TV or no TV?

Right from the start, even before I fell pregnant, I have been determined to keep my daughter TV free during her earliest years. I was thinking maybe until 3. This is partly based on the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation (no TV until after the age of 2) and partly based on my knowledge of early language development (I used to work in this field) and partly it's also just been gut instinct. And I suppose it was also based on experience with kids who have obviously spent too much time in front of the box (anyone seen a kid with a three-tenths of a millisecond attention span...it ain't pretty)!

So, fast forward to almost 16 months, and let's see where we're at. The first time I actively watched TV with my daughter was when she was sick with a bout of roseola about a month ago. She was listless, clingy and had no energy for anything. All she wanted to do was lay in my lap. It got a bit boring after a while, so I caved in...I grabbed a DVD of The Wiggles and away we went for the next hour...

Ok, ok, I didn't really stoop that low...instead, out came David Attenborough's 'Planet Earth', replete with scenes of crocodiles tearing into wildebeest, lions ripping into juicy zebra flesh and bright pink babboon bottoms. Much more age appropriate and stimulating viewing I thought! Actually, Boo was quite interested, even through her sickness, although her attention lasted all of about ten minutes!

Fast forward another month and the rot really has started to set in...we've now seen two partial episodes of Play School! The first time it was an accident. Boo was asleep and I was editing a TV show I had taped earlier. She woke up while I was part way through so I quickly finished while she was sitting on the couch beside me. When I went to turn the TV off, the screen flashed with a doggy, which of course, immediately captured her attention. It was Play School, featuring a rather old and listless golden retriever. So we watched a little bit and she was quite interested to see the singing, pictures of children playing and of course, the doggy. So, ten minutes of TV...no harm done.

Yesterday, Boo went down for her afternoon nap very early, meaning that by the time she woke up, I had 4 hours with her before Daddy got home. FOUR HOURS and nowhere to go...it was close to 40 degrees outside so staying indoors was the only option. We made it through to almost three hours before I decided that I really needed a break. I noticed that it had just gone 3:00pm...it was Play School time.

So, we plopped on the couch together and turned on the box. It was actually pretty good! Play School is one of the best television programs for children - highly appropriate content, scenes that are slow and not heavily-edited, songs, rhymes, craft ideas, animals etc. Imagine my delight when two turkeys were shown as well - Boo has recently learned how to make gobble-gobble noises and knows that this is what a turkey says! All in all, I was quite impressed, and if I'm stuck again, I don't think that I'll hesitate to watch Play School with her.

But I've not completely given in to the dark side...I still have some TV Rules for myself:

1. Always watch TV together with your child
2. Select age appropriate content
3. Limit TV viewing to half an hour a day at most until the age of three (this recommendation is based on the pioneering book on infant and child language development 'Baby Talk' by Dr Sally Ward.

I don't believe that TV is evil - but it does need to be used wisely. I also find that I do need to set boundaries for myself as much as for my daughter - I'm determined not to fall into the trap of letting the box babysit my daughter...all in all, I'm pretty pleased with our progress to date.