T.v for babies.

What I do-and maybe this isn't good-is to allow Alli to watch one video a
day (usually the Signing Time sign language DVDs) in that post-nap, snack,
transition time. Other than that, she just plays without the background
noise. Similarly, I try not to have music going when she's playing-we listen
to music as part of interactive play or in the car (let's face it, a
rear-facing car seat is NOT all that interesting). I also allow videos/TV
when she's not feeling good and is cranky but not necessarily sleepy, like
the first day or so after her 12 month shots when she was just plain not a
happy baby.

I am seriously considering getting a portable DVD player before we fly to
California at Christmas, simply because she had trouble over thanksgiving
which was a much shorter flight. She's now old enough that she doesn't
automatically sleep in the car seat, and gets bored at sitting in the
carseat or on our laps for prolonged periods of time. The only problem I can
see is that I don't want to put headphones on a baby, and I assume people
sitting around us would rather not hear "It's signing time with Alex and
Leah" for several hours!!

--
Donna DeVore Metler
Orff Music Specialist/Kindermusik
Mother to Angel Brian Anthony 1/1/2002, 22 weeks, severe PE/HELLP
And Allison Joy, 11/25/04 (35 weeks, PIH, Pre-term labor)

On Sat, 03 Dec 2005 18:58:25 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:

People used to say that children shouldn't sit in the
W posture (because that had some bad effect) or
be too close to the TV (because of harmful radiation
of some kind). I don't know what current thinking
about either of those things is.

http://www.pediatricservices.com/parents/pc-22.htm

W-sitting is not recommended for anyone. Many typically
developing children do move through this position during
play, but all parents should be aware that the excessive
use of this position during the growing years can lead to
future orthopedic problems.

Why do children W-sit? Every child needs to play and
children who are challenged motorically like to play as
much as anybody. They don’t want to worry about keeping
their balance when they’re concentrating on a toy.
Children who are frequent W-sitters often rely on this
position for added trunk and hip stability to allow easier
toy manipulation and play.

When in the W-position, a child is planted in place or
"fixed" through the trunk. This allows for play with toys in
front, but does not permit trunk rotation and lateral weight
shifts (twisting and turning to reach toys on either side).
Trunk rotation and weight shifts over one side allow a
child to maintain balance while running outside or
playing on the playground and are necessary for crossing
the midline while writing and doing table top activities.

It’s easy to see why this position appeals to so many
children, but continued reliance on W-sitting can prevent
a child from developing more mature movement patterns
necessary for higher-level skills.

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_105.html

Prior to 1968 or so some sets emitted excessive X-rays,
but that problem has now been eliminated. More recently
concern has arisen about computer video display terminals
(VDTs), which typically are viewed at much closer range than
televisions; research is inconclusive so far but continuing.
To be on the safe side some eye doctors say you shouldn't
let your kids get closer than five feet to the TV screen, the
room shouldn't be pitch black, etc. But the intention is to
prevent eye fatigue, not eye damage.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

In article ,
"Donna Metler" wrote:

I am seriously considering getting a portable DVD player before we fly to
California at Christmas, simply because she had trouble over thanksgiving
which was a much shorter flight.

I don't know if you are considering buying one, but you can rent them at
many airports now (that's what my sister did). I considered it for
myself for one longish flight.

Apparently you can get headphones that work well for toddlers, as well.

--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

thank you! well i know that he is verysmart and VERY stimulated! He ha
sbeen crawling since 6 mo and just about to walk now...he seems very
normal inall his motor skills and everyhing else, and honestly, i
think hes more advanced than most babies his age( this could bewhat
every mother thinks,but honestly i do lol) ....he loves when we read
and sing and play together...but sometimes he just stops and glances at
the tv for a few seconds then continues on his way.....

enigma wrote:
"MsLiz" wrote in
oups.com:


newmama wrote:
Can anyone tell me if it is harmful for babies to watch
tv alot? My baby is 9.5 mo old and he watches teletubbies
alot. he doesnt acually sit there and stre at the tv, but
i put it on in his bedroom and he just crawls around
and climbs and plays while its on. is this a bad thing to
do? i play with him and spend time with him alot, i read
to him alot and sing to him.

Chelsy

I don't agree with babies/children/toddlers/tweens/teens
having a tv in their room. I think it sets up bad habits.
Two of my neighbors, whose kids have been in daycare as
infants and leave very early in the am with their parents
(and commute to a large city), have DVD players in the car
so that their kids are entertained for the commute.

that's two *entirely* different things.
i don't like tv. i grew up with a tv in a time when there
weren't tvs in every home, nevermind every room. my parents
were judicious about which programs they chose to watch & i
think i became somewhat discriminating because of that.
tv was NEVER allowed on during meals either.

