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TV for toddlers with a newborn in the house

867 views 20 replies 16 participants last post by  Iamhappy2BAmom 
#1 ·
Soooo...we are not tv-free. But we do try to limit TV time to an hour or less a day now that dd is older, and we always watch with dd instead of just plopping her in front of the tube. However, this cold has forced me to turn the tv on more often just to get some rest (with the sore throat I can't even read to dd for more than a few minutes!) and I remember when dd was born I practically lived with the tv on...but I watched regular adult programming and honestly dd never seemed interested. But kiddie shows are different and aimed at catching and holding kiddo's attention.

What TV shows do other mamas enjoy for their kiddos? And why? And are any of them shows that might not distract a newborn?

I've found a few I enjoy in terms of my being able to watch them without feeling my brain turn to mush and in terms of agreeing with the underlying message/philosophy:

--Sesame Street (nostalgia value if nothing else, and dd loves it...she sings and dances and plays along with the characters so it's not totally passive.. But I think it's too busy for a newborn to be in the room)

--It's a Big Big World (it's on PBS kids so no "commericals" as such, the characters are puppets and very "gentle"...the songs and actions are all very soft and there's not a lot of action. Plus the message seems very GD, AP, and, well, it just seems "kind")

--Pingu (it's on Sprout, it's a claymation show that lasts about 10 minutes. Some of the episodes seem a little unfriendly but the characters don't actually "talk"...they use sort of nonsense musical sounds like the adults in charlie brown? so the viewer has to fill in the story themselves).

--Teletubbies (yes, I know. But I actually fell in love with this show when I was in college and although it's got some very odd bits, I still enjoy it. DD has only seen it 3-4 times in her life but she likes to dance along so again it's more interactive than some shows might be)

Any others that people like for their toddlers but which wont overwhelm a newborn who might be nursing in the same room? Or drive a hormonal nursing mama up the wall?

 
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#2 ·
DS loves, adores, and practically worships "Thomas & Friends" (the train, of course), and "Bob the Builder" (which I tolerate but enjoy much less.)

I prefer the former, as the original stories were written in the 1940's and they seem more... real to me than a lot of the pap that gets shown now. I like the message of being reliable and "really useful". DS will actually get fairly upset if you tell him he is "causing confusion and delay" as that is the strong chiding the engines on the show get if they aren't contributing to the functioning of the railroad. It really gets DS to put on his shoes, etc., in a timely fashion!


But my own favorites? Well, we also stick to PBS/PBS Sprout (which has an annoying number of commercial interruptions for something with PBS in the name!) and sometimes (less often) Noggin.

I enjoy "Caillou" (even more than DS does!) as he seems like such a realistic kid. I also like that it is showing DS something about being a big brother.

"Pingu" is fabu! I love that! And DS enjoys the physical humor on it. Similar is "Big Sister Little Brother", where they don't talk directly, though there is a narrator's voice.

"Kipper" is really sweet and generally a peaceful show.

On Noggin, DS really enjoys "Jack's Big Music Show", and it is nice that it presents the characters as creating music, plus it showcases many different types of music.

I just asked DS what shows he likes, and he also mentioned "Zaboomafoo", "Teletubbies" (which he never chooses anymore), and "Mustard Pancakes" (which I think is on my mom's Oregon PBS station, but I've never seen here in the NE.)

--willo
 
#3 ·
DS loves "Jacks big Music Show" too. I really like "Little Bear" on Noggin, and "Franklin" is good too.

I recently bought DS some Leapfrog letter DVDs to watch when I need rest, he loves them. He would watch them all day long if I let him. We bought one that teaches letters and their sounds, one that teaches words, and another that teaches complex words. I bought them new on e-bay for about $7-8 each (incl shipping). It's amazing how many letters and words he's learned from just watching the movies a few times. It makes me feel better about him watching TV because he's learning at the same time.
 
#4 ·
Along with It's a Big Big World, Sesame Street, and Curious George (my dd is infatuated with monkeys!) we occasionally turn on Animal Planet. DD watches less than 2 hours of TV a week, but when I need to rest or we really need to get something done we have no problem letting her watch these shows. She really gets into Meerkat Manor on A.P!
And look out - any elephants that come onscreen receive a trumpet of joy and hello from Emma! hahaha
 
#5 ·
We are fans of "The little Einstiens" over here. Every episode incorporates some form of art work and also some for of classical music. I really do enjoy it over all and, for the most part the messages are good.

