Videos / movies / tv : usage with toddlers?

[etwahl]

i'm interested in others usage of these things. we play 2 videos EVERY day. one in the morning (baby einstein for 25 mins) while i shower; one in the evening (signing times for 25 mins) while i get ready for bed etc.

she's only watched tv shows a couple of times (sesame street, wiggles, etc.) but when she was watching those, she LOVED them.

i LOVE tv, but i didn't want to have her always watching tv, so instead i only watch when she's sleeping (which is not a lot).

but i also do miss watching movies and some of my fav shows. i'm wondering though how appropriate it would be for me to watch a movie in the afternoon occasionally (while she also played right there)? i'm just curious what others do? plus what about kid movies? like nemo, what age would it be appropriate/okay for them to sit and watch a full movie like that? and how frequently?

i think i am so afraid of exposing her to too much because others have complained about problems surrounding that. i feel sort of guilty sometimes that she watches 50 minutes a day of her videos.

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[stella]

I try to limit my crew to 1 video a day - a baby Mozart/Dolittle/Newton/Shakespeare/Galileo- type one because they're not full of ads and they don't seem to make my children hyper. And they're short (not an hour and a half long) and somewhat pleasant for me to listen to - unlike the Wiggles, Barney, etc.

And I don't even turn a video on unless I am absolutely going crazy and must get something done - like fix supper, take a shower, make a phone call. So even though I try not to do it, it's usually once a day, but sometimes more.

My husband, on the other hand, is more apt to park them in front of a video - or he'll let them play while he watches a movie or a show. And it MYSTIFIES me because I don't have time to watch TV while they're up - can't he see that they're emptying things on the floor and screaming at each other and spilling raisins and dragging every toy from their room to the den (and is he going to pick those up???).

Sorry, this is more of a bitch than you were looking for with your innocent question!

But the answer is no - it has never occurred to me to watch television or a movie in the middle of the day - and it's for two reasons:
1. I dislike television on principle (even though I do like certain shows - I'm just not in the habit of watching them) so I feel like I'm wasting time when I do and I feel guilty.
2. I don't think it's a good idea for them to take in all that chatter and constant noise. I am not scientific in the least, but I think it's overstimulating to their little brains.

I would also find it impossible to watch anything with them around me. They really don't leave me alone and they require a lot of supervision (they're two and a half and sixteen months).

But I don't really like TV. When I watch, it's after they've gone to bed or are taking a nap. Others will surely have differing opinions!

And by the way, my two find the new Baby MacDonald RIVETING! You might try it!!

[barbarhow]

I try and limit him to one video a day (baby einstein) Although I must say while he has been sick I have had Sesame Street and other things on more as a distraction for him. He hasn't really been interested in playing with his toys-the tv/videos seem distracting/comforting to him.
I try not to have the tv on my shows-I'm a law and order fan and am not sure how much shows like this affect a little one. That said-occasionally I do have it on during the day. I am trying to play music instead. Sometimes I just like the distraction of the tv, though. I do realize that it is not a great habit to get him accustomed to.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03

[jubilee]

I watch TV a lot, I'm not proud to admit it but I thought I'd be honest. Actually I'm not sure I really watch it, since L'm chasing the baby, but it is ON all the time. I tend to park it on decorating shows, home improvement shows, or Good Morning America. My hubby is hooked on ESPN. I do let Logan watch the Wiggles once a day also. He will sit with me in the rocking chair and happily watch the Wiggles, but basically doesn't even notice the other shows that are on. I forget about the videos, so I do need to try to pop those in on occasion. Personally, I don't use the TV as a way to avoid interaction with my child- so I don't see a problem with it.

[brubeck]

Honestly Amy didn't have the attention span to watch an entire 90 minute movie until almost 3 years old. Now she watches one movie a day (we have a bunch of Disney and Pixar ones) and she does it while Andrew is napping, which gives me some Mommy time. The kids also both watch Sesame Street in the mornings when I am not out running errands.

In the evenings Amy goes to bed at 8 pm so the nighttime TV doesn't really impact her. We watch some stuff (eg: American Idol, Survivor) but Andrew just runs around an plays and doesn't pay that much attention to it. I don't count that as part of his TV watching.

On the plus side now that Amy can watch a 90 minute movie I am looking forward to TAKING her to the movies. She loves Shrek so I have dibs on taking her to see Shrek 2 this summer.

[COElizabeth]

James likes to have Signing Time on as "background" sometimes. He will watch for a few minutes and then move on to other things, but he still prefers to have it on as opposed to my choice of music. :) He will also watch a few minutes of Sesame Street and sometimes one of the other PBS shows, but again, he will watch for a minute or so and then play with a toy or walk off.