Boo watches some tv. he also has some DVDs & a DVD player
which is portable and used in the car when we travel to
relatives (7 hours on a good day). i think there's a limit of
how much self-amusement a toddler can come up with strapped in
a car seat. Boo watches the DVDs less now that he's 5, but the
trips were pure hell until we got the DVD player when he was
2.5.

Personally, I think it's important that children learn to
rely on their own resources rather than on movies, tv, etc.

what resources are available to a toddler tied down in the
back seat?

Well, given that I raised two kids without a dvd player and both did
fine in the car, I guess it's safe to say that music, talking to them,
books, stuffed animals, etc. were always available to them. I kept a
basket of car stuff and when we they were really little, I'd have it in
my reach. I always brought healthy (not messy) snacks and water in the
car if they got thirsty or hungry. The same for when we went out to
eat...I always brought stuff for them to do; usually a book or crayons
or somthing. As they got older, it would be in their reach. Age
appropriate things to do changed as they got older. Maybe it's because
they were both "only" children (17 years apart), they learned to rely
on themselves more than either another person or another "thing".

Come on, we didn't have dvd players for years and kids did just fine in
the car. Simply talking about the trains going by, asking them to find
a yellow car or a bus...those are resources that are readily available
and don't cost a penny. I have driven my daughter countless times to
my sister's house (a 5 hour drive) from age 2 months up to this age and
she has always done fine without watching a movie.

My personal feeling is that it takes away from the one on one time that
we have, it takes away from the journey part and only focuses on the
destination and it also ups the ante for how children expect to be
intertained when traveling. Kind of like...what if you forget to bring
a dvd? Will the kid have a fit? It's one thing when they're older and
have not getten used to the "luxury" of watching an occassional dvd in
the car. It's another when kids grow up with it and expect it.

I also see them turn on the tv for them to fall asleep,
the two brothers (age 2 and 4) have each had a tv with a
dvd player in their rooms since birth. It's so easy to use
the tv/dvd as a babysitter and again, I think it can set up
the child for some bad habits.

that's true about the babysitting, but sometimes having that
option is not a bad thing. using the tv as a sitter is more a
parental bad habit though.
i'd never allow a tv in the bedroom. it's unnecessary & makes
it hard to control what the kid is watching. obviously not a
concern with a 9 month old, but it will be when the kid is 9
years.
lee

I think with a 9 month old, it conditions them to need the tv to fall
asleep. One of my greatest pleasures in life was having my babies fall
asleep in my arms, rocking in a chair or while reading them books.
--
war is peace
freedom is slavery
ignorance is strength
1984-George Orwell

In article .com,
"MsLiz" wrote:

enigma wrote:
"MsLiz" wrote in
oups.com:


newmama wrote:
Can anyone tell me if it is harmful for babies to watch
tv alot? My baby is 9.5 mo old and he watches teletubbies
alot. he doesnt acually sit there and stre at the tv, but
i put it on in his bedroom and he just crawls around
and climbs and plays while its on. is this a bad thing to
do? i play with him and spend time with him alot, i read
to him alot and sing to him.

Chelsy

I don't agree with babies/children/toddlers/tweens/teens
having a tv in their room. I think it sets up bad habits.
Two of my neighbors, whose kids have been in daycare as
infants and leave very early in the am with their parents
(and commute to a large city), have DVD players in the car
so that their kids are entertained for the commute.

that's two *entirely* different things.
i don't like tv. i grew up with a tv in a time when there
weren't tvs in every home, nevermind every room. my parents
were judicious about which programs they chose to watch & i
think i became somewhat discriminating because of that.
tv was NEVER allowed on during meals either.

Boo watches some tv. he also has some DVDs & a DVD player
which is portable and used in the car when we travel to
relatives (7 hours on a good day). i think there's a limit of
how much self-amusement a toddler can come up with strapped in
a car seat. Boo watches the DVDs less now that he's 5, but the
trips were pure hell until we got the DVD player when he was
2.5.

Personally, I think it's important that children learn to
rely on their own resources rather than on movies, tv, etc.

what resources are available to a toddler tied down in the
back seat?

Well, given that I raised two kids without a dvd player and both did
fine in the car, I guess it's safe to say that music, talking to them,
books, stuffed animals, etc. were always available to them. I kept a
basket of car stuff and when we they were really little, I'd have it in
my reach. I always brought healthy (not messy) snacks and water in the
car if they got thirsty or hungry. The same for when we went out to
eat...I always brought stuff for them to do; usually a book or crayons
or somthing. As they got older, it would be in their reach. Age
appropriate things to do changed as they got older. Maybe it's because
they were both "only" children (17 years apart), they learned to rely
on themselves more than either another person or another "thing".

