounds extreme, but I've also attended seminars on the subject and given the effects that screen time can have on children that I've heard about during these, I'd be inclined to follow this advice.

jellyhead

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies.

My son is 17 months old, and I occasionally will put the tv on at the end of the day for half an hour or so if he is bored, although I try to get out and about with him as much as possible on Thursdays and Fridays (I work Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays)

He isn't that interested in tv a lot of the time though, and will wander away and find something else to occupy him, so I often turn it off anyway.

At 17 months of age neither of my children had any interest in the TV, but they had friends (well, I was friends with their mothers) who loved TV from early on, sometimes even before 12 months.

My children liked books, stories, songs with actions etc. and they don't actually NEED to watch TV as babies. There wasn't much on TV for children when I was a baby and I managed okay.

I think my youngest was around 18 months old when he started to enjoy 'baby TV' which was included in our Sky package at the time, and he loved the few baby einstein DVDs we had. He liked Cbeebies from around his 2nd birthday, and Peppa Pig.

As has been said, TV isn't necessarily bad for children unless it's the majority of their day. It can be educational, but all the adverts on cable channels are horrible.

nickyhutch

angelil wrote: »

I've heard there is to be NO screen time for under 2s full stop. This not only includes TVs but also smartphones, Nintendo DSs etc. It equally extends to even being in the same room as a parent using one of these devices.

Sounds extreme, but I've also attended seminars on the subject and given the effects that screen time can have on children that I've heard about during these, I'd be inclined to follow this advice.

Where did you hear that? Do you have a link?