Too much tv?

My babies love Baby Einstein so much that it pretty much rotates on and off all day long.. THey don't stare at it..they just like it in the background. I'm wonderindg if any one else has a "dependency". I don't want them to be dependent on it, but they are just sooo much happier when it's on.. :blush: I can't bare to give it up...I've tried weening, but they just love it and some days it has to stay on all day when they are fussier. (they are 10 mo.) Should they be able to go without it at this age?

 

hmmm, i don't think it's that bad if it's just for background. maybe sometimes during the day try to turn it off and substitute some fun music? but i don't think it's a big deal and i wouldn't worry about it. i usually have the news on in the background - i'm a news junkie.

 

I turn on baby einstein if I am changing their clothes or diapers. We put a tv and DVD player in their room just for this purpose. I also turn it on if there is something I HAVE to do and they won't quiet down and play. Works every time.

 

There was a news article that said Baby Einstein videos are showing that they slow down the vocabulary build in childrens minds. I'll see if I can find it.

 

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,...1650352,00.html

Here is the article for that

 

QUOTE(bday111707 @ Feb 27 2008, 04:30 PM) [snapback]642942[/snapback]
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,...1650352,00.html

Here is the article for that



WOW! Thanks, I guess that does make sense...which is sad because they love it so much..They coo and talk back to it...it's saved my life many times!! Or theirs- Jk! ha ha

 

I know it my babies' day care and in others, they have classical music on in the background all day. It's kept low and definately as background noise only. (I usually don't even notice it when I'm there.)

I guess my point is that lots of babies are exposed to background music like is found in the Baby Einstein videos, outside of watching the videos themselves. For me, I try not to let one study sway me from something my babies enjoy. If several studies have found the same thing, then I'm more likely to heed the findings as conclusive.

FWIW, mine watch Baby Einstein maybe once a week. But, they are in a day care with classical music as background noise for most of the day.

 

Well, I'll just have to agree to disagree. My girls also from about 10 months on LOVED LOVED LOVED Baby Einstein. They also "watched" it throughout the day and I had the dvds on a rotation. They kind of played, watched, played, watched. As they got a little older (around 13 months) they started to REALLY get into watching it. The music is beautiful and there is so much to learn in those dvds. Around 14 or 15 months, I realized that there is a section for each dvd in the main menu that's called Discovery Cards. They are like flash cards (with real life pics) of different vocabulary of the things from that particular dvd. I completely disagree that it lowers their vocabulary. For my girls, their vocabulary increased DRAMATICALLY. I would put the discovery cards after every dvd and I kid you not, they were soon able to name the things before they actually said the word. They show the picture and then there is a good 6 to 7 second delay before they say the word. Gives the girls a chance to say it first and eventually these girls recognized, windmill, hay, tractor, farm, barn, all the animals and all kinds of crazy words that I wouldn't probably be able to teach them right now. Sure from a book, I could find the pictures but you tend to focus on the more pertinent words when you are labeling in a book. In addition, they started (on their own) to label pictures in books with words they had learned from the dvds. For example, we were looking at a farm themed book and there was a barn and a tractor (words I had never really taught them) and they pointed to them and labeled them. I think Einstein dvds are brilliantly produced and done in a very clean, calm and tasteful manner. Don't get me wrong. Now and then I do turn off the tv just so that I am sure they/we are having real quality of play. Dh and I are also ones to always have the tv on as background noise so I figure, if it's going to be on, at least it can be on good quality programming or something that is educational. JMO

 

Thks all....I don't feel so bad now. My DH says he can't wait until Einstein is off heavy rotation, but I'd rather it be playhouse disney or Einstein or music rather than a soap opera or junkie talk show! It's gotta do something for them. We joke that it's "programming their minds" because they play, watch, play, watch also...but sometimes if they are really into it, they crawl right up to the tv and sit down and just zone out to watch it! It's pretty funny. I just wondered if anyone else does this or if I'm the bad parent!! LOL
My thoughts are- especially with 2- do what works!

 

QUOTE(kristy horner @ Feb 27 2008, 10:29 AM) [snapback]643191[/snapback]
Thks all....I don't feel so bad now. My DH says he can't wait until Einstein is off heavy rotation, but I'd rather it be playhouse disney or Einstein or music rather than a soap opera or junkie talk show! It's gotta do something for them. We joke that it's "programming their minds" because they play, watch, play, watch also...but sometimes if they are really into it, they crawl right up to the tv and sit down and just zone out to watch it! It's pretty funny. I just wondered if anyone else does this or if I'm the bad parent!! LOL
My thoughts are- especially with 2- do what works!



yeah, I would not just not let them watch it. My nephew loves B. E videos. It scared me when I saw this article, but I figure why not have it at least in the background. Yes just what you said, whatever works!

 

Personally, I'm not a fan of "wallpaper" TV at any age. It's about mindfulness: I just want to be doing whatever I'm doing. If I'm watching something, I'm really watching it. And if I'm doing something else, then that's what I'm doing. It's more fun for me to keep myself entertained with my own thoughts - and I feel bombarded if there's too much background noise.

So far my babies have never watched TV, and they are amazingly good at entertaining themselves. The other day I was thumbing through one of my baby care books, and it said that at their age they'd probably get bored with any toy after a couple minutes. Um...NOT! They get so into whatever they're doing - and when they do get bored of a toy/activity, they move on and find something else to do. I really like that, and want to continue to encourage that kind of curiosity and independence. It's so neat to watch them explore and experiment, and I like that much more than the idea of babies sitting in front of a TV (even for a limited time).

JMO, of course! Everyone has a different take on this.

 

I read this article to say that interaction with your child is far more important than anything else you can give them in terms of developing language skills. We have baby einstien videos. I don't find that they are all that intrigued by them. Sometimes I have them on in the background but more often than not I just have a planet earth video or something with pretty pictures of nature (probably because I'm a national geographic junkie)...if anything. I like to play a lot of music and put things at their level to look at. Mostly, I interact with my babies. I'm sure we all do. I talk to them and laugh at them and include them in whatever I'm doing. I don't believe that they need me in their face all day everyday, but they do need to be a part of what's going on around them. So, if I am cooking dinner - I put them in bouncies and explain what I'm cooking. I let them smell the basil before I chop it, feel the tortilla, look at the measuring cup colors etc. They probably think I'm nuts, but I've convinced myself that when I need to "buy" 30 minutes to put together dinner or pay bills - I can be more entertaining than a video. I'm not against any of the baby videos in moderation. I just think that we need to make sure we are balancing screen time with face time. Who knows...??? We should do what works for us and what our gut tells us is ok.

 

My girls love Baby Einstein but I have cut it back to letting them watch it just once or twice a week. Usually I put it on if there is something I need to do that can't wait until their nap or bedtime. It came in handy when DH was out of town because it kept one baby entertained while I bathed the other.

I guess the biggest reason for cutting back is mostly my Mommy Instinct. (It's the same feeling that made me switch their Dr. Brown bottles to BPA free ones.)

When trying to decide what's best for my girls, I take in the information reported in studies and books, what my doctor tells me, what I learn here and add that to what my instinct is. Then I make a decision based on all of that information. Also - just because I think something is right for me, doesn't mean it will be right for the next mom so I certainly don't judge anyone else's decisions.

 

I put it on to get some time for me to get dinner, get dress or something. They maybe watch it once a day. But I don't jsut leave it on for them to zone. Bad habit. The average child watches 4 hours of TV a day and that doesn't include any video or game stations. Way too much in my opinion. Teach them to play. Everything in moderation. NPR had a great article on teaching your child to playThe Evolution of Play It sure made me think.