Come on, we didn't have dvd players for years and kids did just fine in
the car. Simply talking about the trains going by, asking them to find
a yellow car or a bus...those are resources that are readily available
and don't cost a penny. I have driven my daughter countless times to
my sister's house (a 5 hour drive) from age 2 months up to this age and
she has always done fine without watching a movie.

Let's get this straight: you had one child at a time each of whom was
apparently fairly easy to entertain in the car, you think of 5 hours as
a long drive -- and you want to criticize those who use them to help out
on long drives?

Yes, I got by without them, too -- just as my parents survived child
rearing without car seats, and THIER parents without TV sets, and . . . .

The fact is, if portable DVD players had been available, there are
things we might have done that we did NOT do, because my kids were
pretty miserable in the car, no matter what we did in the way of
entertaining them. And we did quite a lot.

Yes, I think the one-on-one time in the car can be important, and I
certainly wouldn't have used a DVD in the car for daily trips -- but for
long drives, if I'd been able to pop in a 2 hour video to give them a
break from their misery. And we'd have probably taken more weekend
trips with the kids.

And if I had a daily long commute with a child, I might have considered
using it for that, too.


My personal feeling is that it takes away from the one on one time that
we have, it takes away from the journey part and only focuses on the
destination and it also ups the ante for how children expect to be
intertained when traveling. Kind of like...what if you forget to bring
a dvd? Will the kid have a fit? It's one thing when they're older and
have not getten used to the "luxury" of watching an occassional dvd in
the car. It's another when kids grow up with it and expect it.

So you shouldn't us it because of the possibility of it creating
problems down the road? I'm not in the habit of borrowing problems from
the future.


I think with a 9 month old, it conditions them to need the tv to fall
asleep. One of my greatest pleasures in life was having my babies fall
asleep in my arms, rocking in a chair or while reading them books.

And you did that in spite of the fact that it might make them have a fit
if you couldn't be there at bed time, or created problems for them
learning to fall asleep on their own.

No, I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't have -- I happened to love
having my kids sleep in my arms, too.

--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

dragonlady wrote:
In article .com,
"MsLiz" wrote:

enigma wrote:
"MsLiz" wrote in
oups.com:


newmama wrote:
Can anyone tell me if it is harmful for babies to watch
tv alot? My baby is 9.5 mo old and he watches teletubbies
alot. he doesnt acually sit there and stre at the tv, but
i put it on in his bedroom and he just crawls around
and climbs and plays while its on. is this a bad thing to
do? i play with him and spend time with him alot, i read
to him alot and sing to him.

Chelsy

I don't agree with babies/children/toddlers/tweens/teens
having a tv in their room. I think it sets up bad habits.
Two of my neighbors, whose kids have been in daycare as
infants and leave very early in the am with their parents
(and commute to a large city), have DVD players in the car
so that their kids are entertained for the commute.

that's two *entirely* different things.
i don't like tv. i grew up with a tv in a time when there
weren't tvs in every home, nevermind every room. my parents
were judicious about which programs they chose to watch & i
think i became somewhat discriminating because of that.
tv was NEVER allowed on during meals either.

Boo watches some tv. he also has some DVDs & a DVD player
which is portable and used in the car when we travel to
relatives (7 hours on a good day). i think there's a limit of
how much self-amusement a toddler can come up with strapped in
a car seat. Boo watches the DVDs less now that he's 5, but the
trips were pure hell until we got the DVD player when he was
2.5.

Personally, I think it's important that children learn to
rely on their own resources rather than on movies, tv, etc.

what resources are available to a toddler tied down in the
back seat?

Well, given that I raised two kids without a dvd player and both did
fine in the car, I guess it's safe to say that music, talking to them,
books, stuffed animals, etc. were always available to them. I kept a
basket of car stuff and when we they were really little, I'd have it in
my reach. I always brought healthy (not messy) snacks and water in the
car if they got thirsty or hungry. The same for when we went out to
eat...I always brought stuff for them to do; usually a book or crayons
or somthing. As they got older, it would be in their reach. Age
appropriate things to do changed as they got older. Maybe it's because
they were both "only" children (17 years apart), they learned to rely
on themselves more than either another person or another "thing".

