Monday Musings: Babies and TV – Do They Go Together?

For babies, no. Over 2, in small doses. My nephew, now 3, has loved Thomas and Bob the Builder since he was bout 2 and a half. But he only got to watch one of each a day. Total of one hour a day. I watched Sesame Street before I was 5. And let’s face it, we all say we don’t think the TV should be a babysitter but we all have or will do it at least once. But really should try not to do it at all when they are that young. Babies need a lot more interaction than older children do. That’s how they develop language, early social skills, etc. Videos really can’t do that.

It’s all about moderation. We don’t have TV because 1. we can’t afford the bill right now (darn student loans) and 2. we really have no desire to watch anything! So my daughter watches very little TV. We have a few Baby Einstein and Sesame Street DVDs that we’ll put in maybe twice a week so that I can just chill out for 30 minutes. I don’t think it hurts. She gets plenty of personal interaction and loves to read books. A good balance is key I think.

There is a balance between too much TV and simply just watching something fun. With the introduction of DVRs, there is a new benefit. Kids are like dogs (sorry!) in that they know of schedules despite not understanding what time is at all. They know when they’re favorite show is about to come on. With a DVR they can watch at any time, which means they won’t know when it’s on. This will make it easier to pull a kid away from TV.

No I don’t have kids, however I have friends with kids and can see it in action.

Nothing takes the place (or should) of the fascinating world of your baby interacting with you and using all his/her senses. I didn’t put my babies in front of the tv. I’m thrilled with the results. As toddlers they did watch wholesome videos and loved “Barney” and “Tellytubbies.” They have fond memories of both. I think the push to make babies super intelligent is building the house before the foundation has been laid. Might look great but eventually they will find some huge mistakes have been made.

No kids, no TV.

Toni and I both grew up without TV up to a certain age. And as young adults we both independently found out that we are TV-addicted. So, we decided, no TV in our house. For a long time we thought we were quite cured, but during vacations we realized that we use time in the vacation homes (in the evenings) in front of the box ;-((( And lately TV has sneaked again into our home via internet etc. Currently we are planning ways to deal with the addiction, because it is harming our home-life.

Isabelle – We have the same problem in our family. Before we had kids, we’d have a beautiful Spring weekend and around Sunday at 7pm, my husband and I would realize that we’d done nothing but sit inside flipping channels. And we wouldn’t even remember what we watched!!!! It’s a constant temptation to just lose myself in front of the TV and I fight to keep it from happening to my kids as well. (My daughter could probably zone out for hours watching TV.) My husband won’t get rid of the TV, but at least now that we have kids, he realizes that he doesn’t want to encourage that kind of behavior in them so we try to be aware of the time the television is on while they are awake. Which has the added benefit of forcing us to look for other entertainment opportunities!

I’m not really sure. I do think that kids tend to be really overstimulated, and I’m not sure if this is really effective on young babies.

Wow, that’s a long comment. Sorry. It seems that I can’t help but write an essay whenever I stop by here!

Nice comment, Sarah. Riveting! I read every word of it!

Were your parents hippies?

Frig, I almost made a pop culture reference. I almost said, “Your folks sound like Dharma’s folks?” As in Dharma from Dharma & Greg, a late 90s sitcom starring Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson.

Did your parents simply boycott television? Or was your family of the mountain-hiking variety that helped dig public gardens in city green spaces?

I was a tomboy who grew up in the sticks of Western NY. People would give my father their old run-down mopeds, four-wheelers and snowmobiles and he’d fix them up for me and sisters to play with in the grape fields behind our house. We spent a lot of time outside – even in the winter. Especially in the winter.

We certainly had a TV, and in fact, as a toddler I once crawled behind it and fell asleep, sending my parents into a frenzied search for my whereabouts. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I grew up watching TV, since I can recall episodes of Romper Room and random PBS programming. As a bigger kid I watched The Cosby Show, Full House, Family Matters, that sort of thing …

I wasn’t glued to the boob tube. There were other more exciting things to do and I’m not even sure if I felt this way because my parents nudged me away from it, or because I was just a scrappy kid who liked playing outside.

My little sister, PK, however is a different story. She LOVED TV. Camped out for hours on the couch on a Saturday afternoon watching TV. I mostly blame MTV. We didn’t get cable until I was in college, so I only watched MTV smut at friend’s houses. My younger sister however was in 8th grade when my parents sprung for a Direct TV, so well … she devoured the crap.

MTV turned her into a TV zombie and it rubbed off on my parents as well. Before we had cable no one gave a shit about Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey’s televised romance. After my dad purchased 99 channels, it was all they could watch. It was my FATHER who first watched Jessica Simpson contemplate Chicken of the Sea. Not me. Not my sisters. Not my mom. My father.

