Children under 2... Should they watch TV?

I live in Australia !!!!My two sons are now 9 years old and 8 years old they both watched TV from the time they were born ! We monitored what they watched though and pick TV times when the right programs wre on !! They watched Dora the explorer and learnt Spanish !! The boys would watch Blue Clues which helped on their development !! There is really not alot out there for them too watch below 5 years !!

in one of the articles i read...it was written that abies should be provided with lots n lots of good books....and elders should always keep on talking to them. i think television's prime motive is entertainment....no matter how much "edicational" the programs for children might be....they provide a very easy way for the development of the child's imagination and his views about the real world . the child gets engrossed in an ideal world which....i dont think would proove to be useful for personality building!

yes but with parents supervision... watching educational show like barney, sesame street and dora the explorer will enhance the knowledge of your 2 year old kid also watching mtv or action songs, there she can imitate it and learn. Definitely it must not be watching all the time we need to bond with our kids personally and teach them, be a hands on parents

Children are particularly adaptable when they are young. It is the time when influences meet little resistance. Letting kids watch TV enables them to learn how to speak faster, know the basic things, catch music and make them more adaptable to things in the future. What you should be careful about is what they watch. Children shows are okay. There are many networks that offers such. But violence, whether verbal or action? No, no.

I see nothing wrong with children watching educational programs. These days there are several made to help children learn in a fun way. I do however limit how much television the children watch. I don'twant them to think that they need to sit in front of the television all the time.

Children need contact and conversation with other people. I think that TV inhibits a child's ability to self regulate their behavior and bodies. The ony way they can sit still is by beinf a zombie in front of the TV. Being content and calming down are skills babies have to develop oand learn. By popping them infront of the TV everytime they cry, they are robbing children of the chance to learn those skills.

well yes it is very okay for kids under two years old to watch tv but always be sure that it is educational and not censored....well i agree to watch dora,barney and blues clues..they are educational cartoons

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it's not how much they watch, it's what they watch. Educational stuff is great. Things with catchy songs, repeatitive counting, dancing, and word association will help them even if they are 1. It's great to hear them singing the alphabet song, even though they don't know why and they are missing letters. My youngest wanted to watch 'Elmocise' over and over. When I watched her watch the movie, I saw what her thing was... she knew all the exercises and most of the words of the songs. She was 2 1/2. I didn't mind it after that.

My son really didn't watch television until he was 1 1/2, this is so I can get myself ready in the mornings. The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't recommend television for children under the age of 2. I think companies like Baby Einstein are just trying to make money, your child can exist without those movies. I have a family member who has her babies/toddlers watch television all day and they are severely behind on their development. http://www.aap.org/family/tv1.htm Children of all ages are constantly learning new things. The first 2 years of life are especially important in the growth and development of your child's brain. During this time, children need good, positive interaction with other children and adults. Too much television can negatively affect early brain development. This is especially true at younger ages, when learning to talk and play with others is so important. Until more research is done about the effects of TV on very young children, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) does not recommend television for children age 2 or younger. For older children, the Academy recommends no more than 1 to 2 hours per day of educational, nonviolent programs

Things that would be appropriate for her to watch at that age would be any of the Baby Einstein DVDs. They are specifically developed for children in that age group and are also educational at the same time. You are right about the other programming you mentioned. It is specifically geared for older children pre-school through elementary school.

Yes, why not? I mean, really, why not? I have a friend who doesn't allow hers to 'watch tv' and the oldest is 16. It sounds good, but they watch dvds on the computer. I wanted to know what the difference was, they were still 'wasting' time, and she said at least they were ale to monitor what they are watching and it isn't justa constant barrage of mindless drivel. Well, I would say they get that same barrage from the radio, billboards, the internet, school, schoolmates, music....And whenver there is something great on about ancient Egypt, or Timeteam, or Hannibal bringing elephants through the mountains...they don't get to see it. Maybe someday, if it comes out on video, and meanwhile when they go to friends' houses, they are watching the Simpsons. I think variety is good. Choice is good. TV isn't all bad, for heaven's sake.

Nickelodeon has an entire channel for it especially "Nick JR", I don't think it's weird at all. And eh, someone is supposed to watch that crap of Dora and Blue's Clues, lol :P. I'd say it might actually be educational for those little ones, even if it can drive an adult crazy. But asides from Nick JR I also have a channel actually called "Baby TV", which is actually aimed at the kids under 3. It shows stuff 24 hours a day, during daytime stuff which are supposed to inspire them and such and well yeh, guess it does... can't say much about it though, I'm not a baby so can't judge. At night it shows calming colors and moving pictures like sheep jumping over a fence one time for like 20 minutes along with calming music, hehe. For if the little one can't sleep when it's quiet or something I suppose. Personally I don't think TV is all too bad, and there's quite a lot of educational stuff for any age, more and more is even coming for the younger kids as well like stuff like this. Lol at "or I need to do my hair", hehe :P. I guess all women are the same ;).

What I think is that your daughter is your child and you are the parent. No one has the right to try and tell you how to parent your child. They can make suggestions, but whenever it starts to bother you to the point that your worrying about your parenting skills, then I would kindly say thank you for the advice,but this is between me and my daughter.Sometimes people try and be helpful and they're actually making matters worse!! Good luck.

I agree as long as it is educational it is fine my daughter learned alot from those type of shows and she loves them.

It is okay to let them for an hour is what I feel.But restrict more watching.I have written an article on this topic which I would share: http://www.helium.com/tm/301771

I have 1 little girl who is now 11 months old & i have her TV shows running from the time we get up until at 5pm - my daughter doesn't really watch much of it, unless she's laying there going to sleep. I know the TV is going but she's more interested in her own books, teddies & other toys & playing with the dog so i don't see how it can hurt. She never misses Sesame Street, she'll dance around & clap when they sing songs & she gets so excited when she sees Burt, Ernie or Elmo! I think as long as they have some active time & some time with you for interaction & the like, then having the TV on & having them watching the TV isn't a problem at all. I'm sure many will disagree with me on this but TV isn't as evil as many think it is, it can be very helpful for development, learning & education :) Just do whatever you think is right for your children & don't let anyone tell you otherwise :) Good Lucj :)

I am not in favour of banning the tv totaly for kids but we should be very careful about two things one thet should watch it from a resonable distance i mean not to closer to tv as this will effect their eye sight and other one is that what they should watch because at this age children can't express his feelings or he can't distinguish beetween good and bad everthing they watch or feel directly sunks to there sub concious slowly slowly so not let them watch voilent serials or movies

they also watch tv and they maximum enjoy to listen different types of music they love sound. nothing else

I think children should watch TV but only certain channels which impart knowledge