Come on, we didn't have dvd players for years and kids did just fine in
the car. Simply talking about the trains going by, asking them to find
a yellow car or a bus...those are resources that are readily available
and don't cost a penny. I have driven my daughter countless times to
my sister's house (a 5 hour drive) from age 2 months up to this age and
she has always done fine without watching a movie.

Let's get this straight: you had one child at a time each of whom was
apparently fairly easy to entertain in the car, you think of 5 hours as
a long drive -- and you want to criticize those who use them to help out
on long drives?

You can take it as personally as you choose; as someone who explained
earlier today that having an opinion is not the same as judging others.
I personally don't care what others do; I know that what works for me
is what I choose to do and is what I share in here when someone asks a
qeustion or for advice.

Yes, I got by without them, too -- just as my parents survived child
rearing without car seats, and THIER parents without TV sets, and . . . .

Comparing the safety of a car seat versus the luxury/convenience of a
dvd player is a bit of a stretch :-)

The fact is, if portable DVD players had been available, there are
things we might have done that we did NOT do, because my kids were
pretty miserable in the car, no matter what we did in the way of
entertaining them. And we did quite a lot.

Yes, I think the one-on-one time in the car can be important, and I
certainly wouldn't have used a DVD in the car for daily trips -- but for
long drives, if I'd been able to pop in a 2 hour video to give them a
break from their misery. And we'd have probably taken more weekend
trips with the kids.

Sorry that your trips were so miserable.

And if I had a daily long commute with a child, I might have considered
using it for that, too.

That's great...and it's what some of my neighbors do. It'll be
interesting to see if they need these to go anywhere, down the road.
But again, the bottom line is that I don't particularly care what they
do; it's not my child. I just know what worked/works for mine.


My personal feeling is that it takes away from the one on one time that
we have, it takes away from the journey part and only focuses on the
destination and it also ups the ante for how children expect to be
intertained when traveling. Kind of like...what if you forget to bring
a dvd? Will the kid have a fit? It's one thing when they're older and
have not getten used to the "luxury" of watching an occassional dvd in
the car. It's another when kids grow up with it and expect it.

So you shouldn't us it because of the possibility of it creating
problems down the road? I'm not in the habit of borrowing problems from
the future.

I don't know about you, but I do a lot of things in my life to avoid
potential problems. I see it as preventative measures. It's why I eat
well, exercise and try to reduce mys tress level whenever possible. I
also take steps when teaching my daughter about life about possible
ramifications of her behavior and the future. Not sure why you see
that as so odd.


I think with a 9 month old, it conditions them to need the tv to fall
asleep. One of my greatest pleasures in life was having my babies fall
asleep in my arms, rocking in a chair or while reading them books.

And you did that in spite of the fact that it might make them have a fit
if you couldn't be there at bed time, or created problems for them
learning to fall asleep on their own.


Not sure why it seems to bother you what worked for me.I guess the fact
that I was a stay at home mom with both kids, was the person who put
the kids to bed 99% of the time and yeah, they cried on those rare
occassions that a friend put her to bed and I ended up having to come
home one night. Would I have traded a dvd player for that? Not a
chance :-)

No, I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't have -- I happened to love
having my kids sleep in my arms, too.

--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

"MsLiz" wrote in message
oups.com...
Not sure why it seems to bother you what worked for me.I guess the fact
that I was a stay at home mom with both kids, was the person who put
the kids to bed 99% of the time and yeah, they cried on those rare
occassions that a friend put her to bed and I ended up having to come
home one night. Would I have traded a dvd player for that? Not a
chance :-)

You have a way implying that your way of parenting works for you, therefore
it is the best way to parent for everyone and everyone is a bad parent for
not doing it your way. Then, you get offended that people are offended.

"MsLiz" wrote in message
oups.com...

dragonlady wrote:
In article .com,
"MsLiz" wrote:

enigma wrote:
"MsLiz" wrote in
oups.com:


I don't agree with babies/children/toddlers/tweens/teens
having a tv in their room. I think it sets up bad habits.
Two of my neighbors, whose kids have been in daycare as
infants and leave very early in the am with their parents
(and commute to a large city), have DVD players in the car
so that their kids are entertained for the commute.

that's two *entirely* different things.
i don't like tv. i grew up with a tv in a time when there
weren't tvs in every home, nevermind every room. my parents
were judicious about which programs they chose to watch & i
think i became somewhat discriminating because of that.
tv was NEVER allowed on during meals either.

Boo watches some tv. he also has some DVDs & a DVD player
which is portable and used in the car when we travel to
relatives (7 hours on a good day). i think there's a limit of
how much self-amusement a toddler can come up with strapped in
a car seat. Boo watches the DVDs less now that he's 5, but the
trips were pure hell until we got the DVD player when he was
2.5.

