Concern about toddler TV

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Feanor2

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Today I went to the Pediatrician and she recommended that I have my one year old daughter start watching some Nick Jr. during the day to help with language but when I put it on I became concerned with some liberal, possible left leaning matter.
  1. There was plenty of non-english, especially Spanish- along with talk of “diversity”.
  2. There were several skits on recycling and we know how the left always pushes this Doctrine.
  3. The music was sometimes very fast and rock-n-roll sounding.
  4. There were also what seemed to be working women and this would take attention away from the highest calling of a woman which is to be a stay at home wife. I want my daughter to see primarily mothers being tender and loving with their children.
 
  1. There was plenty of non-english, especially Spanish- along with talk of “diversity”.
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:eek: your kid might learn a different language. Most children around the world are raised in some kind of bilingual home. I knew how to say “hello” in 8 languages when I was in kindergarden. i still remember.
  1. There were several skits on recycling and we know how the left always pushes this Doctrine.
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:eek::eek: Do you remember Captian Planet??? I don’t think much of what they have out there is any worse that that. Plus, most of the messages are VERY good and something we should of been doing as good stewarts long ago.
  1. The music was sometimes very fast and rock-n-roll sounding.
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🤷 do you ever listen to anything but symphony in her presance? Oldies, etc?
  1. There were also what seemed to be working women and this would take attention away from the highest calling of a woman which is to be a stay at home wife. I want my daughter to see primarily mothers being tender and loving with their children.
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a) most mothers are required to go to work these days. Weither it’s because of a mistake they made in premarital sex or becuase the economy there’s nothing wrong with a working mother. You have to know you’re a rarity in the US.
b) I don’t know why people think that being a working mother and a loving mother are mutually exclusive. They aren’t. Your daughter will encounter many children with working moms…even working homeschool moms!!! Are you going to judge them, too?

That being said the visual/auditory onslaught of television isn’t good for little kids no matter how “educational” it is. It reduces imaginative play, increases sedentary behavior, encourages overeating (by it’s hypnotic nature) and even though it’s only anecdotally it makes ADD worse. That has been my experiance.

In studies some even think that it could contribute to creating the misconnections that cause ADD.
 
purplesunshine said:
:eek: your kid might learn a different language. Most children around the world are raised in some kind of bilingual home. I knew how to say “hello” in 8 languages when I was in kindergarden. i still remember.

:eek::eek: Do you remember Captian Planet??? I don’t think much of what they have out there is any worse that that. Plus, most of the messages are VERY good and something we should of been doing as good stewarts long ago.

🤷 do you ever listen to anything but symphony in her presance? Oldies, etc?

a) most mothers are required to go to work these days. Weither it’s because of a mistake they made in premarital sex or becuase the economy there’s nothing wrong with a working mother. You have to know you’re a rarity in the US.
b) I don’t know why people think that being a working mother and a loving mother are mutually exclusive. They aren’t. Your daughter will encounter many children with working moms…even working homeschool moms!!! Are you going to judge them, too?
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Good Points. If you don’t want your daughter to watch Nick jr…the remote is great little device.

I hope the OP is never in situation where she would “have” to work out of necessity. Many women are in that situation. It is important for any female to become a woman before she becomes a mother…i.e…get an education or a skill…you never know when you may need it. 🙂
 
purplesunshine said:
:eek: your kid might learn a different language. Most children around the world are raised in some kind of bilingual home. I knew how to say “hello” in 8 languages when I was in kindergarden. i still remember.

:eek::eek: Do you remember Captian Planet??? I don’t think much of what they have out there is any worse that that. Plus, most of the messages are VERY good and something we should of been doing as good stewarts long ago.

🤷 do you ever listen to anything but symphony in her presance? Oldies, etc?

a) most mothers are required to go to work these days. Weither it’s because of a mistake they made in premarital sex or becuase the economy there’s nothing wrong with a working mother. You have to know you’re a rarity in the US.
b) I don’t know why people think that being a working mother and a loving mother are mutually exclusive. They aren’t. Your daughter will encounter many children with working moms…even working homeschool moms!!! Are you going to judge them, too?

