Baby Einsten/TV

[lovemyliesel]

Sooo... my husband is deployed and I'm totally playing single mom right now. Am I horrible for plopping my 6month old infront of the tv so I can cook myslef meals? She doesn't seem to keep herself occupied long enough with her toys to let me do it, but she'll stay glued to the tv to allow me a few minutes to cook. Does this make me a horrible mother? hehe.

[doodah]

No, you aren't a horrible mom. But I would recommend that you keep TV from becoming a habit in one so young. Have you tried an excersaucer or jumperoo? Have you tried wearing her? I would keep looking for other options before resorting to TV for a baby.

[Sassu]

It doesn't make you bad! I personally hate Baby E and don't let DD watch TV but DH travels for work a lot so I'm on my own most of the time. And my DD is 14 months so she's into everything right now which makes it challenging to try to cook meals. I don't like her to watch TV (I'm a film editor so I notice how rapidly the images are changing and personally don't think it's very good for babes) but I will let her watch magical nature alphabet on youtube on my laptop. It's about 7 minutes long (cook fast! ) and consists of still images with a woman's mouth doing the phonics. DD loves it and I don't feel as bad about that as TV.
Do you have a playpen? I know some people don't approve of those either but I will put the pack n play in the kitchen while I cook so DD can watch but is safely contained. When she was smaller, the jumparoo would buy me 10 minutes or so...
Good luck!

[Cussin' Crafter]

You are not a horrible mother, you showing concern about which activites are best for your child shows that you are an engaged and caring mother.

I'm not anti-TV for myself or for my children; I think it's important to watch it in moderation and counteract the mind numbingness of TV with some mentally stimulating activites.

[Icryinbaseball]

Not a horrible mother at all. But there are other ways to keep kids entertained other than TV. If you start them out at 6 months then when they get older it will be the only to get anything done though. There are Jumpers, exersaucers, walkers (with appropiate safety measures), play yards, and baby gates to keep them contained and teach them to enterain themselves. I have been through 2 deployments have 4 kids and have never to turn on the TV to get anything done. So it is very possible.

[mamacass1982]

Not at all!! My 2 year old still loves Baby Einstein LOL. That's how he learned all his animals (and I mean ALL his animals - he even knows what a yak is!), colors, etc. WE sit with him and watch most of the time, but Finn is watching some BE right now in front of me in his jumperoo. Numbers Nursery, to be exact.

[mmmom]

I don't think you are a bad mom at all, everything is okay in moderation. Turning on TV for 30min while you cook a meal isn't a big deal but watch yourself because it can become one. My dd only watched when she was sick, but then her brother came when she was 20mos and I found myself using TV more and more. It got to a point where she would get quite upset if I turned it off or told her no, so I knew I had to curb the behaviour. I cut it down drastically but haven't and will not cut it out all together.
My kids are 3 and 4.75 and I still turn on the TV for them to watch while I cook dinner, it is there 30min a day(except rain/snowy weekends). I started it after I went back to work, I need 30min to unwind and cook so TV it was, it really makes the evening much less stressful and enjoyable.

[lovemyliesel]

Thanks guys for your input. I'm not too interested in the whole baby sling thing, she's too big! hehe. But I just bought one of those walker things and that's been keeping her occupied, it's a relief. TV is definately in moderation. Perhaps I'll try to bring th pack and play downstairs. She just doesn't seem too interested in her toys too much, and I have the age appropirate ones. Shoot, I may have to go buy more, any suggeswtions of what your kids liked at 6months or so?

[Sassu]

Originally Posted by ohessel Thanks guys for your input. I'm not too interested in the whole baby sling thing, she's too big! hehe. But I just bought one of those walker things and that's been keeping her occupied, it's a relief. TV is definately in moderation. Perhaps I'll try to bring th pack and play downstairs. She just doesn't seem too interested in her toys too much, and I have the age appropirate ones. Shoot, I may have to go buy more, any suggeswtions of what your kids liked at 6months or so?

My DD goes through periods where she's uninterested in her stuff. So I just toss some wooden or plastic spoons, a couple of bowls and pot holders, measuring cups/spoons, etc in the pack n play while I'm cooking. She's usually fascinated...for a little while anyway I've been doing that since she was little.
Oh - and books. She LOVES books so I usually stick a couple of those in there too.

[tmrobinson]

You are not a bad mom, there are times when there is nothing else I can do and need to get stuff done and the tv comes on. If you are looking for ideas other than tv kitchen utensils keep my kids entertained for quite awhile. We have baby locks on all of our cabinets except for the one that holds my mixing bowls. I hand each of my dd's a plastic spoon or spatula, they go staright for the bowls and it keeps them entertained long enough for me to get dinner mostly done at least until dh gets home and can help out.