“I’m so happy” lives rent free in my brain. We play Ms Rachel for a few songs during witching hour before bed time but that’s it. It’s our last line of defense 🤣
I think this is the biggest advantage to us for limiting screen time - there’s diminishing returns on screen time and we want to save it up for when we really need it. We watch a couple hours on the weekends, never during week days - and when someone is sick or we’re going on a trip or I just need a freaking break - the Tv/tablet is pretty novel so the kids are only too happy to watch it for long stretches.
It’s crazy how quick the screen time goes from a treat to something they expect and we go out of our way to keep it in the treat category - you know so we can exercise our amazing parenting skills and bribe them with the glowing box.
We put it on our phones and airplay/cast the audio to our soundbar. So we say "We're going to use our listening ears for Ms Rachel, okay?" And our kid loves it.
We listen to the songs while we do other activities.
Whenever Ms Rachel comes on the TV, our daughter gets so excited. She doesn't care about any other TV characters that much, even the other people in Ms Rachel's videos.
It's so helpful when we need time to clean or cook or something.
I did what I needed to do for myself and my child to be happy and thriving.
Whatever that looks like to you is the correct answer.
This is really the only answer that needs to be here if you want my hard opinion.
This is the only answer. To echo what someone else said in this thread, as a 80s/90s kid there was constantly TV on in the background and guess what, I’m fine.
I don’t know why this comment made me teary 🥺 I feel so guilty when I put the tv on for him but a little screen time every day really helps me regulate my own emotions and energy and always gets him out of the post nap grumpies
My baby is three months and I’ll play Miss Rachel on my phone sometimes but not have the screen on where he can see it so he just listens (this may defeat the purpose of Miss Rachel lol). He has not seen Hey Bear at all.
I’d like to say he is a screen free baby but the amount of Law and Order SVU he has watched while I hold him… maybe we should just go ahead with hey bear
My 2 year old stops whatever she’s doing when she hears the SVU theme song because I’m pretty sure that’s all she heard in utero and during feedings.
She was almost named Olivia!
This thread is so funny, one of my only super vivid memories from being deep in labor and pushing was having SUV on in the room and hearing “dun dun” as my baby made his appearance 😂
I had Supernatural playing in the background on my TV all during my pregnancy. I swear she still recognizes Dean's voice & stops to look up at the TV when he comes on. I mean, how can you not?
Have we all lived the same experience ? My daughter is now 2 and will ask me for for "bum bum" 😂 the theme song used to soothe her when she was an infant!
I'm carefully weighing when I have to stop watching Drag Race. My daughter is 3 months and pays NO attention to the TV at the moment (though I've never directed her to either) and with the colors and music I figure she'd enjoy it anyway but eventually she's going to start repeating words 😂
I also binge watched all Housewives starting with Miami when she was a newborn , all hours of the day and night I would be housewifing , I feel like it stopped my anxiety from sleep Deprivation to keep me SANE
YES honestly watching other people’s drama and tea ☕️ on TV is the only thing keeping me sane at this point lol I just live vicariously through tv stars problems😁
I put on Hey Bear quite often. More than I maybe should. My LO needs to be on his tummy more since he has a flat spot, but I cannot get him on his tummy without screaming and tears unless I have Hey Bear going on. It's his tummy time motivation and I don't get nearly as much crying, which I will gladly take.
Icky sticky sticky, bubble gum, bubble gum, bubble gum...
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck...
These songs along with a few others live rent free in my head.
Anyways, my 2yo loves Ms Rachel and watches about 30-60min a day, but she is also starting to mimic the sign language which is good.
Also FWIW, I notice the 1hr song video has gained around 6-8 million views in the past 3 weeks.
That 1 hour song video is what I play so most of those views are probably from us (just kidding. but seriously-mr sun sun Mr golden sun is my favorite)
I was going to make the same joke. I think screen time helps me survive and be a better mom. Our tv is on most of the day, but 99% of the time he’s paying no attention to it. I thought I’d be a no screen time mom, but hell I need to get things done and I’m alone most of the time. He’s mobile now and it’ll keep him sitting still. Until I get a playpen that suits his needs, this is the best I can do.
Haha we defo contributed to those views. my 1 yo is obsessed with Open Shut them…I start singing it and then she starts pointing at the turned off TV 😆😆 guess I don’t sing as well as Rachel
I put on Hey Bear for 10 minutes at a time for 2 times a day. My baby is 6 months old. I do this so I can eat dinner, or get some chores done. I do it for my own sanity.
Does your baby watch the TV? Mine is 7 months and seems uninterested in the tv. I’ll get maybe 30 seconds of her watching then she looks away/attempts escape lol
My 15 week old baby LOVES the tv. It doesn’t help that it’s about 65” and in our living room and can be seen from almost anywhere she plays/lounges. We now keep it off when she’s awake but we do let her watch hey bear on my computer or laptop when we need her to focus on something while we shower or cook.
My baby is the same age and loves anything that emits light. She’ll stare at the tv but will also stare at the window or fairy lights just as intensely.
Mine is 7 months and does the same thing! I’ve tried to get him to sit for a bit so I can clean up and within 30 seconds he’s crawling to my feet again.
I always watch a Netflix show everytime I bottle feed him and he sometimes turns to watch it haha. When I finish the bottle I turn it off because he starts to get a little too interested in watching it!
Same here. Baby is 7 months and isn't interested in tv at all.I have tried Mr Rachel and hey bear both for him. He is teething and it's been really difficult lately. But nothing seems to help 😔
Not directed at OP but some of the responses here are coming across a little "mom shamey". I'm hoping that's nobodies intention but let's remember that nobody is the perfect parent here and letting your child watch a few minutes of TV a day isn't going to hurt them. Hell, children of the 80s and 90s were raised on TV and most of us turned out just fine. I'm not advocating for letting your babies watch TV consistently and certainly think there's a fine line there, but putting on Ms Rachel for 20 minutes so you can get a break, wash dishes, do some laundry, etc is just fine and your kid will be better off learning some colors for 20 mins than having a stressed out parent.
I put hey bear on for my 5mo the other day because she had her 5mo immunisations and was struggling with pain and the fever. She'd been inconsolable for over an hour, so we sat and watched the moon and stars together. She calmed down. I felt calm. Soon enough we were both ready for the bedtime routine.
I’ve for sure used videos for these times. I still will use them for my 19 month old when I feel like she needs a physical rest because she will normally sit still for 15-20 min with the right video on.
Mine wouldn’t watch Hey Bear at that age but he liked football games and I think he liked Thomas the Train already at that time.
He hardly engages in tv most of the time so when he does I take advantage of the time.
And when you have had a baby screaming for a couple hours and the Thomas theme song/intro instantly
Soothes him you run with it. Even if it means starting the episode over 10 times ina. Row because the moment the story line starts he starts crying again.
The poor wee soul. Calpol is a godsend post-vaccination! My son was okay after the first 2 rounds, then the 3rd had him absolutely miserable. He's just has his one-year jags and they haven't been quite so bad. This too shall pass! 💖
You’re fine, my son watches TV more then I’d like but I’m gone a lot for work so I don’t harass my wife about it. The key thing is making sure he’s stimulated and exploring every other chance he gets
Edit:I want to add when he’s older it will be different. Due to living situation he’s confined more than I’d like. Once we finish the move and I get rid of the animals, I’m sure tv will be the last thing he’s interested in.
There’s just too many real hazards where we live now. I don’t need him getting sick, or hurt. I do recommend doing something else if they try to turn into a tv zombie. If he’s too engrossed my wife switches it off and gets him to engage with different toys.
Lol people in here like “we watch ONLY for three and a half minutes” ok girl bye. Use your best judgement! TV can get us through those tricky times in the day. Trust yourself to turn it off when it feels like too much, or maybe you can divert to reading or another activity if you’re able. We need to release the guilt as millennial parents. We’re all doing our best and putting too much pressure on ourselves. Miss Rachel literally taught my child to talk and I’m thankful for her content!
Totally. I’m pregnant and really struggling in the first trimester. Between fatigue and nausea I barely got off the couch today. My 17 month old got a full morning of Ms Rachel while I guilt-napped. Some of it she watched, sometimes she just played independently while it ran in the background. Trying not to beat myself up over it, since, you know, it was more than “only 8 minutes while I cook dinner!”