That being said the visual/auditory onslaught of television isn’t good for little kids no matter how “educational” it is. It reduces imaginative play, increases sedentary behavior, encourages overeating (by it’s hypnotic nature) and even though it’s only anecdotally it makes ADD worse. That has been my experiance.

In studies some even think that it could contribute to creating the misconnections that cause ADD.
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Oh I’m not talking about homeschooling moms! I will homeschool and hopefully she will attend either Christendom College or Ave Maria College to get a proper education that does not deride western european civilization.
 
Honestly, if it were me, I would be considering looking for a new doctor, not putting my 1 year old in front of the TV.
 
Feanor2 said:
I know!! She is slightly delayed in verbal skills. She babbles but doesn’t say dada or mama or byebye.
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Some kids just talk later than others. In my experience, TV doesn’t necessarily help them along (I tried it with both of my speech-delayed children). That said, I don’t consult doctors in parenting matters, since they studied medicine and not parenting. 😃 In my mind, their opinions don’t matter any more or less than anyone else’s. If you don’t agree with what a doctor has said regarding parenting, it’s okay to ignore it, just like you would with someone else whose parenting advice you disagree with.
 
A friend of mine has 11 children. All of them were “late” talkers by the Dr’s standard. Once they started talking, they never shut up.

After a few kids, the doc didn’t say anything because the mom knew her own kids.

I wouldn’t necessarily change doctors if you generally like this one, but I wouldn’t stick a 1 yr old in front of the TV. Talk to her more - through the grocery store, in the car, on walks etc.

How did kids learn to talk before TV? 🤷
 
My DS is a late talker and I was told the tv is bad for them- they don’t learn to speak watching tv! That said I don’t have a problem with the shows because of diversity, working mothers, recycling or music! I think those are all positive things. I let my DS watch a couple of shows a day because he won’t play on his own so I need a little time in the morning to wake up and have a coffee and I need to distract him while I cook supper. But I always feel guilty about it 😛

My public health nurse recommended a couple of days a week at a daycare to help him learn to speak but I’m not comfortable with that because I worry he’ll feel displaced with the new baby coming and I worry it’ll mess up his nap routine.

At any rate my DS is finally learning new words all the time but he is nearly 2. He didn’t say mama and dada until he was past 18 months. I think he is okay, he is just a content little guy who doesn’t really have a lot of motivation to talk. I wouldn’t worry about a 12 or 15 month old not talking yet at all.
 
KCT said:
I wouldn’t necessarily change doctors if you generally like this one, but I wouldn’t stick a 1 yr old in front of the TV. Talk to her more - through the grocery store, in the car, on walks etc.
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Exactly! 👍

If you spend a lot of time with her, just talk to her a lot. Describe what you’re doing (e.g. “Now I’m going to make some dinner. Mama and Daddy are going to have some casserole, and you are going to have some wonderful peas! Here’s how I’m making the casserole…”), and I’d advise against baby-talk. Don’t do it so much that you drive yourself crazy, but hearing you talk is at least as good as watching TV for language development (probably a lot better as she can see speech as well as hear it), and who knows, maybe she will learn to cook too! 😃

–Jen
 
Pediatricians are notoriously unknowledgeable about hearing loss and speech delays. This is not something they learn in medical school. My kids were both speech-delayed and hearing impaired. Our pediatrician didn’t give good advice, either, and she’s a good doc in other respects. Many do not appreciate that a child that is not stone deaf can still have serious speech problems due to a lesser hearing loss. Many have a wait-and-see attitude that waits far longer than speech and language professionals would ever wait. Even our local educational service district did not identify their partial hearing loss until our children had been in their program and getting services for well over a year. If your child has issues, get ready to educate yourself and advocate. Don’t depend on the system to do the right thing. The system doesn’t have that kind of resources. The resources are out there, though, if you know where to look for them.