They are available on DVD too.

There is one episode where they are helping hansel and gretel and DD didn't like the (green
: ) witch. We explained that not all witchs are bad and that she is just a pretend one in a story.... just thought I would mention that bit..... I get touchey about witches in kids shows, for obvious reasons.
 
#6 ·
We don't have cable, so our TV access is really limited...
so I have several DVDs/VHSs that DD really likes:

Sesame Street (there are some fantastic educational compilations that feature old show bits too - great nostalgic & educational value - check Ebay for used)

Elmo's World (ugh - warning - very annoying - but educational & engaging... albeit a bit too fast-moving for my taste)

Barney (eww, I know... but the show is really mild, and never questionable in content)

Blue's Clues (I only have a couple of the old ones - shows. Boring for adults, but engaging for toddlers. We have one Blues Clues movie too, but it has some more sensitive issues in it (hurt feelings, etc.), which really IMO require active participation by me).
 
#7 ·
The only thing that DD watches is any Charlie Brown DVD. We started with the Christmas one and have expanded from there. I have tried watching Veggie Tales, but DD doesn't really like them and they are so much more faster paced than the Charlie Browns. CB is nice because it has nice music, and they can be humorous for adults, not to mention the nostalgia factor. I think that they are a great choice. There are shorter ones and also some feature length ones.
 
#8 ·
Wanted to second the referral to Little Bear! DS loves it, and it is one of the only kids' shows that I find pleasant to watch. The characters and storylines are cute, the music is nice and mellow, and it's just not annoying like many other shows. When I hear Dora's voice I want to wring her little neck!
 
#9 ·
My son watches too much tv


But we are really careful about what he watches. We try to avoid shows that have a lot of unnecessary conflict between the characters, I have noticed that many kids shows focus on demonstrating different conflicts and then how to resolve them. I feel like the conflict gives my son ideas that he hasn't come up with on his own yet, and also I don;t need the TV to teach him how to problem solve socially. We watch anything where the characters call each other names, use words like "stupid" or "idiot" (you would be surprised how many shows aimed at young children have language like this!).

So here are our favorites:

The Wiggles...I know...they are irritating, but they have really good subject matter, they encourage your kids to get up and move around/dance, and there is no violence or mean words. The Pirate character on the show has a giant feather that is his sword. My son loves them.

Little Bear...Excellent show, slow paced, quiet, mellow stories. This is a great show! There is very little conflict between the characters.

Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer and Diego...These are all really good shows. I have been surprised at how well done they are. No conflict, good subject matter and no inappropriate words. Also more educational than most of the other "educational" shows. But these characters are marketed sooo heavily, and that can become an issue really fast if your kid wants every Blue's Clues toy She sees!

Franklin has really good subject matter, mellow story lines and little conflict.

Pingu is great!

Harold and the Purple Crayon...really good! It comes on HBO but you can rent it (what we did). This show is really unique and mellow, Harold has a purple crayon and he goes through each story drawing it as it happens. Hard to explain, but really cute and original.

Bob The Builder teaches a lot about recycling, has no inappropriate words, but there is a bit more conflict between the characters than most of the other shows I listed.

Richard Scarry movies...we get these on VHS and they are really simple...just animation and a few songs to go along with the stories we grew up with. Very mellow.

That is all that I can think of for now. DS doesn't watch much broadcast, mostly dvd's and VHS...I like the VHS because he can do it on his own unlike the dvd and VHS tapes are CHEAP these days. That way there are no commercials and you can watch each thing before your child does.

Hope this helps...we are really trying to make some changes around here with the TV but man is it hard to get that cow back in the barn!!!
 
#10 ·
Dora is cool but I can't stand how she always seems to be yelling. And why on earth does she need to say "Say backpack LOUDER?" I got tired of hearing DS scream "BACKPACK" at the top of his lungs so we stopped watching Dora.
 
#11 ·
Thanks all...keep the ideas coming!

I should add that (thanks to a crazy but very generous Buba...my mom) DD now has all the Singing Times dvds. She loves that show and has an amazing ASL vocabulary so it's nice to have them on DVD instead of VHS since she was literally wearing out the tape on her favorite sections. But there is only so much Signing Times this mama can take I'm afraid.