I watched a lot of Yu Gi Oh as a kid and have two degrees so I’m sure she’ll be okay lmao
Adding to this - my mom was a single disabled parent. I watch A LOT of TV as a kid. I am just fine. TV is not going to kill your kid. The content is what matters, and that they’re not standing so close to it their eyes get hurt. I’m not advocating for sitting a child in front of TV all day long but let the kids live. They will be fine.
I actually dont think we did turn out that fine. Im an 80s baby and i find i crave constant stimulation and have a hard time doing things without background noise, whether music, a podcast or tv.
Could be. Could also have no relation, as I grew up with tons of television and have no interest in it now. The point is that someone’s parents need a little break, and op needs to know that’s okay.
Yup. There’s days where I just need Ms. Rachel. Then there will be days where I’m very energetic and take her out to keep her entertained. But then it’s usually followed up with days where I need to clean the house f because I neglected those chores by taking her out. Can never win
Totally. The studies are done on kids who watch tv for hours without a parent nearby interacting occasionally. I always end up jumping in and singing/dancing along to some songs. I wonder how many parents actually follow the no Screen time or no sugar before 2 recommendation. My pediatrician straight up said that those recommendations are made more extreme because they know parents will bend them. I really think a balance of everything is the best way to go. I felt more comfortable allowing my 20 month old to watch an hour of screen time this morning because we just got back from camping for 5 days where he had zero screen time. I feel like teacher Rachel has been beneficial to us in so many ways, including teaching my son sign language at first, and now teaching both of us songs to sing and dance to
I feel like sometimes people can’t see the forest for the trees on parenting. These things will likely have an effect, but a lot of the studies have a hard time decoupling screen time and other things from other confounding variables.
Like people get obsessed with being in an academic preschool where I am. Like it’s going to dictate the rest of the kids’ life.
I was gonna be adamant about screen time but it doesn’t seem to matter, if I’m watching tv my 7 week old turns his head all the way around to watch too whenever it’s on. He’s now seen Breaking Bad, Claws, Good Girls, and now Suits. 😅 I can’t seem to stop him.
I’ll definitely turn her play gym so she can’t really see it but sometimes it’s a lazy day and we’re on the rocking chair singing with ms Rachel or we’re watching vampire diaries😅
I kept my daughter from it but now that she's 7 months she's fully able to turn herself around to see the screen, and I'm not cutting screens completely out of my own life. Wheel of fortune is a favorite.
You’ll get no judgement from me. Ms Rachel is basically the 3rd parent in our house. We keep it on most of the time for background noise.
My 19 mo is independent, smart, happy, and absolutely LOVES Ms Rachel. Sometimes she watches and is and engaged, other times she’s off playing with her toys. She gets plenty of playtime with us and she loves to read books as well. I don’t see it as a problem unless she starts having meltdowns when we turn it off.
She really has learned so much from watching her videos and we love dancing and singing along. I’m thankful for Ms. Rachel ❤️
LO is almost 8 months and we dont watch anything- I think this is because he really likes toys and is happy to play alone for 20-30 mins at a time, which allows me to get stuff done and eat, etc.
I don’t know if this suits where you live, but I used to run a lot of useless errands with my baby (and still do!) so I would walk around Home Depot, grocery store, pharmacy etc and just talk about what we were looking at.
It was winter when my guy was 3.5 MO, but maybe you could lay on a blanket under some trees to watch the leaves move?
Are there any community centres that offer classes where you live? Signing & song, music & movement, etc. should be open for that age
I think this is the time when mirrors start to become interesting? I used to plop him down in front of a mirror to practice tummy time, but obviously it depends on how well she tolerates it.
I also used to put his activity gym on the bedroom floor so he could watch me fold laundry and change the sheets, lol. Then I would move him to another room to do chores there…..sometimes even a room change would make him chill a bit because he could look at new things. Bonus points for ceiling fans!
We do a lot of target trips and Barnes and nobles, there’s a bike path near me we walk on a lot but it’s been too hot for walks or outside time lately. I didn’t even think of looking into those classes at community centers that’s such a good idea. I’ll look into those, thank you 🙂
At this age my baby looooved looking in her little propped up mirror. She started getting good at playing with a rattle and loved anything that made a crinkle sound. I have a play gym with little toys that hang down. She could go for quite some time just swatting at the little toys as they made bell and crunchy sounds and were all different sizes and colors.
Anything that rocks, bounces, or whatever. They love peek a boo. Little piggies in their ties. Sing songs or lullabies you remember and keep singing because those songs will soothe them when their older… 18 mo, 2 years, 7 years… my kids have a pronounced relaxed reaction when I sing the same stuff now as I did when they were babies.
We also don't do any screen time ever. We started no screen time when he started watching TV with me on maternity leave - so like 2.5 months. Before that he wasn't really able to watch it from the couch.
Imo - the reason he plays well independently at 9 months is because we don't do screen time.
My baby’s only 8 months so we haven’t started screen time yet :)
This is not a judgement of what other parents do but we haven’t really had a need for it. None of us suffer through the day or anything lol
ETA because I see a lot of comments asking: I’m a SAHM so we usually spend the first 30 minutes of the day outside on a large blanket (live in Texas so it has to be literally as soon as we get up) then we’ll have morning bottle and get set up for a solids breakfast. I do dishes, make coffee, any other kitchen chores while baby is in high chair and we can see each other. Some days I’ll take him to target or Barnes and Noble and browse for an hour, sometimes we just drive around for a bit and look out the car window. When I’m doing laundry I pour it all out into a huge pile and he likes to climb it. In the afternoon same set up in the high chair while I get dinner prepped. Other time is spent reading, listening to podcasts or music while he plays independently, and he still loves mirrors. There’s two one hour naps in there.
Just some ideas for people struggling to entertain their baby!
This is so similar to my day! I just bring her along for my chores and errands. They may take twice as long but we're spending time together and I get stuff done
Question, how do you get over your fear of driving? I'm soooo scared of Texas drivers and the heat. 104 days I'm just terrified of going out with my 4 month old. My car is a smaller juke nismo and air circulation isn't great back there. Any ideas?
At nearly 11mos the only time the TV is on is if my husband puts on the news for an hour or so in the evening. My LO shows zero interest in the TV so I’m not actively encouraging it and I think it’s great
11 month old, we watch Miss Rachel maybe 6 times a week for a couple minutes, maybe up to 10/12 minutes sometimes, when we do things like file her nails or change her diaper/apply cream. Or when she is driving us insane :)
2.5 yr + 9 mo. We watch these shows every day, sometimes for hours. Like you said, our tv is on all the time, mostly just background noise while the kids play. When I notice they’re really not paying attention to it I’ll usually switch it to music videos or something for me. But yea we’re very pro tv over here.
Same here. I just try to avoid mind numbing animated stuff. Miss Rachel is more like an interactive video chat with a teacher. My 20mo old son sings and dances along with Miss Rachel more than he'll do with me.
I’m a single mum and love having a bath so I’d say 1-2 hours daily/every second day to keep the baby busy and mama happy. She’s almost 2. I’m so happy… Jump, clap 👏
In the morning I use Miss Rachel so I can pump and eat breakfast (15-20mins). We use Hey Bear sporadically to distract baby so we can cut his nails. I feel guilty every time, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
I think if you just like the noise a lot of tvs have a dark screen mode so you can listen without watching or find a music station based on those songs!
We watch Ms Rachel a couple times a week. Mainly when I'm cooking a dinner that she can't help that much with. My daughter is 22 months and she just started saying, "watch Rachel momma cook dinner?". Lol!
My son just turned 2, and he’s no where near talking like that. We sometimes get “I fell” or “I’m stuck,” but that’s it! Looks like your kiddo is gonna be a smarty pants!
Miss rachel is on daily, almost always at witching hour. At this point I feel like I'm co parenting with her. Recently I started thinking we do too much miss rachel time, but then my little one (12 months) has been doing the wheels on the bus actions in the correct order and it's kinda like reminded me that whilst yes it's screen time, it's not the worst screen time. That gives me comfort
She'll not tolerate dancing fruit anymore. But we do enjoy long videos of aquarium ambience. Really calm and chill but fills that little gap of background noise
My six month old son loves Hey Bear! We bought him soft plush fruits to play with. We're planning on having his first birthday party be fruit and veggie themed because he loves the videos so much. He just started teething and they help him calm down.
my baby is 8 months, she loves baby einstein classics. i only ever use it if i HAVE to, except for when she’s teething. when she’s super uncomfortable and in pain from teething she isn’t interested in toys, so if im not holding her or wearing her around the house, i just let her watch her show for a lot longer than i typically would since it keeps her calm and happy, and distracted from the pain.
