Music in the background - harm or help?

[whosthis]

Hi everyone,

I got a bit confused...

TV is bad for babies - this seems to be agreed by everyone.

It's very strange to sit in silence with a little baby all day. Is it ok to turn on some soft music as the background to keep me sane?

They always say music helps babies develop their brains. So does it have to be classical or any music?

Do I have to limit the hours of music as background or I can keep it on most of the time?

Thanks!

[HappyJoyful]

I don't think background music of any description whatsoever is bad for baby - of course it doesn't have to be classical!

Goodness, turn on the tv too - how old is your baby? Of course it might be be 'bad' if you plonked a tiny baby in front of a 50" plasma screen and left it there all day, but otherwise I think you can watch tv and not worry about damaging your babies brain or development.

[TheAccidentalEgghibitionist]

I suspect you are massively over thinking this whosthis
A bit of TV is fine, music is fine. It's whatever you want to do. My DS has been brought up on rock music and festivals, I don't think it's harmed him at all.

[whosthis]

Before I knew the TV issue, I thought it's only a problem for toddler development. So he was in front of TV for a fair part of the day as I was until one day I realised that he was really watching an animation very attentively. He doesn't like very much to play toys and he doesn't look at people when they talk to him like other babies I saw. I started to worry it's because of the TV effect so that he can't cope with things need his focus for a longer span of time.

From this week on, no TV at all. It seems he started to play toy for hours without screaming around.

Just really want to make sure he's taking the right route...

[HappyJoyful]

Like Accidental says, I'm really thinking you are overly worrying this and over anxious.

How old is your baby ?

I recall a friend recently who got all fretty about the tv and then proceeded to spend hours with toys and books constantly trying to stimulate the baby and the baby seemed to be in a permanent state of over stimulation from this..

All babies are different, so don't compare. Relax and enjoy

[atrcts]

I think as with all thing balance is the key.

You shouldn't be expected to live a life of silent solitude It's nice for you to have some of your own music and entertainment still, as well as sharing technology with your kids!

However when a child is learning to talk I've heard that radio and TV on too much can slow their language learning because they can't take it all in and haven't learned how to filter out the background noise.

Having said that, I'm sure there must be loads of kids who haven't been affected by constant background noise, and so it's probably a very individual thing.

I'm from a large family and although it wasn't tv making constant noise, it wasn't quiet either. Apart from being irritated and wishing I could find a quiet corner, I was pretty unscathed.