I personally don't like to watch tv during the day unless I am sick, because when I watch, I want to be able to concentrate fully on the show and not have any distractions. To me it is just no fun at all to watch Friends or The West Wing if I have to keep one eye on a toddler and am distracted by him wanting something. So if a show I want to watch is on before his bedtime, I tape it and watch it later.

DH, on the other hand, has the tv on ALL the time. It drives me crazy. Even if he brings work from home or is playing a video game, he has the tv on, too. If I am around and notice that he is watching something I don't consider appropriate for James, I make him turn it off or go in another room (or take James to another room). If it's something that isn't violent, I try to be tolerant. James isn't watching, anyway, and I figure the house is so quiet when just he and I are there that the noise of the tv when DH is home won't hurt him.

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02

[Torey]

I sometimes watch early morning TV (like GMA or the Early Show). I usually let DD watch her "movies" (Baby Newton, Bach, Shakespeare) a couple times a day (if she is getting really fussy, or I am trying to cook, eat, empty the dishwasher or trying to feed her). I usually watch a couple shows in the evenings (sometimes she is awake, sometimes she is asleep). However, I do not want her watching anything with violence, killing, nudity, sex, or foul language, so I watch pretty clean TV when she is awake (7th Heaven, Survivor, Joan of Arcadia). She usually ignores the TV when I'm watching a show. I feel like I should cut down the amount of time she watches videos but since this is the only way to get her to eat (sometimes) I really can't.

[etwahl]

dh watches news all the time with lauren around and it drives me crazy. i always tell him to turn it off.

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[kristine_elen]

The only TV Jack gets to watch is his Signing Time videos. I let him watch two or three a day (they are 30 minutes each). I plan to generally limit his TV viewing to one hour per day. If it's a family movie (Finding Nemo or whatever), of course, I'd let him watch the entire thing.

[jd11365]

I don't think TV is a bad thing as long as other things like play and reading are part of her day too. As a matter of fact, as a teacher, TV has helped me teach story elements (character, setting, problem, solution) because most TV shows have them. Also, TV can be an excellent learning tool for vocabulary and exposure to things children might not normally see for themselves. Now that doesn't mean I plop Kayla in front of the TV, it just means I don't see that it is harmful as long as it's appropriate and part of a BALANCED inclusion of activity/play and reading. Kayla is read to every night, attends playgroup, gymnastics, swimming lessons...definitely not a couch potato. JMHO...


Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
5-1-03

[papal]

DD watches Signing Times Volume 1, once a day on a weekday. Other times i just put on the radio. When dh is taking care of her, he will have basketball or football on so she can hear it. She is in the gymini with the side facing the tv being covered up with a blanket! But she is smart enough to roll out of the gymini so she can see the TV. Then dh puts cushions to block out the tv. Basically when i come out of the shower, the entire living room is rearranged. The ottomans and cushions are forming some sort of freak wall so dd cannot see the tv!! Drives me crazy!!
Since dd was watching when GaTech played last week to enter the Final Four.. she has now been declared the 'lucky charm' by my sis and brother in law (gatech alumni) and so she HAS to watch at least 5 mins of any gatech game. So she watched today also. Don't ask.. we are a VERY WEIRD FAMILY!!!!

I don't find the time to watch tv during the day.. but we are stuck in front of it after she goes down for the night.... it is SO RELAXING for me.. i can block out everything else and give my mind a break!

[Karenn]

This was the topic at our Toddler Class this week. I have always considered myself fairly conservative in terms of how much TV I let Colin watch, but according to the research my instructor was citing, I'm not conservative enough!

According to her, children Colin's age should be watching 1 1/2 hours of TV PER WEEK! Then she made me feel even worse by saying that Sesame Street is probably not the best choice because it's too fast paced. (There was more detail to this, and it's something I've heard before, but I can't remember the specifics...) Her recommendation was Mr. Rogers. Her sources also claimed that if children were going to watch things other than children's programming game shows like Jeopardy & Wheel of Fortune were good choices. Unfortunately, I didn't have the nerve to ask her to cite her references after she was done spewing all of those facts because now I'm really curious about them!

Colin generally watches one program per day while I get my shower- either Signing Time, The Wiggles or Sesame Street. (I guess I'll add Mr. Rogers to the choice list!)

I'm not really comfortable watching much adult TV in front of him. They say that even if children don't know what's going on in a program they can "read" the emotions of people they see on TV and that can impact their own emotions.

When I'm absolutely desperate for some time in front of the TV when Colin is awake, I'll turn on HGTV. It's the most benign thing I can think of that still entertains me. :) I'll also confess to occassionaly having a soap on behind him while I'm feeding him lunch. He's oblivious to the fact that it's on since he's facing me but I can still see the TV and read the captions occasionally.