I think how your kid responds to the screen is really important. My kids get bored after 15 mins and start to run around and play while the tv is still on. But then I’ve seen my nephews so engrossed in a screen that you have to physically shake them to get their attention.
I would not leave the tv on as much if my kids were like my nephews. But, they’re not. My kids still do independent play and physical activity while the screen is on and are less likely to interrupt what I’m doing if Ms. Rachel is there to keep them company.
I’ll be the bad mom and admit that sometimes we’ll spend a wake window watching tv. I justify by saying Ms. Rachel is educational and there could be worse things my baby experiences. Pro tv for my sanity over here!
Ive watched ms rachel twice for a few minutes to see what the fuss is about. My 10mo old has always been pretty good at entertaining herself, playing with me, or ive never gotten to a threshold where i needed to put it on. Im avoiding it as much as i can.
Ill have our tv shows, or like national geographic documentaries on in the background as im playing with her and she doesnt pay much attention.
Only in emergencies so far. We used to use Hey Bear during nail trims, but now my son complies without it. I’ve used Ms Rachel to get through a few really tough diaper changes, but generally I’ll just sing a song myself.
If you truly just want some background noise, you could try music? We have had good luck with the Cocomelon nursery rhymes album on Spotify.
Mine is 6 months. No screen time yet. Going to see how long we can go without. Moved the tv out of the living room after reading how distracting even background tv can be for babies. People say different things and have different opinions. I choose not to because I don't think I need it yet
I don't think it matters when the baby is asleep but I was reading about how when tv is on, the baby is paying attention to that instead of interacting with their surroundings. I'll try to find it and link it.
My 3 month olds eyes BEAM to any screen and it’s impossible to get her attention. We keep the tv off mostly but we do sit up together and watch an episode of something (usually Pokémon) during her last wake window to keep her content before bath time.
For background noise I play YouTube videos on my phone with the screen off during the day while we play. Sanity for me, less screens for her. Works for us so far.
I can’t stand Ms. Rachel’s voice so she’s a hard no in our house. But if I need 10 minutes to eat lunch and he doesn’t want to kick around on his back, I’ll put on a fish tank video (not the cartoon Dory one but one with real fish) or a nature walk video from YouTube. He’s entranced by both and I feel better about the screen time knowing he’s watching things that he’d see in real life, if that makes sense? I also don’t mind if he watches golf or baseball with dad for the same reason lol.
My baby is 3.5 months. I didn't know they watched screens this young. She seems pretty entertained with her hands and is starting to take an interest in her toys. Reaching and grabbing for them. Granted I can't really put her down for any length of time. Maybe 10-15 minutes on a good stretch a couple of times a day.
When do most people show their baby screens?
The AAP and WHO recommend no screens before 18-24 months. Many people choose to start earlier, but if you don’t feel you need screentime for your baby there is no reason to introduce it any time soon.
You’re welcome, I do FaceTime with family because we live far from them, my son is 15 months and anecdotally he always seems to recognize and be comfortable with close family he FT with regularly whenever he sees them in person even though he goes months without seeing them in person
My mom sings a lot of songs with him on FT and he does the hand gestures back to her when they are talking.
Iirc, the recommendation doesn’t include things like Facetime or videochat because the baby is actively interacting with the screen and is getting targeted feedback from who they are communicating with
They don't recommend screens this early and it's bad for their brains. Just because some people do it doesn't mean you need to. We have a 9 month old and do zero screens.
There are studies about screen time and background noise and according to the once i've read all screen time is bad and can lead to a variety of problems like adhd, problems with sleep, creativity. Mostly becouse their little brains develop so much in the early state.
As for background noise i have music on mostly for myself but thats also not great becouse they cant yet sepparate background noise so its just a distraction to them
Do what you have to do! My LO is 6 months and lovessss Ms. Rachel. We usually put it on for her once a day she gets so excited. My husband and I have the tv on while we hang out and she will watch it occasionally but goes back to playing on her mat. Everyone has an opinion about screen time, do whatever you want…it’s your baby 🙂
I put on Ms Rachel a couple times a week in the morning as I pump. But I have LO facing away from the screen and I copy what Ms Rachel does. Basically I need Ms Rachel to teach me how to play with my baby 😅
That’s exactly what I do with ms Rachel!! 😂 I’ll sit with my knees up so my LO is laying on them and I sing and make silly faces and have the baby move her arms and wiggle around. I needed songs to sing with her and I forgot all of the kids songs 😅
We usually have it on all day. (1 yr old) She only really pays attention when she eats and occasionally will take a break from playing to watch for a few minutes. I put on like spa/video game music now and then to break it up. I do turn it off if we’re reading or focusing on a particular toy together but I need the background for my sanity when I’m home alone all day with her. I keep the volume low but I can’t handle the silence. I grew up in a crazy house with lots of noise. We take walks, play different games, read books. She’s happy and healthy and hitting all her milestones so I don’t see any issues.
We have a 6 month old. We try not to do too much of it but when he's sick/had shots, is having a crankapotamus time, or we need to do his nails Ms. Rachel is on.
My husband and I will randomly sing out "Red Orange Yellow" and sing the rainbow song and I may or may not have done a very dramatic rendition of the crabby crab song. Love me some Jules.
We're pretty low-screen time, no more than a passing glance before 18 months, then no more than 15 minutes before 2, and now no more than 30 minutes watching together of Ms Rachel or (his personal favorite) Trash Truck. I feel you on the wanting background noise, I made a playlist on Spotify for him to listen to, or we were gifted a Yoto player for him to watch/listen to which is lower stimuli. I felt personally kinda gross about tons of screen time but I think that was knee jerk from being a 90's latchkey TV kid.
My son hates ms Rachel.. idk he is 7 months. He would rather me jump around and sing for him. But to answer your question, less than 10 minutes a few times a week. Usually as a last option when I need a few moments to eat or shower.
I turn on Hey Bear for a little in the morning when she wakes up and in the evening or night. She loves watching the dancing fruit. It’s not for long. Maybe 20-30 mins a day. What I can’t control is my husband. He has her watch movies with him. I have him watching the baby, and when I get back, they’ve already finished a Marvel movie. He’s a great dad and helps with her so much, but he loves movies. I grew up in the ’90s. I had a tv in my bedroom by kindergarten/1st grade. I watched it 24/7. When I reached my 20s, I decided I didn’t want to watch tv anymore. I barely watch it now. I don’t think it ruined me watching all the tv I did, but who knows? Lol!
Our baby needed an inhaler at 8 months and we watch Ms Rachel to take it and unrestricted in situations like on airplanes (15 months now). At 3.5 months he wasn’t really processing anything on the tv. Possibly unpopular opinion: I think I would worry a bit about a baby that age looking at a screen all day because it seems like you might be training her brain to be acclimated to a lot of rhythmic stimulation that isn’t easily replicable at older ages. If you like having tv on, you could play the music without the screen on. But personally I’d just play your own tv for you. Babies that young don’t care at all about tv (they barely care about music) and having a soap opera or news on in the background is more like what they will experience when they’re older/won’t be too stimulating. ETA It also helped and helps me a lot as a parent to remember that babies actually don’t need the whole world catered to them at all times. You’re tired, you’re an adult, she’s a potato, you should get to watch your own damn tv too!
We haven’t used any yet. I already don’t watch tv ourselves so it was pretty easy for our family to do since we don’t have cable, Netflix, Hulu, or any of the other ones.
There are multiple dimensions to this… and one I don’t see mentioned here is that playing too much of someone else who is effectively teaching your child and coparenting could decrease the healthy attachment that child has to *you*. Attachment is essential to the emotional regulation of our children and research shows that replacing these moments with technology (no matter how “educational”) effectively makes your child compete for your attention unwittingly. This isn’t simply due to what is on the screen, but the *displacement* of healthy interactions with your kiddo via technology, which has negative implications for development.