I too have noticed that many shows (and books as well) seel to be aimed at helping little ones address or deal with situations that don't really apply to DD. For example, she really likes the Winnie the Pooh books but some of them deal with things like getting over your fear of the dark...and dd isn't afraid of the dark! So I'm worried that she'll somehow pick up a phobia or two just by reading about them!

I know it sounds a bit silly, but I was deathly afraid of spiders for several years (okay, decades) even though I loved playing with tarantulas as a little kid (my dad had funky friends, including a dude who studied odd animals at UC Berkley...his house was full of random spiders, lizards, snakes, etc just sort of wandering free). I remember someone telling me when I was about 6 that I was very brave to touch a spider since they are dirty and scary and people are afraid of them...and so for the next 20 years I was scared of spiders to. So I know it can happen!
 
#12 ·
DS loves the Cars movie. Anything Cars movie related is ok with him - books, shirts, whatever. I really like the movie too, like the message, enjoy the jokes, so I'm ok with it, and it's on when I say so, you know?

He also enjoys Rachael Ray (this is my fault but sooo funny, I think) which we will sometimes watch on DVD.

Real kids shoes -- Elmo's World, Sesame Street, Caillou, Clifford (just b/c it's dogs, I think), Wiggles, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

That sounds like a lot, but he's only seen some of those a handful of times, but liked them so much he still talks about them (Wiggles, for instance). We watch DVDs on the computer when he's overtired or sick or when I'm just too pregnant to handle it anymore.
 
#13 ·
We have a whole slew of Disney movies (some of which aren't age-appropriate even though they're animated, though).

As far as TV shows go, both toddlers love Mickey Mouse Playhouse (you can get episodes on DVD if you don't get the Disney channel), and the Baby Einstein series (also on DVD). In the mornings, we watch PBS - Curious George and Barenstein Bears. They love curious George!

They're big fan of Little Einsteins, too - also on Disney Channel. They also love Dragon Tails on PBS, but I find it annoying, so we don't watch it


I'm actually glad to see so many of us who allow limited TV in the house - I often feel I need to keep my mouth shut when discussing these things
 
#14 ·
Growing up my family was TV-free....VERY TV-free. I know it doesn't happen to everyone, but both my brother and I become total TV junkies as a result of this. We'd "sneak" tv at friend's houses, beg relatives to watch tv, and when we hit college...oy. It wasn't pretty. My friends still tease me that I would shush people during commericals, and it's true. I almost flunked out freshman year since I just could not control my TV viewing.

DH on the other hand grew up in a house with a tv in every room...including the bathrooms! He watched hour after hour of TV. And by the time he reached college he really couldn't care less about what TV had to offer...he loves to play piano (went to a private HS on a music scholarship), hike, and has maybe three or four shows on TV he enjoys but doesn't turn on the boob-tube otherwise.

Again, I realize this sort of thing doesn't happen to everyone, but I really want to avoid any suggestion of a "forbidden fruit" aspect to TV. Some kiddos grow up TV-free and never get the TV bug. And I certainly don't want the TV to become the permanent background voice of my little one's lives like it was for DH. So we work to strike a balance. TV is there, it's not "evil" it's not "good". It just "is". I want my kiddos to be able to enjoy what they watch on TV and to enjoy the time the spend watching tv. But I want it to be part of an overall healthy and outgowing lifestyle with plenty of imagination time, and outside time, and goofing off time, and all that good stuff.

I know many families locally that are TV free (and my parent's house is still TV free) and that's wonderful. But it's not the choice we've made for our family. Which actually makes things a bit tougher in my mind. As a "some tv" house I need to stay on top of shows and what is or is not appropriate for us.

But that's okay with me.
 
#15 ·
We grew up kid-TV-free (meaning we were only allowed to have the news on) and the only TV was in my parent's room, so mom controlled it. I remember feeling so out-of-touch as a teen because I didn't know any of the TV shows that my friends watched - I was truly embarassed and felt so 'nerdy'. I don't know anyone nowadays who is TV-free - if anything, many people I know are evening TV junkies! I still feel out-of-the loop when my friends start discussing shows, but I just think of something else
 
#16 ·
Quote:
I was truly embarassed and felt so 'nerdy'. I don't know anyone nowadays who is TV-free
I know exactly what you mean. My family had no tv and my parents also banned newspapers and "social" magazines from the house (so we had things like Science and Discover and Nat Geo, but nothing like Newsweek or a popular magazine). On the up side literature was pushed a lot so I spent hours every week at the library, and they DID have popular magazines I could read. My parent's choice was based on their religion and their political beliefs BTW, so not something my brother and I could "negotiate".

