TV and infants

[mommy33]

I have a 6 week old and I'm wondering if she is affected yet by television that I watch. Should I not have her in the room when I am watching adult television like "Law and Order"? I'm not sure if she's too young to be affected by this TV now. And if it is okay for her to be in the same room, at what point should I be sensoring TV?

[trales]

She is most likely sleeping in your arms. I watched TV and kept the volume on the lowish side. I only turned it off when she seemed to be trying to watch.

There are plenty of things to worry about as a new mom. Enjoy holding your baby and relaxing in front of the t.v. between feedings, diapers and crying. You need a break too.

[SnuggleBuggles]

For reasons beyond content, they don't recommend TV before the age of 2. But, from a content standpoint I wouldn't worry at all at this age. We watched all sorts of things when ds1 was little (Buffy, CSI...) and he didn't pay the least bit of attention or get what was going on on the screen. He just happily played in the room. An infant doesn't have the ability to sort out the story or anything like that nor do they know what things are supposed to be scary. kwim? ETA_ we could tell when ds1 started to pay attention to what was on tv but it wasn't till he was 2y+. AT that point we just watched certain things when he wasn't around.

Beth

[BabyMine]

I hope Law and Order doesn't do permanent damage becasue I am a SVU junky.

[scrooks]

DD just recently started paying attention to TV. I wouldn't worry about it.

I think at that point I would have gone nuts without TV to escape to and keep me awake! : )

[DebbieJ]

OMG my son watched so much TV as an infant! I would have never survived those marathon nursing sessions and the evening fussies without the tv on!

[american_mama]

I had the same question for a psychologist who was giving a talk about TV and learning in preschool children. For me, it was more an academic question, since nursing in front of the TV is a common practice in my house. My rationale is that scary or dramatic shows are designed to elicit those emtoions in various ways - through dialogue and plot, which I don't think infants follow, but also editing, music, lighting, speed/volume of speech and infants might respond to that. Also, I might be tensing up, having my heart beat faster and baby might notice that.

I have definitely seen children of all ages paying no attention to a TV show suddenly perk up when there is scary music, and I have seen kids get scared and worried at scary music, a rush-rush scene even when they don't appear to otherwise understand the storyline.

Anyway, the psychologist pooh-pooed it and, as I said, it wasn't going to change my practices. I agree with the person who said there are so many bigger things to worry about as a new mom; this should be way, way down on the list. But I still think it's an interesting academic question.

[DrSally]

If they're nursing or your holding them and the volume is on the low side, I don't think it's any big deal. I liked that age b/c I could watch whatever I wanted. When they start paying attention to the images, I don't have any tv on I wouldn't want them to watch.

[kijip]

I agree that at this age, there is no need to worry about content. Babies this small don't even know they have hands or have any object permanence. When I was getting breastfeeding established with Finn, I watched most of Brothers and Sisters and nearly all of Boston Legal on DVD with some CSI thrown in there somewhere. Certainly I would never watch either of those with Toby around. As a general rule, we don't watch any media around them once they are aware of the TV until they are old enough to watch what we are watching. So for my 5 year old that means stuff that is either for kids or things like cooking, home improvement etc. He loves "This Old House". :)

[sarahsthreads]

I agree that at this age, there is no need to worry about content. Babies this small don't even know they have hands or have any object permanence. When I was getting breastfeeding established with Finn, I watched most of Brothers and Sisters and nearly all of Boston Legal on DVD with some CSI thrown in there somewhere. Certainly I would never watch either of those with Toby around. As a general rule, we don't watch any media around them once they are aware of the TV until they are old enough to watch what we are watching. So for my 5 year old that means stuff that is either for kids or things like cooking, home improvement etc. He loves "This Old House". :)

:yeahthat:

DD1, someday, is going to hear the opening strains to Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and think, "hey, this is really familiar in an oddly comforting way..." Because I watched that *entire* series while on bedrest those last few weeks and then after she was born. :)

DD2 is going to feel the same way about...Between the Lions and Handy Manny. Poor kid!

At this point (9 months) DD2 is *very* aware of the TV and will move around to try to watch it if it's on. I don't park her in front of the TV for sure, but I try not to stress about it. Then again, any shows that are allowed between the hours of 6am and 9pm are preschool shows anyway...