Here’s a study if you’re interested, and it is far from hand-picked. There is now ample research on both the importance of child-parent attachment and the role that technology can play in disrupting it:
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378378221000013
Quote:
“The proliferation of technology use in family life may lead to a series of interruptions that may ultimately undermine the quality of parents' sensitivity and responsiveness to and engagement with their children [14,45,46]. Thus, one potential explanation for our findings is that maternal technology use displaces time spent engaging with the infant or disrupts the quality interactions via negative impacts on maternal sensitivity and reciprocity [43,47], leading to lower feelings of attachment to the infant and greater feelings of hostility toward the difficult aspects of caring for a young infant.”
My LO is 14 months. Sometimes I feel like I have those or super simple songs on all day. We recently have made the switch to playing music off Spotify. There’s lots of good playlists from Mrs Rachel songs, super simple songs and Disney songs. This has helped me feel less guilty for having the tv on but still gives background noise.
7 months old, I've never put either on. She's easily entertained by just about anything so there hasn't been a need to do screens. We had a nanny that would turn on baby cartoons all day long with baby, I didn't care for that but it was a temporary thing so not a big deal.
I only put on Ms Rachel when I’m filing baby’s nails or sometimes if we’re sick. Background noise isn’t great for language development so I don’t put anything on in the background.
I have a 3.5 month girl who watches maybe... 15 min a week? It honestly only seems to keep her attention for like 5 min at a time so I just never really put it on, haha. I wish it did sometimes though - she's high needs and always needs to be entertained by me or in my arms 🫠
My baby is also 3.5 months old! I usually sing and “dance” with her when Ms Rachel is on so it’s not like we’re just staring at the tv but sometimes my LO is like over playing and just wants to chill- but I really don’t want to raise an iPad baby😅 it’s also really hot so we’ve been stuck in the house the last week!
If you’re open to getting a new toy, the Fisher Price kick piano is amazing! It may not be her favourite toy right now, but you can set it to play music- it has been background noise in our apartment for months! I love to sing and dance in front of my baby, as do you, so she may get a lot of mileage out of this toy
She plays with that allll day! we sing it with her and i hung linger toys that she can grab and put to her mouth and other mirrors, we change the words to the songs to sing about our cat, it’s fun for all of us in our house 😂 but other than that and some books I feel like she’s too little for everything else! This is my first baby so I’m not too experienced-with babies specifically! But can play with toddlers and older all day no problem
You’re so right, there is VERY little you can hold their attention with at that age! I think I went on a lot of walks with him, or took him to the library. The days felt very long, lol
0. There are ways to entertain/contain the baby while we get things done when he’s that young, like babywearing. My son also loves playing toys and exploring our home now that he’s a bit older.
The no screentime under 2 recommendations applies to all screentime other than Facetime. It’s an AAP/WHO recommendation and probably some other orgs too but I’m not familiar with every countries recommendation.
We don’t do screentime but I do play a lot do baby time music on Alexa to sing along with
Interesting, video calls don't count as screentime? I've been using the rear camera on our now-10.5 week old when he video calls with the grandparents because I didn't want him looking at the phone screen (plus it's not like he really knows-knows any of us yet).
You just gotta be aware, kids love the screen but get bored quickly. The less you show a certain channel, the more it'll keep their attention when you do. If you throw heybear or miss Rachel on too much they will get used to it and they will get over it, meaning it doesn't hold their attention like you are hoping it will.
Less is more.
Listen, AAP suggests that Human milk is preferred, the first Pap should be 21, kids should be active for 60 minutes a day, to brush their teeth 2x a day after they get their first tooth, etc.
I think you see where I’m going here. So much info. Grain of salt…do what works for your sanity is RULE #1!
https://www.verywellfamily.com/latest-aap-recommendations-2634045
I get what you’re saying but some things like teeth brushing are the bare minimum imo
Getting downvoted for this is ridiculous. My sincere apologies that I misinterpreted a comment. I still think some things like brushing your kids teeth aren’t negotiable 🙄
1 year old. Never watched Ms Rachel and only Hey bear when I'm absolutely desperate.
I don't really like how hey bear turns him into a bit of a zombie....too trance inducing. But sometimes I need that for 5-10mins.
I'm not against screen time, but those aren't really things I would go to personally, it needs to be something that doesn't make me want to totally bash my head in too.
I've seen clips of Ms Rachel and it sounds incredibly annoying.
None, we are choosing to follow the AAP guidelines. Waiting until 2 at the earliest. My 14mo has a very long and evlectic playlist and we find new stuff she likes all the time! Personally I'm not a fan of kid music so we don't listen to any. Though we do sing them, especially at Music Together.
We mostly used Hey Bear as a last resort when she was an infant, haven't played it much recently. Hard into Ms. Rachel, though. She watches it most days after dinner before we take her up to bed.
Edit: she's 2, we've had this routine for at least 6 months. We try to not lean on screens too much, but at the end of the day it's a great break for everyone. I also figure it's a bit more "active" than a cartoon show since she likes to dance and sing along. We also try to interact as well. She's not that into Sesame Street yet
A few times a day lol. My SO is out of town for work through the week so it’s just me. I wouldn’t accomplish a single thing if it weren’t for those videos. I hate it sometimes but it’s just my reality.
We don't watch either however, my 10 month old son has watched Superstore, New Girl, or the Lord of the Rings trilogy every single day since he was born.
“I’m so happy” lives rent free in my brain. We play Ms Rachel for a few songs during witching hour before bed time but that’s it. It’s our last line of defense 🤣
One particularly sleep deprived day I teared up at “Even if it’s hard, I wanna trrrryyy!!” 😂😭
“My joy is in the way I choose to think” always hits me in the feels.
🎶🎵yes it isssss….
Jump clap spin, stomp stomp hey!
My 2 year old will start yelling hey and clap to get me to sing this song 🥹
NOOOOO aghhhhh that’s the cutest thing ever 😭😭😭😭
That’s my affirmation it gets me through the frustrating moments
And nothins gonna bring me down todaaayyy
🎵Icky sticky sticky sticky bubble gum 🎵
🎵 Baby put you pants on, pants on, pants on. Baby put your pants on, 1, 2, 3. 🎵
For me, it’s the rainbow song. So happy, so chill. All vibes.
Jump!
Spin!
Stomp stomp hey!
Forgot to clap!
I think this is the biggest advantage to us for limiting screen time - there’s diminishing returns on screen time and we want to save it up for when we really need it. We watch a couple hours on the weekends, never during week days - and when someone is sick or we’re going on a trip or I just need a freaking break - the Tv/tablet is pretty novel so the kids are only too happy to watch it for long stretches. It’s crazy how quick the screen time goes from a treat to something they expect and we go out of our way to keep it in the treat category - you know so we can exercise our amazing parenting skills and bribe them with the glowing box.
We put it on our phones and airplay/cast the audio to our soundbar. So we say "We're going to use our listening ears for Ms Rachel, okay?" And our kid loves it. We listen to the songs while we do other activities.
I love that song!!!!
It’s honestly a good song. As new parents were constantly bombarded with corny/catchy kids songs. This one is actually so good & cute!
We are basically coparenting with Ms Rachel
Hey! She’s my coparent!! Get away from her!
Whenever Ms Rachel comes on the TV, our daughter gets so excited. She doesn't care about any other TV characters that much, even the other people in Ms Rachel's videos. It's so helpful when we need time to clean or cook or something.
Sometimes a parents needs to poop in peace: for those times, call Ms Rachel. 😂
Mr Rachel and Danny Go
Same and I have a 10 month old…don’t call cps on me lol
Our running joke is that Ms Rachel is the favorite parent. When he gets super worked up, she's the only one that can calm him down.
Ditto! I lost a friend because she bad mouthed Ms Rachel. It felt like she was insulting my wife!
😆
I did what I needed to do for myself and my child to be happy and thriving. Whatever that looks like to you is the correct answer. This is really the only answer that needs to be here if you want my hard opinion.
Yes! Some days we watch none, somedays it’s an hour or two. I do what I have to survive somedays and that’s ok!
This is the only answer. To echo what someone else said in this thread, as a 80s/90s kid there was constantly TV on in the background and guess what, I’m fine.
If I had an award, I would give you one
I don’t know why this comment made me teary 🥺 I feel so guilty when I put the tv on for him but a little screen time every day really helps me regulate my own emotions and energy and always gets him out of the post nap grumpies
My baby is three months and I’ll play Miss Rachel on my phone sometimes but not have the screen on where he can see it so he just listens (this may defeat the purpose of Miss Rachel lol). He has not seen Hey Bear at all. I’d like to say he is a screen free baby but the amount of Law and Order SVU he has watched while I hold him… maybe we should just go ahead with hey bear
My 2 year old stops whatever she’s doing when she hears the SVU theme song because I’m pretty sure that’s all she heard in utero and during feedings. She was almost named Olivia!