But oh did I feel left out at school! In a tiny rural town if you're not allowed to "hang out" (we weren't) and you didn't have access to TV/radio/movies (we didn't) then there really isn't any way to fit into a social group. I tried my best, but middle school/high school was not a happy time for me.

One quirk is that my brother and I have near perfect recall for visual/auditory media...so once I hit college and became queen of the TV room I caught up pretty quickly. There are still lots of social/cultural comments I don't get but that's hardly the end of the world.


But I live in a very crunchy town and lots of families here are tv free. And the "kill your tv" bumperstickers are everywhere. It's nice, and I'm certainly not worried that limiting dd's tv time will stunt her socially or personally, but I still don't feel like the tv-free way is right for us (stressing "for us" here...I know it works great for lots of people). I feel like it's a good tool when used in moderation, and honestly, I wouldn't want to give up my own addictions! (currently Battlestar Galactica, Monk, Psych, and just about any food network or DIY/HGTV home repair show)
 
#17 ·
in college i had a 'kill your tv' sticker on my tv!


here are some of the shows my son has enjoyed over the years:

maisy (weird to me but harmless)
blues clues (pretty standard & can be educational)
little einsteins (art and music)
thomas (which i personally cannot stand *sorry willo* - esp. after ds called me "bossy spockets" and said he was "cross" at three years old)
backyardigans (imagination, adventure, great songs)
wiggles/doodlebops (annoying but got him up and dancing)
magic school bus (probably better for older kids)

i know there are more but i can't think of them right now.

we are a tv watching family but we are careful about content because ds is pretty sensitive and i'm strict about not exposing him to violence or commercials. disney movies are usu. way too scary but we did go through a looong Madagascar phase last year and Cars is always a hit.
 
#18 ·
We're mostly, but not completely TV free here. I watched a good bit of regular "grown up" programming in DD's first few months as I just needed the mental break while adjusting to motherhood. (Though looking back I think I'd have been happier if I'd watched less.) Nonetheless, more often than not, the TV was on, but it was tuned to a music station for her to listen to while she played in her gym, etc.

Now DH and I generally watch one show (usually on DVD) each night after DD goes to sleep. This gives us just enough downtime, I think, and lets us unwind. DD does see television at other people's houses, but rarely at ours. Once in a while, we'll watch something (usually Food Network or HGTV) while she's awake, and when DH is completley at a loss for something to do with her, they'll sit down and watch a Miyazaki movie (Our Neighbor Totoro is probably his favorite) in Japanese with the subtitles on. DD actually really likes Totoro.

I'm thinking of getting the Signing Times videos because DD has really enjoyed the signing we've done, and I think she'd have fun learning more ASL.

I'm hoping to keep the house fairly TV free at least until this new babe is 2-ish. Hopefully that's not too unrealistic.
We're not planning for any more kids, so after that I think that some TV during the day will be okay, just as long as DH and I keep the content and the quantity appropriate.
 
#19 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by violetisadora View Post
thomas (which i personally cannot stand *sorry willo* - esp. after ds called me "bossy spockets" and said he was "cross" at three years old)
My 3 1/2 year old picked something from a Thomas book and used it to describe his food (thank goodness it wasn't directed at a person!) It's "disgusting, despicable, disgraceful!" he said. I couldn't help but laugh.
 
#21 ·
Regarding growing up with TV- I think it depends on the person. DH grew up in a household that has tv on, volume up all day whether or not there was someon e in the room and he still loves to veg on the couch. I grew up with unlimited tv time as well- tv was my baby sitter, but now I really don't care much for it at all. In fact the most I will watch are biography's and documentary's but that's maybe a couple times a week. Poor baby- sometimes I wonder what DD in my belly is absorbing when I watch medical emergency shows and forensic shows. I can't watch movies with blood and gore- but reality tv operations and crime scenes- no problem. *weird*
 
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