[luvbeinmama]

I limit DS to usually 2 movies per week at the most. Or at least I try to. Sometimes he gets extras at church on Sunday. We don't have cable hooked up so we don't receive/watch TV. We just have the DVD & VCR hooked up. I really don't miss the TV. Some weeks he gets to watch more sometimes we don't watch at all. It all depends. I try to do other things, and he can really only watch if DD is not up or both parents are home and one is up front with DD and the other in back with DS. Soon I will have a garage floor, and soon I will be able to clean out my back room... soon, soon, soon.

[etwahl]

wow, kayla's in gymnastics? how old is she? what do they do? i wish they offered gymnastics here.

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[Marisa6826]

I try to really limit the amount of time Sophie gets infront of a DVD unless there's something I DESPERATELY need to do like pay bills. Or if she's incredibly whiny and won't go down for a nap.

Sophie will watch a Baby Einstein DVD a gazillion times if she could. I usually do have it on replay (horrified to admit), and let it go twice before turning it off. Her absolute faves at the moment are Neighbourhood and World Animals. She will actually cry and point at the laptop when she wants to watch. I think it's really disturbing that her eyes light up when she sees that green warning screen at the beginning of the disc. When she hears that "caterpillar" music, she gets positively giddy.

I don't let her watch TV unless she's up at night, I'm trying to catch one of the few shows that I'm addicted to (Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Survivor, ER, West Wing), and Jonathan is too overwhelmed by her crying to deal with her.

I used to watch a lot of television, but since it's now in a totally different room (den versus livingroom), I only tend to watch it once I've put her down for the night. I play her DVDs on the laptop in the livingroom, so I'm not even in the den during the day.

-m

[jojo2324]

It's funny you should bring this up Tammy. I've been wondering lately about TV and Gannon. Like, if I watch the Today show, does that count? If he's not sitting down and gaping at the screen, does it still go towards his tv time? What about the news? I don't want to completely fall out of the loop, and I enjoy my news hour.

I'll admit we have the TV on a lot. Most of the time it's HGTV, like others have mentioned. But I do feel badly about it. He'll watch Sesame Street in the morning, or Disney. Then I try to have the TV (his shows) off until dinner during his usual meltdown hour. (I turn it on while I make dinner so he will not scream and whine and cling to my legs.) We recently had him evaluated for speech delay, and the therapist said that he should not be watching more than 2 hours a day. I thought that sounded like a lot, until I realized SS is already an hour. So I'll try to time it that he gets to see the last 15 minutes of SS (Elmo's World), then whatever else during dinner prep time (Arthur, Clifford, or SigningTimes.)

DH, on the other hand, would have the toons on all day, or ESPN. I'm working hard on not automatically turning it on, but it's a tough habit to break. :( Mainly, it's nice to have noise in the house. I listen to the radio, but sometimes that makes me even more lonely. Isn't that weird? I've always thought radio carried this strange silence with it that makes me more aware that I'm alone.

As for primetime, he goes to bed between 7-7:30, and Sorrel at 8, so I don't have much conflict there luckily. (Not that there's much to watch these days - when is Friends coming back, for pete's sake!! Big whoopdee doo, final year - full of RERUNS!)

BUT if he's sick, or I'm sick, or he's just plain driving me batty one day, I will have the TV on more.

[hjdong]

I hate to admit it, but there are times I would give anything if Jamie WOULD watch t.v. This week, I was horribly sick and I had PBS kids on a lot and he was not interested. I can get him to watch the intro., song in the middle, and end of dragon tales (all for the songs) and sometimes Barney or Teletubbies. All he is interested in is the songs, and only some songs. I went to the library and got a sing along video, but again, not interested. So, he probably does only watch an 1 1/2 half of tv per week. I know that at some point, I'll be happy for this or, more likely, he'll start watching more. But when I'm feeling miserable and he's going strong, I would have loved to have a sucked into the show kid!

Sometimes, at night, my husband will have on sports before Jamie goes to bed and on the weekend, I do the whole HGTV thing. I miss Law and Order but am not comfortable having that on when he's awake.

Anybody have any suggestions for when you're sick and your toddler is not?

[stella]

The only thing to do when you're sick and your toddler is not is to have someone else take care of him! A babysitter, a relative, a friend, have your husband stay home. And it is not usually feasible! I am so sorry for you - this happened to me this week as well - strep throat. I have never felt so crummy. My c-section did not lay me this low! Luckily I had a sitter coming one afternoon and they were in mom's day out in the mornings.

BUt the problem is twofold - first, you can't take care of them (or rather, you can't rest because you ARE taking care of them) and second, how areyou to keep them from being sick when they're with you all day? And their being sick is a problem as well - for two reasons - one, they feel so bad and it's terrible not to be able to make them feel better, and two, they are so difficult when sick!