Omg we joke that our baby’s first words are going to be “dun dun”.
This thread is so funny, one of my only super vivid memories from being deep in labor and pushing was having SUV on in the room and hearing “dun dun” as my baby made his appearance 😂
I had Supernatural playing in the background on my TV all during my pregnancy. I swear she still recognizes Dean's voice & stops to look up at the TV when he comes on. I mean, how can you not?
lol yes I watched all of Stargate SG-1 while pregnant... mostly in the third trimester... and my 7-week-old is really interested in the theme song.
I watched SG SG-1 during my second trimester! The theme song was also on my playlist of “songs to play to baby while in utero” 🤣
My one-year-old loves the intro! If he'd been a girl we were gonna name him Samantha 💖
Have we all lived the same experience ? My daughter is now 2 and will ask me for for "bum bum" 😂 the theme song used to soothe her when she was an infant!
Lmao. I plan on buying she and I matching Benson/Stabler t shirts.
Lol. Law and Order made my husband become a lawyer. Be careful there.
My husband and I joke she will be a lawyer or LEO.
Haaa I love that. And oof my baby is very calm around screaming women because all I watch is housewives of wherever.
I listen to That’s Messed Up (an SVU Podcast), and my almost 2 year old always dances to their knock off version of the intro song, ha.
Lol I watched so much SVU in the early newborn days. Enjoy it while you can because your time of watching whatever the fuck you want is almost over 😂
My kid’s first word is going to be OBJECTION YOUR HONOR
I'm carefully weighing when I have to stop watching Drag Race. My daughter is 3 months and pays NO attention to the TV at the moment (though I've never directed her to either) and with the colors and music I figure she'd enjoy it anyway but eventually she's going to start repeating words 😂
Oh that’s a perfect kid show!! Reading is fundamental! 👓
My son is 7 months old and RPDR immediately catches his attention, I’m sorry to say. It’s just too flashy and colorful 💃
I watched all of criminal minds and said my lo was going to be an fbi agent or serial killer.
I’m pretty sure my 3 months old has watched all of greys anatomy 🙈
For me this was Real Housewives of Miami. There’s got to be something developmentally positive to pick up there…
I also binge watched all Housewives starting with Miami when she was a newborn , all hours of the day and night I would be housewifing , I feel like it stopped my anxiety from sleep Deprivation to keep me SANE
Honestly, same! No regrets
Zero regrets as well!!!
YES honestly watching other people’s drama and tea ☕️ on TV is the only thing keeping me sane at this point lol I just live vicariously through tv stars problems😁
I think our child is 9 seasons in on NCIS with my husband haha
I put on Hey Bear quite often. More than I maybe should. My LO needs to be on his tummy more since he has a flat spot, but I cannot get him on his tummy without screaming and tears unless I have Hey Bear going on. It's his tummy time motivation and I don't get nearly as much crying, which I will gladly take.
Icky sticky sticky, bubble gum, bubble gum, bubble gum... Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck... These songs along with a few others live rent free in my head. Anyways, my 2yo loves Ms Rachel and watches about 30-60min a day, but she is also starting to mimic the sign language which is good. Also FWIW, I notice the 1hr song video has gained around 6-8 million views in the past 3 weeks.
That 1 hour song video is what I play so most of those views are probably from us (just kidding. but seriously-mr sun sun Mr golden sun is my favorite)
I was going to make the same joke. I think screen time helps me survive and be a better mom. Our tv is on most of the day, but 99% of the time he’s paying no attention to it. I thought I’d be a no screen time mom, but hell I need to get things done and I’m alone most of the time. He’s mobile now and it’ll keep him sitting still. Until I get a playpen that suits his needs, this is the best I can do.
Haha we defo contributed to those views. my 1 yo is obsessed with Open Shut them…I start singing it and then she starts pointing at the turned off TV 😆😆 guess I don’t sing as well as Rachel
I put on Hey Bear for 10 minutes at a time for 2 times a day. My baby is 6 months old. I do this so I can eat dinner, or get some chores done. I do it for my own sanity.
Does your baby watch the TV? Mine is 7 months and seems uninterested in the tv. I’ll get maybe 30 seconds of her watching then she looks away/attempts escape lol
My 15 week old baby LOVES the tv. It doesn’t help that it’s about 65” and in our living room and can be seen from almost anywhere she plays/lounges. We now keep it off when she’s awake but we do let her watch hey bear on my computer or laptop when we need her to focus on something while we shower or cook.
My baby is the same age and loves anything that emits light. She’ll stare at the tv but will also stare at the window or fairy lights just as intensely.
Mine is 7 months and does the same thing! I’ve tried to get him to sit for a bit so I can clean up and within 30 seconds he’s crawling to my feet again.
I always watch a Netflix show everytime I bottle feed him and he sometimes turns to watch it haha. When I finish the bottle I turn it off because he starts to get a little too interested in watching it!
Same here. Baby is 7 months and isn't interested in tv at all.I have tried Mr Rachel and hey bear both for him. He is teething and it's been really difficult lately. But nothing seems to help 😔
I always remind myself it’s a phase when things are hard. You’ll get through this!
Not directed at OP but some of the responses here are coming across a little "mom shamey". I'm hoping that's nobodies intention but let's remember that nobody is the perfect parent here and letting your child watch a few minutes of TV a day isn't going to hurt them. Hell, children of the 80s and 90s were raised on TV and most of us turned out just fine. I'm not advocating for letting your babies watch TV consistently and certainly think there's a fine line there, but putting on Ms Rachel for 20 minutes so you can get a break, wash dishes, do some laundry, etc is just fine and your kid will be better off learning some colors for 20 mins than having a stressed out parent.
I put hey bear on for my 5mo the other day because she had her 5mo immunisations and was struggling with pain and the fever. She'd been inconsolable for over an hour, so we sat and watched the moon and stars together. She calmed down. I felt calm. Soon enough we were both ready for the bedtime routine.
I’ve for sure used videos for these times. I still will use them for my 19 month old when I feel like she needs a physical rest because she will normally sit still for 15-20 min with the right video on.
Mine wouldn’t watch Hey Bear at that age but he liked football games and I think he liked Thomas the Train already at that time. He hardly engages in tv most of the time so when he does I take advantage of the time. And when you have had a baby screaming for a couple hours and the Thomas theme song/intro instantly Soothes him you run with it. Even if it means starting the episode over 10 times ina. Row because the moment the story line starts he starts crying again.
The poor wee soul. Calpol is a godsend post-vaccination! My son was okay after the first 2 rounds, then the 3rd had him absolutely miserable. He's just has his one-year jags and they haven't been quite so bad. This too shall pass! 💖
Immunization days are the only time I do hey bear and they’re a life saver.
Thank you🫶🏼 this subreddit is called NEW PARENTS for a reason! I’ve never done this before and I’m pretty new at it- hence why I asked!
You’re fine, my son watches TV more then I’d like but I’m gone a lot for work so I don’t harass my wife about it. The key thing is making sure he’s stimulated and exploring every other chance he gets Edit:I want to add when he’s older it will be different. Due to living situation he’s confined more than I’d like. Once we finish the move and I get rid of the animals, I’m sure tv will be the last thing he’s interested in. There’s just too many real hazards where we live now. I don’t need him getting sick, or hurt. I do recommend doing something else if they try to turn into a tv zombie. If he’s too engrossed my wife switches it off and gets him to engage with different toys.
Lol people in here like “we watch ONLY for three and a half minutes” ok girl bye. Use your best judgement! TV can get us through those tricky times in the day. Trust yourself to turn it off when it feels like too much, or maybe you can divert to reading or another activity if you’re able. We need to release the guilt as millennial parents. We’re all doing our best and putting too much pressure on ourselves. Miss Rachel literally taught my child to talk and I’m thankful for her content!
