Watching to Much Tv, Should I be Concerned??!!??

My Son is 5Months, and when were not playing together hes watching tv, in his walker, in his bouncer, or laying on the bed or floor.


I just recently read in a Baby Magazine that this is VERY bad that Children under 2 should not be allowed to watch tv but, just seldom. It increases the risk of ADHD???


Is this true?


My Son LOVES the tv! It says something like it short wires the brain wrong, and can cause a short Attention Span.


Now I'm very Concerned about this and just wondering How Much I should let him watch Tv??


He watches Nickelodeon until stuff like Zoey 101 or the other shows like this comes on, and sometimes he does watch these to. We do watch Cartoon Network but, I find the newer cartoons on there REVOLTING. Sorry for those who watch it, I just do..Besides Scooby Doo, I wish All the Old Cartoons were on Like Tom %26amp; Jerry, Bugs Bunny, Road Runner..etc...Sadly their not.


But, anyway...What do you think? and how much tv does your children get?

Watching to Much Tv, Should I be Concerned??!!??
First of all at 5 months I don't think they care what they watch it's not like they understand it, strange though that my daughter who is 4 months loves spongebob, but then you have to take into concideration the voices sound and lights. a lil bit of tv doesn't hurt them that young. I have a two year old and four year old boys at home too.... so my opinion tv can save a lot of parents from going crazy sometimes...lol
Reply:This is the time to start introducing your child to other exciting things in his environment- play with him on the floor, take him outside, the the park, zoo, aquarium. He is much too young to be stuck on tv. It will only get worse. Don't be a parent who ends up using the tv as a babysitter.


edit- my son does not watch tv, by the way.
Reply:That sounds a little ridiculous. Instead of watching TV, interact with your son! Play games, play with his toys with him, take him outside to the park and push him the baby swing, do anything but watch TV! That sounds just so unhealthy for a babies developing eyes, let along the connections to ADHD.
Reply:I don't let my baby watch TV (it does help that we don't have cable so there isn't much on the TV anyways!). And even if we did have cable, I still wouldn't let my baby watch it.





The AAP recommends that there shoulod be NO TV for children under 2 years old and yes that is because it is thought to do everything you wrote about.





If you think of it from the babies point of view, it is much more interesting to look at lots of quickly changing colors and pictures on the TV than to just play with a toy and have to entertain himself, but this is where the problem lies. This causes the baby to expect things to change quickly and rapidly and the baby is doing nothing during this time except sitting. If this continues, the baby can become bored with toys or entertaining himself while on the floor because he is used to things constantly changing and keeping his interest. And hence can lead to a shorter attention span etc.





If possible, I would limit the TV your son watches just to times when you need to get something done - like taking a shower. But other than that, I just don't think it is worth the risk to let him watch a lot of TV.
Reply:play music and turn the tv off...
Reply:"how much tv does your children get?"





Zero. We ditched our cable a while back; we weren't watching anything.





I'm not saying everybody else should get rid of their teevees too, but certainly it offers NO benefits for babies... Yes, even the "educational" stuff. Junk.





It's one thing to let a baby look at a screen for ten minutes while you take a shower or something, but regularly? No. Not good.
Reply:Only if you are not taking care of your family.
Reply:My son is also 5 months and he gets absolutely NO TV time. The pediatrics assocation of America says no TV until they are 2, and I will stick with that. There is a strong connection between too much TV time and ADHD.





I'd say it's too bad your son loves TV. Turn it off and make him engage in something else..even if it's just practicing rolling over. He'll be doing a LOT more using his brain.





He doesn't even understand what's going on on the TV, so why let him watch and waste precious developmental time being a zombie?





You're a great Mom for being concerned about this. I'd say to turn off the TV and give him a great head start in life.
Reply:I am going through this now as well. Bc I just read the same thing. I have stopped playing the tv for my son and just played with him more or let him play with his toys, etc. I have tried to keep him busy without the tv.
Reply:He doesn't understand TV is not real. I would never just sit there with my 10 month old and watch tv.
Reply:Some ppl say it's bad...some ppl say it's ok. I wasn't hoping that my daughter would like TV..but she does. So..I just went out and spent $100 and got her the collection of baby enstein's DVDs. If she is going to watch it..i'd rather her watch something like that. Either way..she has about 1 hour per day max i'd say. Usally when the video is over..she is about ready for something else anyway.
Reply:I don't think this is a problem as of yet. He's pretty much just looking at all of the pretty colors. As he gets a little older, active and alert, incorporate activites to occupy his time.
Reply:I must admit my 6 month old boy does that too, what I find is that my son only watches telly because its got sound and light and the easiest way to stop him watching that is to get a replacement for it i.e. to get him a TOY which has sound and light in it! Ive got my son a gym with sound and light and he LOVES it! Hope this helps x
Reply:My daughter is 7 months old and she gets about 30 minutes of baby Einstein once a month. There are so many more interactive things to do with baby than TV. They should also only be in those toys- walkers and such, for 15-25 minutes a day. If she likes some background things going on, grab some children Cd's and play music through the day.
Reply:Our pediatrician does not recommend TV until after the age of two. And, while this is not related at all, she also does not recommend juice (at all!).
Reply:Letting a baby under 3 watch TV does increase the chance of ADHD and obesity.





My son gets about 30 minutes of TV a week. We keep ours off for the majority of the day, unless he's napping or in bed.