Sarah :)

[amldaley]

The three things that I found when I researched this for myself were:

1) It can affect language development (negatively)
2) It can affect sleep patterns
3) The constant exposure to flickering images may be a contributer to ADD and ADHD.

I sheilded dd from TV for about the first 6 months. We watch with the contrast low, screen dimmed, and sound down soft with subtitles turned on. No violence, no yelling, no loud stuff and no commercials (thank goodness for DVR).

I finally had to break down one day and let her watch kids TV for a few minutes to get a bathroom break with her in her swing. Now, at 8 months, she seems to have no interest in tv at all!

Let's face it...most of us have TV's on at some point!!!!!

[Melaine]

I so well remember when my girls were little (less than a year) they would perk up and "dance" when they heard the "Friends" theme come on. But really, with preemie twins born during flu season, I felt it was necessary to my sanity and to keep me awake to watch some TV. I didn't start worrying about content until later, now I definitely don't watch that stuff while they are in the room with me.

[kijip]

The three things that I found when I researched this for myself were:

1) It can affect language development (negatively)
2) It can affect sleep patterns
3) The constant exposure to flickering images may be a contributer to ADD and ADHD.



I have read this (esp 1 and 3) with respect to having kids under two years watch TV but am not sure how this would apply for tiny nursing infants that are not watching/looking at the screen? If you have any resources about that, I would appreciate it. Still it seems counter intuitive to me that babies under 6 months would be more affected by TV than babies over 6 months...it seems to me the older and more aware the child, the more impact. We don't actually have a TV with reception so main tv exposure is if we actively choose to watch a DVD or if we visit my parents.

[DrSally]

The three things that I found when I researched this for myself were:

1) It can affect language development (negatively)
2) It can affect sleep patterns
3) The constant exposure to flickering images may be a contributer to ADD and ADHD.


I've heard these things too, so when I DS did his marathon hour plus "suck and sleep" sessions, I'd hold him snuggled in a blanket and watch cooking shows on closed caption. That way, he didn't see or hear the tv. I think it's different if you plop an infant in front of a tv. Now, when DS is watching his shows and Dd is in the room playing, I just face her the other way. I suppose it will be different when she starts moving around.

[Naranjadia]

From what I've read, the concern about language development is related to the fact that infants don't get much out of television. So it's basically time wasted, in a passive state, that could have been spent actively listening to the speech of mom, dad, or whoever is in the room. If a baby is breastfeeding, are they likely to reach that passive state? It seems like they'd be focused on feeding.

We didn't do tv until 2, but I'm not sure I believe that limited amounts of tv in an otherwise verbally-rich environment could really do damage.

[mommy111]

DD1, someday, is going to hear the opening strains to Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and think, "hey, this is really familiar in an oddly comforting way..." Because I watched that *entire* series while on bedrest those last few weeks and then after she was born. :)

DD2 is going to feel the same way about...Between the Lions and Handy Manny. Poor kid!



:yeahthat: Except for DD#1, it will be the strains of Law and Order SVU...I would get home from work throughout my pregnancy, lie on the couch and watch SVU. Now DS, the day he tastes coca cola he will think it tastes oddly comforting and smells like mom :)
But to OP, 6 weeks, I wouldn't worry. You have to keep your sanity. 6 months, I'd turn the TV off. Although I have to say on the rare occasion that we do turn the TV on, my 1 year old is not at alll interested. I would think it would be more of an issue after 1.5 or 2 when they actually start noticing the TV

[amldaley]

I have read this (esp 1 and 3) with respect to having kids under two years watch TV but am not sure how this would apply for tiny nursing infants that are not watching/looking at the screen? If you have any resources about that, I would appreciate it. Still it seems counter intuitive to me that babies under 6 months would be more affected by TV than babies over 6 months...it seems to me the older and more aware the child, the more impact. We don't actually have a TV with reception so main tv exposure is if we actively choose to watch a DVD or if we visit my parents.


The first two have to do with sound, not the images they see. Can't research til this weekend. I read this stuff months ago and work full time now. Will see what I can find when I can!!!!