We're going on a plane trip (I found a direct flight! 
) in a couple months, when Naked Baby will be about 1.5yo, and we're looking at ways to keep him occupied and relatively content in an incredibly enclosed, unfamiliar space. My partner remarked to me last night that for the first time, he understood why people would buy portable DVD players and plop their kids in front of it, and we are seriously thinking about bringing a laptop with video games on it, or buying some other type of electronic toy.
Now, I don't really want to electronically drug my baby for a 3 hour flight, but that comment and conversation got me thinking about where we draw our lines and why. I'd be the last person to tell anyone that they shouldn't use whatever method they need to to get through the day with everyone safe and more or less sane, but I also am the type of person who really did never use bottles, or strollers, or cribs, or disposables, or jarred baby food, or flashy battery operated toys, or whatever people say they "have" to use (and again, I'm not living in anyone else's shoes, and I recognize that there are times when those things do make life easier, or are truly needed, and we all have to make our own decisions there - and I will be the first to say that with a different baby, we might have made different decisions).
But my thinking is there are options that I think shouldn't be first resorts but may be used lovingly in some situations (say, cribs and bottles), and ones I think are just generally unnecessary but may be convenient or sometimes needed (jarred baby food and strollers), and ones that I simply will not use and do not believe are ever an acceptable option (crying it out, spanking). And I guess the point is, I'm not sure where in those categories I would put TV or electronic media. I do know that it changes over time, because I simply wouldn't put a 6 month old in front of a TV, and it wouldn't occur to me to disallow a 16 year old from playing video games. I also know that it's situational, in that I would discourage someone from using TV on a daily basis with an average 1.5 year old, and I would never use it in that context myself, but I wouldn't tell someone whose toddler needed major surgery that they "shouldn't" do whatever makes life easier or more manageable or kinder for their child.
So where do you draw your lines? Is TV simply unnecessary for you? Do you believe it's always harmful, or always harmful for the under-2 (or whatever age) set? Is it something you try to avoid, but are willing to use in special circumstances, and what would you consider those to be?
And how would YOU survive two 3 hour flights with a 1.5 yo?
) in a couple months, when Naked Baby will be about 1.5yo, and we're looking at ways to keep him occupied and relatively content in an incredibly enclosed, unfamiliar space. My partner remarked to me last night that for the first time, he understood why people would buy portable DVD players and plop their kids in front of it, and we are seriously thinking about bringing a laptop with video games on it, or buying some other type of electronic toy.Now, I don't really want to electronically drug my baby for a 3 hour flight, but that comment and conversation got me thinking about where we draw our lines and why. I'd be the last person to tell anyone that they shouldn't use whatever method they need to to get through the day with everyone safe and more or less sane, but I also am the type of person who really did never use bottles, or strollers, or cribs, or disposables, or jarred baby food, or flashy battery operated toys, or whatever people say they "have" to use (and again, I'm not living in anyone else's shoes, and I recognize that there are times when those things do make life easier, or are truly needed, and we all have to make our own decisions there - and I will be the first to say that with a different baby, we might have made different decisions).
But my thinking is there are options that I think shouldn't be first resorts but may be used lovingly in some situations (say, cribs and bottles), and ones I think are just generally unnecessary but may be convenient or sometimes needed (jarred baby food and strollers), and ones that I simply will not use and do not believe are ever an acceptable option (crying it out, spanking). And I guess the point is, I'm not sure where in those categories I would put TV or electronic media. I do know that it changes over time, because I simply wouldn't put a 6 month old in front of a TV, and it wouldn't occur to me to disallow a 16 year old from playing video games. I also know that it's situational, in that I would discourage someone from using TV on a daily basis with an average 1.5 year old, and I would never use it in that context myself, but I wouldn't tell someone whose toddler needed major surgery that they "shouldn't" do whatever makes life easier or more manageable or kinder for their child.
So where do you draw your lines? Is TV simply unnecessary for you? Do you believe it's always harmful, or always harmful for the under-2 (or whatever age) set? Is it something you try to avoid, but are willing to use in special circumstances, and what would you consider those to be?
And how would YOU survive two 3 hour flights with a 1.5 yo?