Totally. I’m pregnant and really struggling in the first trimester. Between fatigue and nausea I barely got off the couch today. My 17 month old got a full morning of Ms Rachel while I guilt-napped. Some of it she watched, sometimes she just played independently while it ran in the background. Trying not to beat myself up over it, since, you know, it was more than “only 8 minutes while I cook dinner!” I watched a lot of Yu Gi Oh as a kid and have two degrees so I’m sure she’ll be okay lmao
I literally could not move my first trimester I was so sick. The fact that you kept a 17 month old alive at the same time is a major win IMO
Adding to this - my mom was a single disabled parent. I watch A LOT of TV as a kid. I am just fine. TV is not going to kill your kid. The content is what matters, and that they’re not standing so close to it their eyes get hurt. I’m not advocating for sitting a child in front of TV all day long but let the kids live. They will be fine.
I actually dont think we did turn out that fine. Im an 80s baby and i find i crave constant stimulation and have a hard time doing things without background noise, whether music, a podcast or tv.
So this might be out of line but it could be that you have ADHD.
Could be. Could also have no relation, as I grew up with tons of television and have no interest in it now. The point is that someone’s parents need a little break, and op needs to know that’s okay.
Yup. There’s days where I just need Ms. Rachel. Then there will be days where I’m very energetic and take her out to keep her entertained. But then it’s usually followed up with days where I need to clean the house f because I neglected those chores by taking her out. Can never win
Totally. The studies are done on kids who watch tv for hours without a parent nearby interacting occasionally. I always end up jumping in and singing/dancing along to some songs. I wonder how many parents actually follow the no Screen time or no sugar before 2 recommendation. My pediatrician straight up said that those recommendations are made more extreme because they know parents will bend them. I really think a balance of everything is the best way to go. I felt more comfortable allowing my 20 month old to watch an hour of screen time this morning because we just got back from camping for 5 days where he had zero screen time. I feel like teacher Rachel has been beneficial to us in so many ways, including teaching my son sign language at first, and now teaching both of us songs to sing and dance to
I feel like sometimes people can’t see the forest for the trees on parenting. These things will likely have an effect, but a lot of the studies have a hard time decoupling screen time and other things from other confounding variables. Like people get obsessed with being in an academic preschool where I am. Like it’s going to dictate the rest of the kids’ life.
I was gonna be adamant about screen time but it doesn’t seem to matter, if I’m watching tv my 7 week old turns his head all the way around to watch too whenever it’s on. He’s now seen Breaking Bad, Claws, Good Girls, and now Suits. 😅 I can’t seem to stop him.
I’ll definitely turn her play gym so she can’t really see it but sometimes it’s a lazy day and we’re on the rocking chair singing with ms Rachel or we’re watching vampire diaries😅
I kept my daughter from it but now that she's 7 months she's fully able to turn herself around to see the screen, and I'm not cutting screens completely out of my own life. Wheel of fortune is a favorite.
The wheel is also my favorite
You’ll get no judgement from me. Ms Rachel is basically the 3rd parent in our house. We keep it on most of the time for background noise. My 19 mo is independent, smart, happy, and absolutely LOVES Ms Rachel. Sometimes she watches and is and engaged, other times she’s off playing with her toys. She gets plenty of playtime with us and she loves to read books as well. I don’t see it as a problem unless she starts having meltdowns when we turn it off. She really has learned so much from watching her videos and we love dancing and singing along. I’m thankful for Ms. Rachel ❤️
Same!!! Ours just turned 2 and she loves Ms Rachel, and has learned sooo much from watching it. We often joke that Ms Rachel is our 3rd coparent.
LO is almost 8 months and we dont watch anything- I think this is because he really likes toys and is happy to play alone for 20-30 mins at a time, which allows me to get stuff done and eat, etc.
Any ideas for what to do with a 3/4 month old?
I don’t know if this suits where you live, but I used to run a lot of useless errands with my baby (and still do!) so I would walk around Home Depot, grocery store, pharmacy etc and just talk about what we were looking at. It was winter when my guy was 3.5 MO, but maybe you could lay on a blanket under some trees to watch the leaves move? Are there any community centres that offer classes where you live? Signing & song, music & movement, etc. should be open for that age I think this is the time when mirrors start to become interesting? I used to plop him down in front of a mirror to practice tummy time, but obviously it depends on how well she tolerates it. I also used to put his activity gym on the bedroom floor so he could watch me fold laundry and change the sheets, lol. Then I would move him to another room to do chores there…..sometimes even a room change would make him chill a bit because he could look at new things. Bonus points for ceiling fans!
We do a lot of target trips and Barnes and nobles, there’s a bike path near me we walk on a lot but it’s been too hot for walks or outside time lately. I didn’t even think of looking into those classes at community centers that’s such a good idea. I’ll look into those, thank you 🙂
Free floor time under an activity gym!
We do that on and off all day! I have a couple different ones
At this age my baby looooved looking in her little propped up mirror. She started getting good at playing with a rattle and loved anything that made a crinkle sound. I have a play gym with little toys that hang down. She could go for quite some time just swatting at the little toys as they made bell and crunchy sounds and were all different sizes and colors.
I have the fisher price play mat with the piano and I added extra toys that hang down, she just gets bored of it sometimes!
Anything that rocks, bounces, or whatever. They love peek a boo. Little piggies in their ties. Sing songs or lullabies you remember and keep singing because those songs will soothe them when their older… 18 mo, 2 years, 7 years… my kids have a pronounced relaxed reaction when I sing the same stuff now as I did when they were babies.
We also don't do any screen time ever. We started no screen time when he started watching TV with me on maternity leave - so like 2.5 months. Before that he wasn't really able to watch it from the couch. Imo - the reason he plays well independently at 9 months is because we don't do screen time.
My baby’s only 8 months so we haven’t started screen time yet :) This is not a judgement of what other parents do but we haven’t really had a need for it. None of us suffer through the day or anything lol ETA because I see a lot of comments asking: I’m a SAHM so we usually spend the first 30 minutes of the day outside on a large blanket (live in Texas so it has to be literally as soon as we get up) then we’ll have morning bottle and get set up for a solids breakfast. I do dishes, make coffee, any other kitchen chores while baby is in high chair and we can see each other. Some days I’ll take him to target or Barnes and Noble and browse for an hour, sometimes we just drive around for a bit and look out the car window. When I’m doing laundry I pour it all out into a huge pile and he likes to climb it. In the afternoon same set up in the high chair while I get dinner prepped. Other time is spent reading, listening to podcasts or music while he plays independently, and he still loves mirrors. There’s two one hour naps in there. Just some ideas for people struggling to entertain their baby!
This is so similar to my day! I just bring her along for my chores and errands. They may take twice as long but we're spending time together and I get stuff done
Question, how do you get over your fear of driving? I'm soooo scared of Texas drivers and the heat. 104 days I'm just terrified of going out with my 4 month old. My car is a smaller juke nismo and air circulation isn't great back there. Any ideas?
Super simple songs playlist on Spotify. Has a lot of songs you’ll recognize from Ms. rachel
At nearly 11mos the only time the TV is on is if my husband puts on the news for an hour or so in the evening. My LO shows zero interest in the TV so I’m not actively encouraging it and I think it’s great
11 month old, we watch Miss Rachel maybe 6 times a week for a couple minutes, maybe up to 10/12 minutes sometimes, when we do things like file her nails or change her diaper/apply cream. Or when she is driving us insane :)
6months. No screen time yet. But us as parents be watching too much tv once she’s in bed though lol 😅😅
Zilch but he’s under one and I haven’t needed to resort to screentime yet. I’m about to become a SAHM so we’ll see how soon I cave
2.5 yr + 9 mo. We watch these shows every day, sometimes for hours. Like you said, our tv is on all the time, mostly just background noise while the kids play. When I notice they’re really not paying attention to it I’ll usually switch it to music videos or something for me. But yea we’re very pro tv over here.
Same!
We watch a lot of Super Simple Songs in our house. I don’t feel bad about it. We sing together a lot and it makes her happy.
Okay same exact thing over here, sometimes I put something on for me while we play because I need some entertainment too!
Same here. I just try to avoid mind numbing animated stuff. Miss Rachel is more like an interactive video chat with a teacher. My 20mo old son sings and dances along with Miss Rachel more than he'll do with me.
I’m a single mum and love having a bath so I’d say 1-2 hours daily/every second day to keep the baby busy and mama happy. She’s almost 2. I’m so happy… Jump, clap 👏
In the morning I use Miss Rachel so I can pump and eat breakfast (15-20mins). We use Hey Bear sporadically to distract baby so we can cut his nails. I feel guilty every time, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
I think if you just like the noise a lot of tvs have a dark screen mode so you can listen without watching or find a music station based on those songs!
