My Four Month Old Is Addicted to TV!

Hi, J.~

At 4 months, I agree that it's the colors and movement that are holding his interest. If it bothers you, then find some toys or music to hold his interest. I do agree with the other moms that his interest will wane as he gets older, and gets more mobile. Right now, it's bright, colorful noise that gets him. Move him to another part of the room if you think it would help. Hope this helps!

My son was the same way...in fact, we found TV was a good motivator to get him to lift his head when he was on his tummy. His interest in TV definitely waned as he became more mobile. He still likes it, but more in passing, like if a commercial comes on that has a catchy jingle. (For some reason, he loves Car-Hop commercials...whenever one comes on, he stops what he's doing and watches, and then dances to the song. After it's over he goes back to what he was doing.) I wouldn't worry about it. I know the AAP says no TV until the age of 2, but how realistic is that? (Heck, even most doctor's offices have a TV going in the waiting room!) I think the key is to make sure as your son gets older to control the TV not the other way around. When your son starts crawling, he will probably not be interested in watching TV...to many other things to explore!

I have a 7 month old son who LOVES the TV also. I had a degree in early childhood education and also elementary education, and I remember research linking too much TV to ADD. They stated that TV can over stimulate a baby and that child can become dependent on that much stimulation to keep their attention. Which can make things like a book or school where there is not an overload of stimulation hard for them to stay focused. My husband and I decided early on we were not going to let our little one watch TV until he is older. Easier said then done!! He was finding his way to the TV no matter what. So we resorted to no TV while he is awake. We got a DVR to tape our shows and we catch up once he goes to bed. This might sound ridiculous but it was right for me and my family. Good luck!!!

A four month old isn't going to be "addicted" to anything.(except the breast/mommy):) The TV has pretty colors, and catchy jingles. I always thought it funny that my twins- BOTH OF them- at that same age, until almost 1- would stop whatever they were doing for certain commercials- some commercials they both loved, and others only 1 loved- my son loves the ab-lounger commercial, they both love the bresnan communications commercial- and they won't look away til it is over! They recognize the same voice every time it started! They would both be breastfeeding and look up to watch the WHOLE commercial, then back to the breast as soon as it ended- too funny!
Also-
the dancing elephant in one of those car commercials (?) was where my daughter giggled and pointed for the first time, and every time she saw it come on!
We now get documentaries with lots of wild animals and she LOVES it!

My advice: Turn the TV off!

It should be a phase, but see if you can distract him with other colorful things.

Hi!! I would agree that kids are attracted to the color, etc. If this bothers you, as it appears to. I personally agree that it should. I would turn off the TV and not give him the opportunity to seek it out, but to help him learn to find entertainment in other ways. There have been some studies showing a correlation between children under two watching TV and ADHD (attention deficet disorder). If you wanted to see this info, I would search the internet, ask your pediatrician. (Excuse my horrible spelling).

J.

Since you are concerned about his TV intake, maybe you should make sure that the TV is inaccessible to your child. Keep it behind closed doors, remove the remote controls from his reach, etc.

Maybe you can do projects or read or anything else to keep him away. Or just assign a specific "TV Time" for him.

I'm a TV addict myself...so my baby might be too!

You are in control at this age. Turn the tv off if it bothers you so much. Find other things for the baby to get interested in. Put books near or bright toys.

My son is five months and he also likes to watch the TV. I swore I would never let the TV be a "baby sitter" but he's been a particularly fussy baby and that half an hour means I can take a shower, clean up or just take a break. I agree that it's the lights and sound. I put baby einstien on for him which I consider to be educational. Try it that way...put on something you consider to be educational so you don't feel bad. If the TV does turn into a habit, what he watches will also.

Maybe this is a silly question, but how does a 4 month old seek out anything? It is completely dependent upon you if your 4 month old is exposed to television (at least while at home). If it is really that important to you, you will probably have to avoid TV yourself. At 4 months old, children are just discovering things....and the TV probably should not be one of these things. I am nine months pregnant, so we will see if I can follow my own "advice!" :)

I have a great interest in brain development, so I've read a number of books and attended seminars about various topics- so, I'm certainly not an expert, but I did retain a few interesting nuggests.

It turns out that when they've done brains scans of babies watching television, that the active part of the brain is not one that reflects curiousity and interest, which is what all of us think is happening when we see a baby riveted by the television. Instead, they are (as another respondant said) being completely overwhelmed by all of the stimulous. Not so good. That's one reason the American Society of Pediatrics recommends absolutely NO television before the age of 2.

Everyone does what they have to in order to get through Mommyhood in one piece, but I think it's good to have good information so you're making an informed decision.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5933775/

As an aside, I really get my feathers ruffled by companies like Baby Einstein who claim to have "educational" videos for babies when studies have shown that it overstimulates the brain, that there is absolutely a postitive correlation (not causation) to ADD, and that research shows that babies definitely do respond to one on one interraction and conversation as far as learning new words and concepts goes, while there is nothing to prove that watching a video of a real cat or whatever teaches them about a cat.

Okay, I'm stepping down from my soapbox. Sorry.

Anyway, all of my friends let there kids watch TV from early on, and I think they're all adorable and I don't judge their parents. Everyone has the right to make their own choice! Plus, even researchers advocating "no TV" readily share that much much more research needs to be done; they don't pretend to know everything.

Well, I better go. Days of Our Lives is on. : )

J.

I don't know, I feel everything in moderation. My daughter was really intrigued by the TV when whe was this age (now she's two), so I included a small amount of TV watching in our "schedule". Even when she was about 5 months old. We'd watch 30 minutes of TV (educational, Baby Einstein etc.) for 30 min. Then, it was off. I would make sure that I held, and touched her, and made sure to speak the entire time of things we were seeing.

Now that she's two, I've stepped it up a bit. For her morning TV viewing, we watch the Wiggles, or some other "up beat" show, and we dance (very exhausting by the way...and a good work out! ;) This also helps with following directions...

I don't think just plopping your child in front of the TV is healthy, but I do feel it can be a good enducational tool. I know she's learned a lot from it, but then again, I've put a lot of effort in to make sure she's benefitting from it.

Hope this helps! I know you'll figure out what works best for your family.

-A.

Turn off the tv or unplug it. I didn't let my child watch tv until was over 1 year old and then I only let him watch it for 15 minutes in the morning while I was drying my hair. He won't miss it if you cut it out now...but if you wait any longer, it will be hard (I imagine) to stop him from watching it!

he is attracted to the color and movment. try getting some books or different kinds of mobile that are black, white and red. those tend to be the most responcive colors for infants. if those dont work the little einstien videos are great and he will atleast be learning. my son was really big on those projection lamps of like animals and the galaxy