Personally, I think it's important that children learn to
rely on their own resources rather than on movies, tv, etc.

what resources are available to a toddler tied down in the
back seat?

Well, given that I raised two kids without a dvd player and both did
fine in the car, I guess it's safe to say that music, talking to them,
books, stuffed animals, etc. were always available to them. I kept a
basket of car stuff and when we they were really little, I'd have it in
my reach. I always brought healthy (not messy) snacks and water in the
car if they got thirsty or hungry. The same for when we went out to
eat...I always brought stuff for them to do; usually a book or crayons
or somthing. As they got older, it would be in their reach. Age
appropriate things to do changed as they got older. Maybe it's because
they were both "only" children (17 years apart), they learned to rely
on themselves more than either another person or another "thing".

Come on, we didn't have dvd players for years and kids did just fine in
the car. Simply talking about the trains going by, asking them to find
a yellow car or a bus...those are resources that are readily available
and don't cost a penny. I have driven my daughter countless times to
my sister's house (a 5 hour drive) from age 2 months up to this age and
she has always done fine without watching a movie.

Let's get this straight: you had one child at a time each of whom was
apparently fairly easy to entertain in the car, you think of 5 hours as
a long drive -- and you want to criticize those who use them to help out
on long drives?

You can take it as personally as you choose; as someone who explained
earlier today that having an opinion is not the same as judging others.
I personally don't care what others do; I know that what works for me
is what I choose to do and is what I share in here when someone asks a
qeustion or for advice.

You're right that parents can come to use a dvd player in
the car as a crutch the same way they can use TV at home
as a baby-sitter. It does seem a little unreasonable to me
that someone would need to have a TV on in the car for
normal trips around town.

But much like the occasional movie at home is not going to
damage a child, I don't think the occasional movie in a car
will either. For us it was two kids on a 14 hour (one way)
trip to Florida that convinced us to buy the tape player.
They obviously weren't going to watch TV for 14 hours
straight, but it did allow us to take a break from some of
those car games (our favorite was "Guess the Animal").
And, it was the surest way to get them to take a nap.

We have not found it to be one of those things that causes
problems in the future. The 14 hour trips are a thing of
the past (hallelujah!), but we no longer use the tape
player on our shorter "long" trips. Most of these are
less than 3 hours, but when a 5 hour trip back from
the beach turned into 8 hours -- 3 of which were to
travel 20 miles -- the kids did just fine.

Tone can be very hard to judge in written posts, and
so sometimes it is easy for words to be misinterpreted.
When you say, "Come on" we might hear "you must
be kidding, right?" And when you say, "Simply" we
might hear, "I can't believe you didn't think of this."
And so we do feel like we've been judged, even if that
wasn't your intent.

Bizby

toypup wrote:
"MsLiz" wrote in message
oups.com...
Not sure why it seems to bother you what worked for me.I guess the fact
that I was a stay at home mom with both kids, was the person who put
the kids to bed 99% of the time and yeah, they cried on those rare
occassions that a friend put her to bed and I ended up having to come
home one night. Would I have traded a dvd player for that? Not a
chance :-)

You have a way implying that your way of parenting works for you, therefore
it is the best way to parent for everyone and everyone is a bad parent for
not doing it your way. Then, you get offended that people are offended.

This happened when I first posted here and apparently I am doing it
again. I know that I offend some people when I give my opinion and I"m
sorry for that. I don't want to get into a whole round of defending
why what I do feels right to me. When I say that I honestly don't care
what others do; I mean that I don't care what others do. My way is not
superior...it is simply what has worked for me. If it worked for me
and I believe in it, then I am going to share that with others. Take
it or leave it. I'm not offended that a few of you get offended.
There are few threads in this newsgroup that don't have this repetetive
cycle. I've managed to stay out of the majority of them :-) I cannot
control how others take what I say, suspect or imagine that I called
them a bad parent and fly with it. In the thread where someone thought
that parents were silly or crazy or whatever word was used, to pay
people to learn how to get their kids to sleep...it ****ed people off.
Personally, I really didn't care what her opinion was. It was just an
opinion. Mine is just an opinion of what I want to do with my kids and
goshdonnit...that's all it means.

My two neighbors who have dvds in their cars, in the kids rooms and
throughout the house...well, they're still my friends, we don't argue,
debate, disagree or even talk about the subject. They are raising
their kids differently than I rasied mine and it doesn't create any
problems for us. My opinion is different than theirs and so what?