Baby & Toddler

Daycare plays rhymes on a TV during lunch. We don't do screens at home with our 1 year old

sunny_quilt_2530

Picked her up early on Monday and found the toddler room eating lunch in front of a big screen playing nursery rhymes. The staff said it keeps the children seated and they eat better. Our daughter certainly finished her khichdi. At home we've kept screens off so far, partly habit and partly because we read it's better under two. I'd rather not be the difficult parent in the second week after the summer break, and I can see why eight toddlers and two staff need help at lunch. Would you raise this, or are lunch-time rhymes a small thing at daycare?

7 comments

  • sage_camera_3431

    Before deciding, I would ask how long the screen is on and whether it is only at lunch. Fifteen minutes at a meal is a different conversation from the TV running through the afternoon. Our daughter's daycare does not use one, so I cannot say how their staff manage without it, but I would ask what they'd do instead before asking them to stop.

  • willow_quilt_8998

    Ours does the same at snack time, and I worried too. What I noticed is that she now asks for 'rhymes' when we put her in the high chair at home. So it does carry over a bit. I asked if they could play only the audio, and they agreed for a week, then the screen went back on. I've let it go for now.

  • mellow_drum_6874

    'They eat better' compared to what? Ask whether they tried anything else. Eight toddlers and two staff is the real problem. The TV is the workaround.

    • ochre_chai_9692

      It's the staffing, sure, but they're not going to hire a third person because one parent asked. Audio only is a realistic ask. Switching the TV off is not, going by my record of getting anything changed anywhere 😄

  • coral_kite_872

    My son is eleven, so I'm digging deep here. His daycare had no screen, but one staff member sang at lunch, loudly and badly, and the children loved it. Maybe that's worth suggesting? It costs nothing.

  • amber_sandal_5061

    If you do raise it, frame it as a question about the routine rather than a complaint about the screen. 'What does lunch look like on a normal day?' usually gets a more honest answer than 'Why is the TV on?'. We changed a couple of small things at our son's playschool that way, years ago.

  • cobalt_paper_1289

    Our younger one had the same at her daycare at that age. What bothered me more was that she stopped noticing what she was eating. Paati had to feed her with a song going on weekends too, or she wouldn't eat. It settled once she moved to the bigger room where they sat at a table together. Worth a word with them, nicely.

  • banyan_sketch_7742

    Working with children all day, I'd worry less about the screen itself than about whether anyone is talking to the children while they eat. Mealtimes are a big language moment at this age. If the staff are chatting with them and the rhymes are background, fine. If everyone is silently staring at the screen, that's what I'd bring up ❤️

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