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Originally Posted by O-tacular
Funny enough my toddler has learned the alphabet, numbers and new words I never taught him from watching kids youtube videos. There is the downside of the videos themselves mostly being grating and horrible ex soviet state engrish such as D Billions and the dozens of ripoffs of them. Also my eldest is now entering the phase of nightmares which seem to be directly lifted from some of the videos he has watched which supposedly are meant to help kids overcome their fears, but instead introduce them where none existed. My son didn't know about monsters under beds or in closets before. Now I've had to move a fake plant from his room because he has nightmares that it comes alive with glowing eyes and talks to him.
I used to be judgmental of parents giving kids screen time but it is a necessity I don't judge anyone for using. Any parents of kids predating smartphones are kidding themselves if they think they wouldn't have done the same. My hairdresser was marveling at how well behaved my son was on his tablet with some puffs over the weekend when we were getting our hair cut. He told me with his kids they had a portable DVD player. That was their screen. Things are definitely easier now.
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My kids watched the Baby Mozart and Baby Einstein etc. videos in moderate doses when they were pretty young. The TV wasn't their babysitter though and we also read to them a lot, plus they had a very talkative and stimulating daycare provider. By the time they arrived in school they were among the most advanced kids in their classes. (I admit to having no idea if the videos played a part in that.)
I don't think it's realistic in most cases to not give your kids any screen time at all.
But I'd very careful about giving them too much because it does seem to be linked to the explosion in learning and attention disorders among many kids. Especially boys, actually. (My opinion here is completely unscientific, and based on my personal observations of tons of kids and families.)
Also, obviously screen time shouldn't squeeze out non-screen playtime, either indoors or outdoors.
But you guys already knew all that, right?