It's tough - I hope you're feeling better! And husbands (at least mine) don't really understand - they mean well, but they don't really understand the implications of a sick mommy!

I hope this week is better for you!

[jd11365]

There is something on the effects of TV on children tonight (Monday) on the Nightly News w/ Tom Brokaw...I think that's NBC...could be interesting...


Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
5-1-03

[LucyG]

Could be the same thing I saw on the Today Show this morning. It was interesting, and frightening, I thought. See my post on bringing this topic up with childcare providers.

[MartiesMom2B]

I saw what they say the effects are. That allowing children to watch any tv under the age of 3 can lead them to developmental disorders such as ADD.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[Karenn]

Here's an AP article that talks about that research:

Too much TV in early childhood associated with attention deficits later, study finds
LINDSEY TANNER; The Associated Press

CHICAGO - Very young children who watch television face an increased risk of attention deficit problems by school age, a study has found, suggesting that TV might overstimulate and permanently "rewire" the developing brain.

For every hour of television watched daily, two groups of children - aged 1 and 3 - faced a 10 percent increased risk of having attention problems at age 7.


The findings bolster research showing that television can shorten attention spans and support American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations that youngsters under age 2 not watch television.


"The truth is there are lots of reasons for children not to watch television. Other studies have shown it to be associated with obesity and aggressiveness" too, said lead author Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a researcher at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle.


The researchers didn't know what shows the children watched, but Christakis said content likely isn't the culprit. Instead, he said, unrealistically fast-paced visual images typical of most TV programming may alter normal brain development.




About the study




The study, appearing in the April issue of Pediatrics, involved 1,345 children. Their parents were questioned about the children's TV viewing habits and rated their behavior at age 7 on a scale similar to measures used in diagnosing attention deficit disorders.


Age Doesn't watch TV Watches 1-2 hours Watches 3-4 hours Watches 5+ hours


1 36 percent 37 percent 14 percent 13 percent


3 7 percent 44 percent 27 percent 21 percent


Of the 1-year-olds, the 37 percent who watched one to two hours daily had a 10 percent to 20 percent increased risk of attention problems. Those who watched three to four hours daily and had a 30 percent to 40 percent increased risk compared with children who watched no TV. The researchers lacked data on whether the children were diagnosed with attention deficit disorders.


On the Net


Pediatrics: www.pediatrics.org

[khakismom]

Kathleen and Ellen don't really watch too much TV, the main reason is that they are at school during the week. At nite, we don't really turn it on until they have gone to bed. When it has been on, we notice that Kathleen stops playing and watches what's on the TV. Ellen has watched Baby Mozart twice in her life I think.

On Saturday, Kathleen likes to watch Rolie Polie Olie, the Wiggles, or Stanley on Disney. Usually we let her watch an hour and then it's off. Sunday night, occasionally we will let Kathleen watch about an hour or so of a Disney movie. She picks it out and it's usually Snow White.

I am really stringent with the TV watching mainly because of the behavior of my niece and nephew. My SIL and BIL let them watch it all day and they are now--no lie--addicted to TV. My nephew who will be 3 next month is a video junkie. At Christmas, I asked what he wanted. The answer? Videos. My niece who just turned 5 is the same way. 2 Christmases ago we were all sitting around getting ready to open up gifts. The TV was on at my MIL's house (she's a TV hound too, ugh!) to a B&W old movie. I turned it off in prep of all of us opening gifts. 2 minutes later I turn around to see my niece turn it back on. She didn't even care what was on the TV, she just needed it on, which I think is really sad.

DH would have it on all the time so it's a struggle with us. I'm actually going to turn on the news tonite so we can both listen to the report. Maybe he'll get the clue and turn the TV off.

[AngelaS]

My kids don't watch much tv, imho. :D Gabrielle LOVES Veggie Tales and will sit and watch about 1/2 of a video so I can scrub the floor or take a shower. Adrienne's 6 and she loves tv, so obviously she's limited in how much she gets to watch!

I'm very picky about WHAT they are allowed to watch. I HATE Sesame Street. I loved it growing up, but watching it now, I can see why shows like that would give a kid ADD. It's WAY too fast paced!

I think TV viewing is just like everything else in life--moderation is key. Somedays my kids watch more tv than others. But somedays so do I. Somedays we don't ever turn it on. And everyone's okay with that too. :D

[hjdong]

Thanks - I'm feeling somewhat better. I hope so too!

[Sarah1]

I read about this study this morning and it's definitely made me think about whether I let Audrey watch too much TV (generally, she watches around 1-2 hours a day). Part of me wonders how accurate the study is, since it was parents who did the reporting. And how exactly did they define "attention problems"?

I read somewhere that a really large # of households with kids just have the TV on all day, as background noise. I definitely think that can have a negative effect.