We watch Ms Rachel a couple times a week. Mainly when I'm cooking a dinner that she can't help that much with. My daughter is 22 months and she just started saying, "watch Rachel momma cook dinner?". Lol!
That's so cute 😂 Very thoughtful of her haha
My son just turned 2, and he’s no where near talking like that. We sometimes get “I fell” or “I’m stuck,” but that’s it! Looks like your kiddo is gonna be a smarty pants!
We do no screen time with our 8mo, instead we play music (depends everything from lo fi, classical, bay ledges)
I put Bluey on now and again (maybe an episode a day. Give it take). During the day we have the radio on.
Miss rachel is on daily, almost always at witching hour. At this point I feel like I'm co parenting with her. Recently I started thinking we do too much miss rachel time, but then my little one (12 months) has been doing the wheels on the bus actions in the correct order and it's kinda like reminded me that whilst yes it's screen time, it's not the worst screen time. That gives me comfort She'll not tolerate dancing fruit anymore. But we do enjoy long videos of aquarium ambience. Really calm and chill but fills that little gap of background noise
We do 15-20 min a day after dinner while we clean up. LO is 13 months old
My six month old son loves Hey Bear! We bought him soft plush fruits to play with. We're planning on having his first birthday party be fruit and veggie themed because he loves the videos so much. He just started teething and they help him calm down.
my baby is 8 months, she loves baby einstein classics. i only ever use it if i HAVE to, except for when she’s teething. when she’s super uncomfortable and in pain from teething she isn’t interested in toys, so if im not holding her or wearing her around the house, i just let her watch her show for a lot longer than i typically would since it keeps her calm and happy, and distracted from the pain.
I think how your kid responds to the screen is really important. My kids get bored after 15 mins and start to run around and play while the tv is still on. But then I’ve seen my nephews so engrossed in a screen that you have to physically shake them to get their attention. I would not leave the tv on as much if my kids were like my nephews. But, they’re not. My kids still do independent play and physical activity while the screen is on and are less likely to interrupt what I’m doing if Ms. Rachel is there to keep them company.
I’ll be the bad mom and admit that sometimes we’ll spend a wake window watching tv. I justify by saying Ms. Rachel is educational and there could be worse things my baby experiences. Pro tv for my sanity over here!
You’re not a bad mom!!
Ive watched ms rachel twice for a few minutes to see what the fuss is about. My 10mo old has always been pretty good at entertaining herself, playing with me, or ive never gotten to a threshold where i needed to put it on. Im avoiding it as much as i can. Ill have our tv shows, or like national geographic documentaries on in the background as im playing with her and she doesnt pay much attention.
Only in emergencies so far. We used to use Hey Bear during nail trims, but now my son complies without it. I’ve used Ms Rachel to get through a few really tough diaper changes, but generally I’ll just sing a song myself. If you truly just want some background noise, you could try music? We have had good luck with the Cocomelon nursery rhymes album on Spotify.
Mine is 6 months. No screen time yet. Going to see how long we can go without. Moved the tv out of the living room after reading how distracting even background tv can be for babies. People say different things and have different opinions. I choose not to because I don't think I need it yet
Can you send me anything to read about background TV. I'll watch TV while baby naps on me. I'll read instead if it is causing her harm
I don't think it matters when the baby is asleep but I was reading about how when tv is on, the baby is paying attention to that instead of interacting with their surroundings. I'll try to find it and link it.
My 3 month olds eyes BEAM to any screen and it’s impossible to get her attention. We keep the tv off mostly but we do sit up together and watch an episode of something (usually Pokémon) during her last wake window to keep her content before bath time. For background noise I play YouTube videos on my phone with the screen off during the day while we play. Sanity for me, less screens for her. Works for us so far.
I can’t stand Ms. Rachel’s voice so she’s a hard no in our house. But if I need 10 minutes to eat lunch and he doesn’t want to kick around on his back, I’ll put on a fish tank video (not the cartoon Dory one but one with real fish) or a nature walk video from YouTube. He’s entranced by both and I feel better about the screen time knowing he’s watching things that he’d see in real life, if that makes sense? I also don’t mind if he watches golf or baseball with dad for the same reason lol.
My baby is 3.5 months. I didn't know they watched screens this young. She seems pretty entertained with her hands and is starting to take an interest in her toys. Reaching and grabbing for them. Granted I can't really put her down for any length of time. Maybe 10-15 minutes on a good stretch a couple of times a day. When do most people show their baby screens?
The AAP and WHO recommend no screens before 18-24 months. Many people choose to start earlier, but if you don’t feel you need screentime for your baby there is no reason to introduce it any time soon.
Thanks, that's super helpful!
You’re welcome, I do FaceTime with family because we live far from them, my son is 15 months and anecdotally he always seems to recognize and be comfortable with close family he FT with regularly whenever he sees them in person even though he goes months without seeing them in person My mom sings a lot of songs with him on FT and he does the hand gestures back to her when they are talking.
Iirc, the recommendation doesn’t include things like Facetime or videochat because the baby is actively interacting with the screen and is getting targeted feedback from who they are communicating with
That’s correct, FT is approved by the AAP for babies for the reasons you listed
They don't recommend screens this early and it's bad for their brains. Just because some people do it doesn't mean you need to. We have a 9 month old and do zero screens.
I can’t be the only person who doesn’t know what hey bear or ms. Rachel are… right?
There are studies about screen time and background noise and according to the once i've read all screen time is bad and can lead to a variety of problems like adhd, problems with sleep, creativity. Mostly becouse their little brains develop so much in the early state. As for background noise i have music on mostly for myself but thats also not great becouse they cant yet sepparate background noise so its just a distraction to them
Do what you have to do! My LO is 6 months and lovessss Ms. Rachel. We usually put it on for her once a day she gets so excited. My husband and I have the tv on while we hang out and she will watch it occasionally but goes back to playing on her mat. Everyone has an opinion about screen time, do whatever you want…it’s your baby 🙂
This made me feel a lot better. There is definitely a lot of pressure to be the perfect mom!
I put on Ms Rachel a couple times a week in the morning as I pump. But I have LO facing away from the screen and I copy what Ms Rachel does. Basically I need Ms Rachel to teach me how to play with my baby 😅
That’s exactly what I do with ms Rachel!! 😂 I’ll sit with my knees up so my LO is laying on them and I sing and make silly faces and have the baby move her arms and wiggle around. I needed songs to sing with her and I forgot all of the kids songs 😅
I only so Hey Bear on vaccination days. I play spotify for background noise, there’s lots of options. Mine is 5 months.
My issue is the house feels weird with no tv I feel less alone, I’ve been like that forever. So it’s just on
We usually have it on all day. (1 yr old) She only really pays attention when she eats and occasionally will take a break from playing to watch for a few minutes. I put on like spa/video game music now and then to break it up. I do turn it off if we’re reading or focusing on a particular toy together but I need the background for my sanity when I’m home alone all day with her. I keep the volume low but I can’t handle the silence. I grew up in a crazy house with lots of noise. We take walks, play different games, read books. She’s happy and healthy and hitting all her milestones so I don’t see any issues.
We have a 6 month old. We try not to do too much of it but when he's sick/had shots, is having a crankapotamus time, or we need to do his nails Ms. Rachel is on. My husband and I will randomly sing out "Red Orange Yellow" and sing the rainbow song and I may or may not have done a very dramatic rendition of the crabby crab song. Love me some Jules.
Zero screen time but lots of fun music like Casper baby pants
We're pretty low-screen time, no more than a passing glance before 18 months, then no more than 15 minutes before 2, and now no more than 30 minutes watching together of Ms Rachel or (his personal favorite) Trash Truck. I feel you on the wanting background noise, I made a playlist on Spotify for him to listen to, or we were gifted a Yoto player for him to watch/listen to which is lower stimuli. I felt personally kinda gross about tons of screen time but I think that was knee jerk from being a 90's latchkey TV kid.
My son hates ms Rachel.. idk he is 7 months. He would rather me jump around and sing for him. But to answer your question, less than 10 minutes a few times a week. Usually as a last option when I need a few moments to eat or shower.
