Do you use TV/videos as a babysitter?

[mamasaurus]

Do you use TV/videos as a babysitter for your kids? If so, for how many hours per week? Are they watching TV or videos or both? Also, what do you do while the kids are watching the TV?

I'll answer my own questions:

~Yes, I do.

~About 4-5 hours per week, usually on weekend mornings.

~They watch videos that are age-appropriate (they are 4yo and almost 2yo). We don't have actual tv/cable in our house.

~I clean the house.

[trini]

We have TV in the house (actually a satellite with over 180 channels) and ds is often in the room when the tv is on. But he does not sit down and watch tv. DH and I watch quite a bit of tv, so he is exposed to it, but we don't put on a program for him. He is usually busy doing something else in the room. He has lots of videos that were hand-me-downs from his cousins, but they are up in his closet. He is only 16 months.

[Eman'smom]

Yes I do, and I only feel a little bit guilty :

They watch 30-60 minutes in the mornings I tape Magic School bus, Stanley, and Dragon Tales and they can choose what to watch.

I use this time to wake up, shower, pack ds's lunch, and other things I need to do to get us out of the house and to school on time.

They watch maybe 2-4 movies a week, depending on the week. I generally use that to decompress from a rough day.

[lasciate]

No.

[DevaMajka]

I'll bite. I don't really like the way it's phrased, but I do let ds watch tv when he wants to, and if he is happy watching without me I will take advantage of that time to get stuff done, or get online (which is my main form of entertainment and socialization. lol). If he wants me to sit and watch with him, I do.

eta- I shouldn't have said tv. We don't have cable. Ds watches videos of Barney, Winnie the Pooh, and Thomas mostly

[Dragonfly]

Originally Posted by Deva33mommy

I'll bite. I don't really like the way it's phrased, but I do let ds watch tv when he wants to, and if he is happy watching without me I will take advantage of that time to get stuff done, or get online (which is my main form of entertainment and socialization. lol). If he wants me to sit and watch with him, I do.

:

Only I don't have the internet at home anymore so I don't get online. I read or knit or do something else around the house in hopes that he'll follow my example. Hah.

[thismama]

Yep. The TV is on a *lot* around here, coz she likes it, and mama likes peace. We go thru phases where I take the TV entirely out, and then put it back in. Moderation doesn't work for us. Right now we're in a TV cycle.

[hipumpkins]

we don't but I sure would like to sometimes. Just for the record..DH does! so I feel like I better not.

[Mama Poot]

I will let my 16mo watch videos when he isn't feeling well. We'll all sit on the couch and cuddle and watch. There have been some rare occasions where DH is gone from 7am until midnight, and I've let him watch a video while I get the kitchen cleaned up and take a break. He watches 2 hours tops during the week. We were watching PBS kids in the mornings but I've cut way back on it, not only because I thought the TV was on way too much but my local station cut several shows and now there are boring craft programs with 90 year old women teaching you how to sew. Not exactly stimulating for a 16mo!

[Llyra]

We don't have a TV.

[jamsmama]

I recently read that studies show that most mothers don't tell the truth about how much tv they let their children watch out of embarrassment of looking like a bad mother to other mothers around them. I think the study is probably pretty accurate. This poll to me is another way of comparing ourselves to everyone else. We just shouldn't do it! Isn't it already hard enough to be a mom without wondering if we are APing, CDing, GDing, TVing as much as "Mrs. Jones" next door? Just be~~

[hellyaellen]

since ds is in our bed sometimes thats the only way to "play together" if you know what i mean:

[quelindo]

No -- we don't let our sixteen-month old watch TV at all.

[Lisa85]

We limit it to 2 30 minute videos a day for our 14mo old. I use it for cleaning the house or getting ready, and once in awhile 'me' time. I'm sure when #2 comes in 3 months, it'll be used when I can only tend to one child at a time.

I'd much rather have her watch some tv than scream at me the entire time I have to do something without giving her 100% of my attention right.this.very.second.

[minkajane]

I am totally unrepentant about letting DS watch TV while I shower or cook for half an hour a day or so. I usually put on an Elmo sing-a-long or Doodlebops, something that he can really get into and get moving with.

[mommyofshmoo]

Heck yeah.

[siobhang]

yup yup yup!

nothning makes the witching hour (6-7pm) tolerable like letting 'em watch little einsteins, the cars dvd (current favorite), or noddy on tivo.

I do try to keep weekends TV free - at least during the day. but we have all been sick this week so the tv has been on more than usual.

Know what? ds1 has learned a heck of a lot from TV. we try to watch stuff with him. And all tv the boys watch is kid tv off of tivo (fastforward thru commercials, if any) or dvds like baby einsteins.

nak

siobhan

[sunnmama]

No, I don't use tv as a babysitter. When dd watches tv, we watch together as a planned part of the day. We usually watch on episode of Little House on the Prairie a day (dvds borrowed from the library).

BUT--she is 5, and she is old enough to entertain herself. When she was younger (3, for example), I certainly did use the tv as a babysitter. It seemed like there was always an hour when my reserves were too low to meet her demands for attention, and tv gave me time to recharge and be a better mom for the rest of the day. Eventually I determined that the tv time was doing more harm than good for her behavior, and had to find other ways to deal.

Sometimes I use the shower as a babysitter! lol Dd is happy in the shower until I drag her out

[Bad Mama Jama]

I only allow her to watch PBS shows like curious George or Sesame Street maybe twice a week (and that's when I'm feeling generous). That's usually when I need something like to take a bath or clean up. No more than 35-45 minutes at a time, so I figure little over an hour on the high end.

Myself, I'm not an avid TV watcher. I DVR the shows I'd like to see and watch them, if I get a free moment...

[Yooper]

No and yes

I do not as I have not found the need to. Dd is pretty good about either helping me with whatever I am doing or entertaining herself. If I take a shower, dd is happy to "read" books on the bathroom floor. If I am cooking, she is happy to help or do playdough or something. We do not have TV service and for some reason, the TV noise bothers me a lot. I like quiet So I prefer to have it off, even if we only have the option of DVDs we choose. There was one time that we popped in a movie when dd was sick and dh and I were trying to meet with our financial consultant on speaker phone. I did not feel one bit guilty I also have no problem bumming on the couch all day with movies when I am sick and home alone with dd.

OTOH, Dd goes to my friend's house two mornings a week while I am at work. I know that my friend uses the TV as a sitter for the kids. She has my dd, her 2 yo, and her 6 mo twins. She needs to nurse the babies and her 2 yo is not happy about that, so DVDs are used. It is so little time, that I am OK with it. I am not, however, happy with the resulting Clifford obsession dd has developed. Lucky for me, we never go to box stores and dd never sees commercials so she has no idea there is all sorts of stuff that goes with it.

We do watch movies as a family 2-3 evenings a week. We rarely get through more than 45 minutes of a movie in one sitting though so one movie usually takes the whole week.