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TV
Hi,
I've been feeling really guilty lately as a couple of the friends I have over here have said they do not let their lo watch tv at all, and another has said it is just a treat at weekends! I let Bren watch milkshake every morning (we get freeview sky so uk tv yey!) and then I generally have the tv on in the background all day as I like the company it gives. I'll have stuff like This Morning on so Bren doesn't sit and watch it he plays with his toys or I play with him, or I will mute it and we will read a book or something. He doesn't seem very bothered about the tv and would rather be outside so I'm not sure what the harm is. I also put on DVDs that havekids songs on and have a dance around and sing song with him which I would have thought would be a good thing?
What do you do with your los? Are you strict with how much they watch?
We do make sure anything that is on the tv when Bren is awake is suitable (i.e. not too scary or rude!) as I know he is aware of lots now.
Am I a totally bad mummy for having the tv on so much? :roll:
xx
I've been feeling really guilty lately as a couple of the friends I have over here have said they do not let their lo watch tv at all, and another has said it is just a treat at weekends! I let Bren watch milkshake every morning (we get freeview sky so uk tv yey!) and then I generally have the tv on in the background all day as I like the company it gives. I'll have stuff like This Morning on so Bren doesn't sit and watch it he plays with his toys or I play with him, or I will mute it and we will read a book or something. He doesn't seem very bothered about the tv and would rather be outside so I'm not sure what the harm is. I also put on DVDs that havekids songs on and have a dance around and sing song with him which I would have thought would be a good thing?
What do you do with your los? Are you strict with how much they watch?
We do make sure anything that is on the tv when Bren is awake is suitable (i.e. not too scary or rude!) as I know he is aware of lots now.
Am I a totally bad mummy for having the tv on so much? :roll:
xx
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Replies
i have to say that on average day he will watch it or just be in background for couple of hours and then we tend to be out afternoon and he interacts with kids, or park etc then he'll have it on for bit early eve!
i'm not too bothered at mo as he actually has learnt a lot of good things from cbeebies - numberjacks, something special etc and he certainly hasnt missed out on interacting woth friends and learning playing on own etc!
really dont worry LIZ sounds like you do what we all do!
the other thing is on days he's a nursery like fins at childminders they dont watch telly - fin will have it on for hour when home of eve when im doing dinner but even then if hubbies home he is playing!
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the worse thing now is that my eldest has become addicted to cbeebies on the computor and they will both sit and watch it. zach knows how to turn it on, find all his favourite characters and play the music/games/activities!
Everything in moderation I say. It's a little weird to not let them watch any and you're pretty stupid if you think it's okay to sit them in front of it all day everyday.
I have been feeling very bad about this lately as having been pregnant and now having a newborn Henry has been watching a lot more tv than he has before - it's really been worrying me!
But as others have said he has actually learnt a lot from cbeebies, milkshake etc and we talk about the programs when they're on.
I turn it on to grown up channels when he loses interest or when I want him to stop watching it but he has a bit of an obsession with Come outside at the moment and we watch back to back episodes sometimes when the weather is bad or Isabelle needs feeding/winding etc!
He gets plenty of excercise outside and before Isabelle we went to lots of groups that I will start going to again once I'm back in the swing of things!
Like the others have said don't feel bad about it as I don't think it's bad for them at all and if it makes them happy whilst doing jobs or just having a break then that's a good thing!
xx
i do think that the tv shouldnt be on as much as i have it on so i have started turning it off for parts of the day xx
My problem now is that Charlie wants to watch CBBC and Alfie ends up watching older stuff, Gracie's not too into watching anything other than toddler stuff.
I think it's very archaic and backwards to not let chn watch tv at all. And what on earth do these mums do to get stuff done in the house?!?
I was talking to hubby about it and we realised that it was probably because we are pretty unique having UK TV out here. Norwegian tv is pretty pants, especially the childrens stuff and I don't remember seeing anything on it that would be interesting for a toddler to watch. I guess that is probably why they have the view that tv is bad.
