My five month old LOOOOOVES the tv. Do you think it is okay if I let her watch it?

Question

will she actually learn anything. she giggles at it and laughs when she sees some things on it. I mean I am not going to set her down in front of it and leave her there, but I don't want to start bad habits now. She just gets sooo excited! I think it's okay but just want to hear some other opinions.

Answer 1

I think you should choose a specific show, something educational and let her watch that.  maybe an hour a aday, the rest of the time she will have to use her imagaination.  usually having a playpal will help the imagination.  kids should be outside alot and make believeing with other kids.  get her started on reading, or dora the explorere where she can learn spanish... i would be so grateful to my mom if she would have involved me in sports, im a girl and never got that opportunity... it helps for confidence when your on a team and physically fit... that way theres not enough time to watch tv.   but if she does watch it, make it educational or princess stuff.

o you said 5 months old, i thought u meant 5 yrs, o well, same answer

Answer 2

yeah i guess its ok as long as its educational

Answer 3

She actually zones out the majority of the time and only catches a few things, but I would not make a habit instead use toys and such so that she continues to use her muscles.

Answer 4

I think it's ok for a few minutes here and there. Unless you never turn on the tv all babies see some tv nearly every day. Even if you don't intend for them to watch they soak it all in anyway.

Answer 5

i think there is very little proof that babies watching tv is solely responsible for any problems kids have in the future, health or otherwise.

i think my son did learn things we didn't teach him from sesame street...

i know it is frowned upon before the age of 2. so letting my son watch things like sesame street made came with some guilt.

a big reason people frown on babies watching tv is sometimes that becomes the sole method of entertaining a child and a substitute for teaching.

i'm sure, if you care enough to ask here, that you are not that kind of mom and that won't be a problem.

Answer 6

It's just visual and audio stimulation.  Don't overdo it (half hour a day, maybe?) and you'll do fine.  Remember, a variety of sources of input are what she'll need for the next several years...please don't let all hear input come from that one source.  Best of luck!

Answer 7

My youngest absolutely has loved the TV and been mesmerized by that thing since about that same age. I let her watch noggin and nick jr at that age for about a half hour or hour of down time , or when she was sitting in her high chair eating meals. I would watch it with her and we would learn new songs and dance around.

She actually learned a lot from noggin when she was little from that little bit of time.some people thought that was horrible that I let her watch- but whatever! My kids are fine and active and if they wanna watch TV sometimes to chill out- that's my business. Just like it's yours.

It IS colorful and fun for little kids.

Answer 8

I wouldn't actually let her watch it more that 10 minutes a day it can hurt there eyes and end up making them not used to the motions and lights on TV and video games when there older.

Answer 9

My daughter loved to watch the Baby Einstein videos...by age 1 she had a vocabulary of over 35 words.  I strongly feel that those videos helped especially the one with the train about poetry..can't remember the name.  Those in combination with lots of reading... I completely attribute to that.  I wouldn't let your baby sit and watch TV all day or anything but I would let her watch it while she is focused on it.  It gives the brain stimulation and she will be hearing words that she will recognize and begin to say as long as you play the same videos daily for her.  Don't let people give you a hard time about letting your baby watch TV because a lot of people think it is an awful thing and will cause all of these problems etc., my daughter is super smart, she just got finished with kindergarten, is in gifted, reading chapter books and she watched a lot of Einstein videos when she was a baby as well as Shrek and others and when we traveled she would watch it for hours in the car.  Oh yeah, she is a good kid also.  hahah!  Do what you feel most comfortable with and keep that baby happy!!

Answer 10

i had my daughter watching some tv as a baby. We had Those Einstein baby VHS tapes... I feel that they helped promote her ability to understand and comprehend easier as she got older. She might have watched 30 minutes to an hours worth of those videos in a day...maybe not even every day...but those movies, combined with the reading that I did with her since the day she came home fromt he hospital, combined with using adult voice when I spoke to her majority of the time...has aided in how incredibly intelligent she is today. She is 5 now ans can read in both english and in spanish (I'm not fluent by any means in spanish..but i have taught her basics) And I feel that the younger you start the better...even if they can't comprehend what you are saying....its still introducing the need and love to learn. As long as you use the tv in moderation...even the shows that they have on today (mickey mouse club house, little einsteins, word world) those are GREAT interacting learning shows! As long as youre not putting your 5 month old in front of Sponge bob square pants! LOL! ll in moderation! Everything in moderation! Thats the key!

Answer 11

You can get her Little Einsteins educational movies to watch.  Right now her little mind will absorb everything so it would be good if what she watched atleast was teaching her something.  Also, when she gets a bit older they have games that attach to the television that can help her learn also.  :)  As long as you make it all about learning then I see nothing wrong with it.