Here is a check-list by the AG Bell that will be of interest: agbell.org/docs/SHchecklist.pdf
If this check-list gives you reason for concern, don’t wait! Early childhood is a magic window for picking up speech and language. You want to make sure she’s hearing everything, and you want to make sure she has help if she is missing any of the tools of language acquisition.

In the meantime, I would recommend a book titled, “It Takes Two To Talk: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children Communicate” by Ayala Manolson.

In a nutshell, TV isn’t the answer. You are the answer. Whereever you go, whatever you do with her, talk to her about what you are doing. Talk ad nauseum.

By age three and a half, when our kids were fitted with hearing aids, they could essentially say “da” and “ma”, knew a few bits of sign language, and could make meaningful grunts. They had a oral motor delay affecting their speech in addition to the hearing loss, and a fine motor delay that made them totally uninterested in learning anything other than the most rudimentary ASL. Now they are in fifth grade and their language skills are within the normal range for their age group, an accomplishment that took a lot of professional help, since as the years go by kids who start out as they did typically lose academic and communication ground on their peers having normal ability. I don’t think I need to say that the efforts were totally worth it.

As for the mom-at-home thing, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. My kids know that other moms have jobs outside the home. They are very pleased that our family is fortunate enough that I can be a homemaker. You don’t have to tell a kid the value of a mom at home! They will feel sorry for friends that don’t get that without any prompting from you.
 
TV is not the answer, especially if you are not comfortable.

I, too, was advised to allow my speech delayed son to watch TV. I was also ill at that time, so it was too easy. I knew better, as I’ve several older children. I regret letting him watch so much. I can’t say that it helped his speech much, but he now gets overstimulated VERY easily.

Books have been around much longer than TV. Read to her.

My son sings better than he talks. I’ve heard that many children learn speech better when there is music attached to it. There are MANY great Christian/Catholic kids music CDs out.
 
I am a little bit shocked that your Pediatrician suggested TV to help a speech delay.

I am also a children’s health professional and very much disagree.

Children do not learn to speak from TV! They learn to speak by interacting and speaking with other live people.

The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends NO TV at all before age 2. I don’t let my kids (age 8 and 10 now) watch stuff on Nickelodeon when we are at home. It’s mostly inane drivel and such a waste of time!

I would get a second opinion ideally from a speech therapist. If you live in the US, there is an early intervention program run by your county or state to which you can self refer for a formal speech eval. Even if your child does not qualify for services they should give you advice on how to stimulate her at home.

My advice: read to her daily and talk to her continuously all day long about what you are doing (“This is how we fold the laundry . . . Now Mommy is drinking coffee . . . etc.”)

Good luck!
 
smswife said:
I don’t let my kids (age 8 and 10 now) watch stuff on Nickelodeon when we are at home. It’s mostly inane drivel and such a waste of time!
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Even if there is an acceptable show, you still have to tape it and cut out the commercials, which are all aimed at making the kids into consumers. But still, I don’t think a child under two ever benefits from TV.
 
smswife said:
I would get a second opinion ideally from a speech therapist. If you live in the US, there is an early intervention program run by your county or state to which you can self refer for a formal speech eval. Even if your child does not qualify for services they should give you advice on how to stimulate her at home.
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It is also worth noting that because intervention programs are required by law to provide what a child needs, the people doing diagnostic work for these programs generally can’t recommend that the child “needs” more than their program has the resources to provide. This does NOT mean that your child would not be worlds ahead by getting help above and beyond what the mandated program has the resources to provide.

If your child has issues, it is well worth researching what private organizations and support groups exist in your area, and get an opinion from them, as well. It is not unusual for these programs to charge only on an ability-to-pay basis. They are well worth looking into, no matter what your financial means.
 
One more thing.

When our kids were three and a half, we had to put them into a hearing-and-speech preschool for four mornings a week. The next school year, they went five mornings a week. It broke my heart, because I never had planned to have them in school anything like that early. The truth was, though, that school had resources that my kids needed and I didn’t have the training to provide. It was hard, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
 
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