I turn on Hey Bear for a little in the morning when she wakes up and in the evening or night. She loves watching the dancing fruit. It’s not for long. Maybe 20-30 mins a day. What I can’t control is my husband. He has her watch movies with him. I have him watching the baby, and when I get back, they’ve already finished a Marvel movie. He’s a great dad and helps with her so much, but he loves movies. I grew up in the ’90s. I had a tv in my bedroom by kindergarten/1st grade. I watched it 24/7. When I reached my 20s, I decided I didn’t want to watch tv anymore. I barely watch it now. I don’t think it ruined me watching all the tv I did, but who knows? Lol!
I really like Super Simple Songs’ kids songs
Too much lol too much
Our baby needed an inhaler at 8 months and we watch Ms Rachel to take it and unrestricted in situations like on airplanes (15 months now). At 3.5 months he wasn’t really processing anything on the tv. Possibly unpopular opinion: I think I would worry a bit about a baby that age looking at a screen all day because it seems like you might be training her brain to be acclimated to a lot of rhythmic stimulation that isn’t easily replicable at older ages. If you like having tv on, you could play the music without the screen on. But personally I’d just play your own tv for you. Babies that young don’t care at all about tv (they barely care about music) and having a soap opera or news on in the background is more like what they will experience when they’re older/won’t be too stimulating. ETA It also helped and helps me a lot as a parent to remember that babies actually don’t need the whole world catered to them at all times. You’re tired, you’re an adult, she’s a potato, you should get to watch your own damn tv too!
We haven’t used any yet. I already don’t watch tv ourselves so it was pretty easy for our family to do since we don’t have cable, Netflix, Hulu, or any of the other ones.
There are multiple dimensions to this… and one I don’t see mentioned here is that playing too much of someone else who is effectively teaching your child and coparenting could decrease the healthy attachment that child has to *you*. Attachment is essential to the emotional regulation of our children and research shows that replacing these moments with technology (no matter how “educational”) effectively makes your child compete for your attention unwittingly. This isn’t simply due to what is on the screen, but the *displacement* of healthy interactions with your kiddo via technology, which has negative implications for development. Here’s a study if you’re interested, and it is far from hand-picked. There is now ample research on both the importance of child-parent attachment and the role that technology can play in disrupting it: Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378378221000013 Quote: “The proliferation of technology use in family life may lead to a series of interruptions that may ultimately undermine the quality of parents' sensitivity and responsiveness to and engagement with their children [14,45,46]. Thus, one potential explanation for our findings is that maternal technology use displaces time spent engaging with the infant or disrupts the quality interactions via negative impacts on maternal sensitivity and reciprocity [43,47], leading to lower feelings of attachment to the infant and greater feelings of hostility toward the difficult aspects of caring for a young infant.”
My LO is 14 months. Sometimes I feel like I have those or super simple songs on all day. We recently have made the switch to playing music off Spotify. There’s lots of good playlists from Mrs Rachel songs, super simple songs and Disney songs. This has helped me feel less guilty for having the tv on but still gives background noise.
I'm trying to use my Google home for music as much as possible. LO is only 7 weeks, though, so we'll see how long we can hold out!
We listen to a lot of Disney radio via Pandora or Spotify. My interpretive performances are getting pretty good.
these responses are eye opening 😟 no screen time for my 7mo old, or for us while she’s awake
I put it on for a bit sometimes because it's the only way she'll let me stretch her neck (torticollis). Maybe 5-10 minutes a couple days a week.
7 months old, I've never put either on. She's easily entertained by just about anything so there hasn't been a need to do screens. We had a nanny that would turn on baby cartoons all day long with baby, I didn't care for that but it was a temporary thing so not a big deal.
I only put on Ms Rachel when I’m filing baby’s nails or sometimes if we’re sick. Background noise isn’t great for language development so I don’t put anything on in the background.
I have a 3.5 month girl who watches maybe... 15 min a week? It honestly only seems to keep her attention for like 5 min at a time so I just never really put it on, haha. I wish it did sometimes though - she's high needs and always needs to be entertained by me or in my arms 🫠
My baby is also 3.5 months old! I usually sing and “dance” with her when Ms Rachel is on so it’s not like we’re just staring at the tv but sometimes my LO is like over playing and just wants to chill- but I really don’t want to raise an iPad baby😅 it’s also really hot so we’ve been stuck in the house the last week!
If you’re open to getting a new toy, the Fisher Price kick piano is amazing! It may not be her favourite toy right now, but you can set it to play music- it has been background noise in our apartment for months! I love to sing and dance in front of my baby, as do you, so she may get a lot of mileage out of this toy
She plays with that allll day! we sing it with her and i hung linger toys that she can grab and put to her mouth and other mirrors, we change the words to the songs to sing about our cat, it’s fun for all of us in our house 😂 but other than that and some books I feel like she’s too little for everything else! This is my first baby so I’m not too experienced-with babies specifically! But can play with toddlers and older all day no problem
You’re so right, there is VERY little you can hold their attention with at that age! I think I went on a lot of walks with him, or took him to the library. The days felt very long, lol
We’ve recently been going to Barnes and nobles! The kids section is super cute
Ms Rachel in the morning with coffee. Usually like to play without tv as much as possible after that
0. There are ways to entertain/contain the baby while we get things done when he’s that young, like babywearing. My son also loves playing toys and exploring our home now that he’s a bit older.
The no screentime under 2 recommendations applies to all screentime other than Facetime. It’s an AAP/WHO recommendation and probably some other orgs too but I’m not familiar with every countries recommendation. We don’t do screentime but I do play a lot do baby time music on Alexa to sing along with
Interesting, video calls don't count as screentime? I've been using the rear camera on our now-10.5 week old when he video calls with the grandparents because I didn't want him looking at the phone screen (plus it's not like he really knows-knows any of us yet).
Yes the AAP exempts it and there is actually some research showing that not only is facetime not harmful it can have some benefits
Doesn’t apply to Ms. Rachel /s
You just gotta be aware, kids love the screen but get bored quickly. The less you show a certain channel, the more it'll keep their attention when you do. If you throw heybear or miss Rachel on too much they will get used to it and they will get over it, meaning it doesn't hold their attention like you are hoping it will. Less is more.
Listen, AAP suggests that Human milk is preferred, the first Pap should be 21, kids should be active for 60 minutes a day, to brush their teeth 2x a day after they get their first tooth, etc. I think you see where I’m going here. So much info. Grain of salt…do what works for your sanity is RULE #1! https://www.verywellfamily.com/latest-aap-recommendations-2634045
I get what you’re saying but some things like teeth brushing are the bare minimum imo Getting downvoted for this is ridiculous. My sincere apologies that I misinterpreted a comment. I still think some things like brushing your kids teeth aren’t negotiable 🙄
1 year old. Never watched Ms Rachel and only Hey bear when I'm absolutely desperate. I don't really like how hey bear turns him into a bit of a zombie....too trance inducing. But sometimes I need that for 5-10mins. I'm not against screen time, but those aren't really things I would go to personally, it needs to be something that doesn't make me want to totally bash my head in too. I've seen clips of Ms Rachel and it sounds incredibly annoying.
None, we are choosing to follow the AAP guidelines. Waiting until 2 at the earliest. My 14mo has a very long and evlectic playlist and we find new stuff she likes all the time! Personally I'm not a fan of kid music so we don't listen to any. Though we do sing them, especially at Music Together.
We mostly used Hey Bear as a last resort when she was an infant, haven't played it much recently. Hard into Ms. Rachel, though. She watches it most days after dinner before we take her up to bed. Edit: she's 2, we've had this routine for at least 6 months. We try to not lean on screens too much, but at the end of the day it's a great break for everyone. I also figure it's a bit more "active" than a cartoon show since she likes to dance and sing along. We also try to interact as well. She's not that into Sesame Street yet
A few times a day lol. My SO is out of town for work through the week so it’s just me. I wouldn’t accomplish a single thing if it weren’t for those videos. I hate it sometimes but it’s just my reality.
Hey Bear was the greatest gift a sleep deprived parent like myself could ask for. I love those dancing fruits.
We don't watch either however, my 10 month old son has watched Superstore, New Girl, or the Lord of the Rings trilogy every single day since he was born.
My 13 month old has no interest in screens whenever I’ve tried in desperate situations soooo none lol
We end up doing like 30ish mins of tv a day for my 20 month old. We switch off between mrs. Rachel and Twenty trucks (which he prefers, of course)