anyway, I was pretty strict about no tv when my daughters where infants. When my first was around 1.5 years, i started to let her watch some of those baby shows (like baby einstein, but different brand). Now I record a few shows that I find somewhat educational and entertaining, while not trippy (what are these people on when they make some of these kids shows?!!!). Our favorites are Word World and Super Why on PBS.
Every chance I get I take the girls out to the park, or the zoo… we are very active. Unfortunately, I have to work, and so while I’m there, my husband has them or my in-laws, and they don’t seem to have my energy. They do play, but my husband lets them play at the house while he watches sports news… thankfully I don’t think they find that interesting.
My problem is with the grandparents… they let them watch moves that I don’t approve of, and its frustrating!!!!! My dad is the worst!!!!!! But, I try to make myself feel better with the fact that they are with me for a majority of the time, and we are out doing stuff.
I would LOVE to have no tv… but there’s no way my husband would get rid of it. He talks about not wanting to watch it as much, but the first thing he does when he walks in the living room is turn it on. does that even make sense?

I don’t doubt this will evolve over time; my husband grew up watching a lot of television and I grew up watching very little. For now we compromise by only having one tv, located in a basement rec room with a separate family room with toys and books in our main living area of the house.

I realized the impact TV can have on kids at a young age when my son first entered a home daycare – we were told they watched little to no TV, yet he was able (at one year old!) recognize tv and movie characters when we saw them on products in stores. When the daycare had to close, our son went through a bit of tv with-drawl and would actually cry and ask for tv – meanwhile we were watching none at home! I was shocked at the with-drawl and annoyed that someone would let him watch movies that I might not approve of (don’t judge me too harshly for keeping him there, it was a great atmosphere otherwise and any daycare at all is very VERY hard to find in our province).

My best advice to all is to try and never have the TV going as background. When it’s time to watch, then watch. Otherwise, the TV is off.

I think that TV isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It mostly depends on how it is used and how often it is used. In our case, it is used in moderation, supervised, and involves interaction from us as well. When TV is used as a baby sitter, it is definitely not good. When TV is not supervised and monitored, it is not good. I like to screen the shows before letting my son watch it.

Our solution has been our Tivo. We select certain programs that meet our basic requirements (entertaining, imaginative, does not drive parents nutso) and record them. We tend to stick with PBS or Disney shows with the occasional Nick show. No commercials. I think my concern lies more with commercials and how our kids are slammed with a culture of consumerism from day one.

We use it as a treat. Books are first and foremost in our home, but occasional snuggle time with a fun tv show is not unheard of.

Sometimes it’s the chicken and the egg debate. Does the child seek TV because of his autism (fascinations with lights/sounds/sensory input from TV) or does the TV cause the child to have autism?

Looking back, we did let our son watch TV occasionally. And yes, he even watched it before the age of 2. In fact, I was given a set of Baby Einstein DVD’s at my baby shower and at the time thought it was an educational tool. Never did I think that it would alter that state of my child forever. Whether it did or not, I do not know. But, with our second child (another boy, which puts him at higher risk for autism) we did not allow him to watch the Baby Einstein DVD’s just out of basic caution.

Now that our oldest son is 5 (diagnosed at around 2) we still let him watch TV occasionally. Ironically, if I sit down and try to teach him a concept that he might learn from a TV or computer, he often times doesn’t learn it as well from me. I don’t know why that is but we have observed that on many occasions. Even our speech therapist uses the computer to teach our son some basic concepts. She also noticed that he learns better that way.

That does not mean that we plop him in front of a screen all day. Quite the opposite. Most days he is playing directly with me or his brother. He is involved in many floor-time activities with us. We are very interactive parents that seek out educational toys and life experiences as teaching tools for our children.

But back to the issue. Is TV bad? It can be. Especially if it’s not monitored and is just being used as a babysitter. But I think, if used correctly, it can also be a good educational tool. For some kids (depending on their learning style) it can be an effective way to get through to them. There’s probably nobody that will back me up on this one so I guess I’m out there on a limb.

While the show they watch may not be educational, per se, they do learn. My 21 mo repeats the Spanish and English words in Dora. My 5 yo has learned about many things from Curious George. They get up and dance to the Wiggles.

We do limit the amount they watch, much to the 5 yo’s chagrin, and we rarely have the TV on as background noise, unless it’s Sunday and football is on. The 5 yo is showing more of an interest in football, wanting to know which color team we want to win. At least he’s not calling it baseball anymore…

Anyway, I think TV in moderation, when the parent controls what and how much is watched and it’s age-appropriate, isn’t always a bad thing.

Now that she’s a toddler (2.75) she watches a pre-recorded Sesame Street episode or a Scholastic book DVD once every few days. We do this at two times: A) only one parent is home and is doing something she can’t be involved in (taking a shower or cooking on the stove), if she can’t be distracted in another way; or B) occasionally when she’s so tired and grouchy that everyone in the family needs a break. To me, a little commercial-free TV is less harmful than family-wide grouchiness– she calms down and enjoys the program, and afterwards we parents are refreshed enough to have good interactions again.

I’m lucky to have another parent in the house. I think if I were a single parent, I’d turn to the TV for “babysitting” a lot more often despite my best intentions–I can’t imagine the sheer exhaustion of trying to work and raise a child alone. There are worse things than some controlled television, and every family’s situation is different.