I Was Flicking Through the Channels on the TV

Olivia has discovered the television. When she is on my lap or in her 'wobble' chair I always make sure she is facing me so I can talk to her, but she has realised that there is something oh so interesting going on behind her. She strains so hard to try and get a view of the TV that I quite expect her to do an Exorcist and spin her neck through 180 degrees! Olivia is NOT alowed to watch TV!

I've done some research and spent some time thinking about this. There are lots of education products and TV stations on the market for babies as young as six months which virtually promise to turn your child into a brain surgeon or nuclear physicist by their second birthday but I remain unconvinced. There is kind of a parental guilt trap at work - everyone wants their kids to have the best start and be clever in later life and these products pander to our inner worries that we aren't doing enough ourselves. As usual there are no hard and fast rules. You can find research to prove just about everything - TV makes you more intelligent, limits academic achevement, helps develop language, leads to poor concentration and behavioural problems in later life etc. etc. Having read up on it, it seems that the consensus is that kids under two shouldn't watch any telly and then beyond that it should be limited educational TV. Videos and DVDs can be more beneficial than TV as they allow for learning through repetition and familiarity.

I believe that talking, singing and reading with your baby and experiencing everyday life together are far more beneficial that 'edutainment' products. The demon TV will come into Olivias life at some point but I aim to delay it as long as possible and then limit viewing in both time and content.