Anyway Tabitha. To answer your question, I think television is fine. I think MTV is the devil.

And Sarah, phew you thought your comment was epic.

As for pop culture references, I subscribed to MANY magazines as a teen. I wanted to be a celebrity journalist so I read Interview, Esquire, Talk, (the old, non-tabloid) US Weekly and Vanity Fair. Everything I learned from pop culture I attribute to these magazines. Not TV.

BTW: I read the magazines outside. In a tree. Like a cliche.

we weren’t really allowed to watch much TV growing up either, at least when it was nice out and we could be playing outdoors. my dad is very creative so he always encouraged us to use our imaginations and not fix all our attention on someone else’s imagination come to life. on top of all our creative juices being stretched: we both took dace classes, played sports and took piano lessons. when it comes to advanced learning i think it is all about balance and moderation. you have to give them room to grow in all areas not just fixate on one.

I’ve read/heard that tv stunts brain development in kids/babies under 2. After that… . If it were up to me the kiddo would not know tv exists until she is 36. As for staying informed, she can read the newspaper.

When I was a kid we were not allowed to just veg in front of the tv, and I’m really hoping I don’t turn into one of those moms who allows the tv to be a babysitter. My sister and I were STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to get out and run around, ride bikes, swing on the swingset, play in the sand, whatever. On those rare rainy days, gotta love SoCal, we were doing crafts indoors or holed up with books. We did have movie nights at our house and I distinctly remember being a bit older and watching The Cosby Show together as a family, but tv was never something that was all-consuming in our house. It was just kind of there, an extra.

Now DH – comes home at night and turns the tv on. Plops down in his recliner and quite happily watches 3 hours of ESPN A NIGHT. I kid you not. It drives me insane. Sure, I have my favorite shows that I watch religiously, but I could not sit in front of the tv for that long. I would go batty. Even the sound of the television (we have an “older” tv with a CRT and it makes that high-pitched whine, am I completely insane or does anyone else hear that?) drives me up a wall. Consequently I am often in another room reading or sewing or puttering around aimlessly while he watches tv, and yes I do hate it sometimes. On the other hand, I can very easily misplace 3 hours reading blogs online, so.

I disagree wholeheartedly with the Sarah who posted after me. There are some disadvantages to not participating in one of the favored activities of your culture.

(Also, no, Heidi, my parents weren’t hippies. My parents both grew up with access to television. They just felt that their quality of life was better without television in their lives, something I absolutely believe to be true.)

First of all, I think that the other Sarah overestimates the amount of TV we had access to. Our VCR didn’t work well, and wouldn’t always be able to make the epic effort to finish a movie, much less start one. I can count on one hand the number of films I watched as a kid. Literally. So when I say I had no television, I mean there was NO TELEVISION. And yeah, there have been disadvantages.

They just haven’t outweighed the advantages, that’s all.

As far as disadvantages go, though, here’s a thought nugget. When I watch TV, having never acclimated to it, I have unbelievable nightmares. Oh my god, the nightmares. My mood changes, the feel of a show or movie lingers with me, my sleep pattern changes, I interact with people differently, I feel more isolated and less upbeat. And did I mention the nightmares? It takes awhile to get back to feeling normal. And that’s if I watch a two-hour movie or a one-hour show. All of which are actually considered average problems that people like me deal with when we’re not acclimated to television on any level.

Oh, and did I mention the nightmares?

There are drawbacks to not watching any television ever. It’s just that they don’t outweigh the advantages in my opinion, but that I feel other people should be aware of them. I personally feel it’s all about balance and moderation.

I might have a really different perspective from other parents, but a particular DVD series has been life altering for us, and I WISH that other parents would consider them

Signing Time (www.signingtime.com) is an instructional DVD series that teaches families (not just babies) sign language in a fun, easy way that incorporates audio, visual and tactile methods.

We started showing them to my son BEFORE we knew he was hard of hearing, and he totally loved them! We were teaching him a new language, and learning it ourselves at the same time, and I can’t think of a better family activity than learning together.

Then we found out about his hearing, and we were so thankful that we had given him a way to communicate with us.

Giving your child means to communicate with you is a key part of parenting….and not all TV has to be bad. My son watches this series to help him, but I still would let him watch it even if he wasn’t hard of hearing.

I reccomend sign language for every single parent I know, not just because I think its a cool fad, or something neat to do, because I know first hand how ANY communication with your child is good communication, and babies really can communicate with you before they can talk!

I hope the people who decide against all TV for their kids can reconsider when they consider the possibility for education like this….you never know when you might need it.

(ps…sign language is also fun when as a parent you can spell out words to your spouse without a whole crowd of people knowing what you are saying! Like “Ok, can we just get out of this lame party now? )