All of a sudden, it seems, Lily is going through extreme separation anxiety. Usually I can put her on her playmat and hop in the shower for 5 minutes and she'll be fine. Last week I did that and 30 seconds in she started shrieking like I had never heard before. It sounded like she was being murdered. I jumped out of the shower and ran over to her to make sure the cat wasn't eating her face or anything and she immediately stopped. I made sure everything was ok, and tried again. Same thing happened. So I moved her into the bathroom. Again, she screamed bloody murder. So I stayed in long enough to rinse the shampoo out of my hair and called it quits. It took almost an hour to get her to calm down. The next day was a repeat performance. I've tried all sorts of distractions, music, toys, books, different places in he apartment, everything.
Then I tried the one thing I swore I would never do: I turned on the TV and left the room. She was on her playmat on the floor and it was the PBS kids station so it was slightly educational. (Yes, I know she's only 6 months old.) It worked like a charm. She was totally distracted by it, and was even 'talking' to the TV like she does when I read to her or we play together. And it was only for 5 minutes.
Am I a horrible person? You hear about all these stories how people use the TV as a babysitter and kids are getting dumber and have poor eyesight and are obese because of it. I'm worried I'm setting her up to be fat, dumb, and blind. I have promised myself that I will ONLY use it to shower. She has no problem sitting in her high chair watching me clean or cook or do anything else. I will not let it become a crutch.
A. Lily is ridiculously cute in the above photo.
ReplyDelete2. I went through the EXACT same thing with TV at around the same age with ainsley and she seems to be doing alright. We let her watch 1 pirated Mr Rogers episode in the morning and I let her watch one show after naptime (usually Sid the science kid). I figure as long as it's not on aLL the time and I talk to her about the show when it's done it's good for all of us to have a little quiet/calm time. Don't worry about it!
You're not a bad parent at all. Just being aware of what you want for her will guide you in the right directions. She's really interested in movement and color which is what she's getting on the TV. She really liked the fire at Peg's - maybe you could find one of those Christmas fireplace scenes that people put on at parties! :}
ReplyDeleteRemember that kid in the Babys documentary who was abandoned in his stroller among the livestock? I think you could do much worse than occasional TV? :)
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