DD Got 2 "Yo Gabba Gabba" DVDs for Her Birthday.....

[NevadaMama]

I guess this is more of a "how often do you let your LOs watch TV" kind of a question.....

We have been cable-free since DD was born. We just didn't want her growing up glued to the TV like we hear so many children are nowadays. She just turned 1 and up til now has never seen any kinds of children's shows, or really anything on TV for that matter. Occasionally DH and I will watch a DVD, but it's usually a documentary or something from Netflix, and DD usually isn't interested at all and ignores the TV.

Anyway, my sister sent DD a couple Yo Gabba Gabba DVDs for her birthday, and I just put one on.....and she LOVES it. She's watching it now, bouncing up and down and squealing at the TV.

It seems pretty harmless, and the songs are kindof cute! How should I go about introducing TV to her? Just a few minutes every other day or something? I don't want her to be one of those kids who begs for TV or is constantly asking to watch a DVD. How have you handled letting your LOs watch TV?

[Courtney-Ostaff]

We didn't have her watch TV at all until about 18 months, and then my husband stayed home with her and she watched it with him.  He went back to work in April and since then it had been a struggle. So, I decided last month I was going to never say no until she quit asking. Lo and behold, she got bored with it in a bout a week,a nd never asks any more.

[maptome]

DD watches TV in the car only.  It has restored my sanity.  But, it amounts to at least half an hour a day, and much more on weekends.  More than I would like, ideally.  ETA: Sesame Street DVDs.

[Italiamom]

I let DS watch Netflix (Caillou, Bob the Builder, Sid the Science Kid) sometimes.  It's the only way I get to shower before 6PM!

[lactatinggirl]

DD (22 months) LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba. We've made it a rule that she never gets more than one episode in a row and we're almost always sitting right next to her doing the dancey dances with her and what not. Sometimes it's a life saver (or sleep saver when she decides to wake up at 4am, so I doze on the couch while she watches an episode). Sometimes it just helps my sanity.

I used to think I'd never be that parent who let my toddler watch TV, but you come to realize what's really important as you actually get in that situation, right? So decide what's important for you and stick to the rules that you make. We never watch TV while eating. We never watch more than one episode in a row no matter how much she asks. Those are things that we've decided are important, so we stick with them. Honestly, she only asks to watch an episode every few days anyway, so I figure there can't be much harm. I could see it being bad for her if I was letting her stay glued to the TV for 3 hours a day, but I figure everything in moderation. 

[cloudbutterfly]

DS is allowed to watch one episode of Signing Time a day, whenever he asks for it.  We watch it together, singing and signing together (well, I do all the singing!), and then I drape a blanket over the TV and if he asks again, I remind him that the TV is sleeping.  This has worked wonderfully so far...within 3 days of starting the blanket thing, he learned that if the blanket was there, I'd say no, and he rarely asks anymore when it is, and never gets fussy when I remind him that we already watched it that day and the TV is too tired to play another.

I'm another one who never thought I'd allow TV before two.  It was helpful to research what went into that recommendation and determine whether or not it really applied to the way we were thinking of using TV in our household.  Not only am I sure that it's greatly contributed to DS's signing, spoken and receptive vocabulary, but it's given our family so much in terms of communication, bonding and fun.  I can't rave about it enough!