I have found that since I am nursing around the clock, our older son gets to watch much more tv than we ever thought we would let him watch. I want him in my sight, and I don't want him to feel punished while I feed the baby, which I figure will lead to jealousy, so I thought it was a fun treat to let him watch Elmo or Blue's Clues (we are a Team Steve household, Joe is so not as good!), or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I nurse. The problem is, what started out as a treat when the baby was tiny and was sleeping most of the day and only nursing for small stretches has turned into big brother watching hours of television a day. I'm worried that this is bad for him, but I really don't know what else to do! How do other mommies keep their toddler occupies so they can breastfeed a new infant??
Lately he has gotten into movies too- G rated, of course, but he wants to watch them over and over and over. He loves Toy Story (aka "Buzzy moobie"), and even though this movie is for kids, I'm surprised at the language. No 4-letter words or anything, but they do say "shut up", "stupid", "idiot" and "moron" quite a bit. For my little copy cat, this is not great. He has already starting calling our little yorkie "stupid dog" because the bad kid Sid in the movie says that to his poor doggie. :(
Am I overreacting? (Please say yes!) Is it ok for a 2 year old to watch tv/movies for a couple hours a day? Or even 3 hours? It's not all at once, it is stretched out over a 12 hour period, but he definitely craves it now and would watch much more if I let him. And what is the deal with the language? Should I shelve Toy Story for a few years? It is such a cute movie and he LOVES it, but I would rather he not call his teacher a moron at Mommy and Me.
Any feedback or advice? From my 1 reader? Anyone? Bueller?
we love netflix, too! ever since we discovered that we can watch instantly through our wii, we have been super hooked. it's really convenient to have kids movies on-demand... we don't do a lot of television with natalie since she's not even a year old yet, but there are definitely times when it's a nice back-up plan to put on some barney, haha. i don't know what we'll do when she starts to get really hooked on it... eep!
ReplyDeleteFirst off let me say thank you for stopping by and following my blog. I am glad you did or I would have never found yours.
ReplyDeleteWe too are a new netflix family. I love it. You and I sound so similar. We don't watch alot of movies in the theater so this was great. However, all great things can become a not so great thing at some point. Due to the weather, and the fact that I really don't want to clean the play room, the kids have been watching more and more tv. I need to get back to my only watching tv while mommy makes dinner rule. It is hard when they are little and you have one nursing though. Doble was only 16 months when Razy was born and Lil' E only 3 so I know what you mean that you want to keep them occupied. One thing you could try would be to bring out a special toy, puzzle, ect that only comes out during nursing. You may need to have a few of these on hand. Or what if he cuddles with you while you nurse and he holds a book and turns the pages for you? Those are just a couple ideas. Can't wait to see what else you post.
Wow!! Great ideas, thank you!!! And thank you both for the comments! Yay!!!!! :)
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