Brendan is at nursery two days a week so doesn't get tv during the day then, and on a Tuesday afternoon I go to and english speaking mum and baby group with him so no tv there either. We can't get bbc 2 or cbeebies over here as our sat dish isn't big enough so it is just milkshake in the morning for Bren unless I put a DVD on for him. x
On a weekday mornign we are in such a strict routine so that I actually get out of the door in time there is no way the TV goes on we listen to Radio 4 the Today programme while me and MAx eat breakkie and in the car on the way to nursery. He is in nursery full time and so there is no TV there and he is there from 8am till 5 or half past. Then when we get in I/hubbie have to cook dinner for us all so we keep him busy with a programme then for half an hour. We recrod certain things for him onto our black box recorder - his favs are Postman Pat, Chuggington, little robots, show me show me (he loves penelope), big and small, something special, big cook little cook, and that's all I can think of at the mo so he chooses one fo them and it goes on while we cook. Then after dinner and before bedtime it is a no TV time and mummy and daddy and max all play together.
The weekends are abit different and he watches a bit mreo those days but we never have the TV on in the background - I grew up in ahouse with NO TV in and loved it and I couldn't deal with having the TV in the background all the time. We sit down to watch a programme and then when it's finished choose something else or the TV goes off. We hardly ever just watch a channel with max either we generally watch the programmes he likes that are recorded.
Writing it down makes it sounds really strict but it is not most of it is just timings issues and that I don't want him to watch it before bed as it is proven to cause over stimulation and sleep problems plus that is the only time the 3 of us spend together on a week day!
I must say when we first moved over here and just had Norwegian TV I didn't really watch it or miss it. Now though I love having discussion programmes on to keep up with current affairs as I feel a bit out of the loop otherwise. My hubby is a total documentary freak so when he comes home he will have a play with Bren and Jacob and put a war dvd or something on! His latest has been all about medieval life and I must say it is very interesting!
It is funny you saying about tv causing over stimulation charli as we have always found with Bren that if he sits with us watching something with his bottle of milk it normally settles him down for bed. Otherwise he will be running around like a looney trying to pull his toys out of his toy box and generally cause mischief.
I have been putting on the baby einstein dvds lately, they are great for keeping both Bren and Jacob occupied for 15 mins! Bren has started saying more words from it too so it must be doing him some good! x
Like ali says, most programmes are educational these days.
Alfies guilty secret is a bottle of milk whilst watching emmerdale lol Bad mummy!!! x
evryone is different but i think that i spend a lot of time with fin and stimulating him in good ways being out and about and even when telly is on we talk about it even if its learning the names etc... he's started learning numbers from numberjacks and then we talk about it and go over it so whats so bad about that!|?!!!
hollys mummy - she would love peppa pig most of my friends with girls love it!!! fin loves raory the racing car, thomas and rupet!
We have milkshake on in the morning, then usually have music or something on if we stay in throughout the morning. Then usually have cbeebies on throughout the afternoon if we're in or a dvd. If I didn't have tv on or something I would go mad with the noise from the people who live above us, they just run about and shriek all the time from 5am-10pm whether the children are there or not.
Then from about 5 ish usually pit adult tv on and watch things like friends/scrubs etc
my hubby has a red van so you can imagne every night he shouts and gets all excited! some days its just daddy, others it roary or postman pat!!!
We are the same in that he will watch milkshake from when he gets up, whilst i am sorting breakfast, doing bits and bobs and i will also hop in the shower during thomas as i know he wont move during that-lol! (As we live in a flat i can leave door open and still hear him) I will usually turn over to cbeebies at 9 for show me show me, as he loves it so much! After that i will either leave it on in background or turn it off. Sometimes if Elijah is getting moany or not playing very well i will turn the t.v. off and put his music tape on with nursery rhymes on and usually he is quite happy to play with this on without it distracting him. We read lots too and like you Liz, i will either mute the t.v or turn it off. I dont usually watch anything for myself until he goes down for his nap and then i will watch the repeat of jeremy kyle! lol. I know its sad but i can chill out watching it
In the afternoon i tend to turn it off and just put it on if he is tired or if he asks. xx