I chatted sang and read books to all my babies since they were born!and no LIFEGOOD this is not all the interation my babies!!!farfarfar from it.i just thought to ask for different opinions.my speech therapist says iam doing NOTHIN wrong it's puzzled her.my other 3 babies needed no help.the reason why i mentioned In The Night Garden is that the charecters are the actions and the voice over is just words.the words don't match the actions as the voice over is talking when nothing is happening!!now that deep!thanks all for the imput

I guess I have never thought about it this way! We don't watch teletubbies..Just Caillou!

i dont like teletubbies, there isnt any good learning words in that show at all except for the children they show in a part of the show. I read in a parenting mag only the other day that In The Night Garden was great for toddlers as it  has alot of words that rhyme and song and dance. The characters might not speak well but the story teller does. I dont love the show but i dont find a problem with it at all. My daughter is 18mths old and doesnt seem to have a speech delay and has watched this show since it first started. Little TV is best so just as long as its just half hr here and there i cant see a problem with it....you sound like you do that anyways...Defantly not thinking too deeply, too much TV is  a concern for sure....

I refuse to allow my kids to watch them shows.

I like fimbles but hate how the little one has a baby voice.

But to be honest I think I allow my kids to watch things worse than what you have mentioned as we dont watch normal tv here, we wach anime stuff somy kids learn japanese.

my daughter is just this month 2 and has been able to talk in full blown sentences from about 13 months. she avidly watches some of the shows you have mentioned for about an hour a day. i dont believe that one hour of watching what they think are cool little characters on the telly who sound kinda funny has anything to do with how a child speaks. i believe it is goverened by their physical situation (ie their hearing etc) and how others around them approch language. baby talk never happened in our house. we sang alot (some silly songs from the shows you have mentioned) and highly encouraged the use of words rather than gestures for both our kids at a very young age. bits of a second language thown in is always more fun too. my daughter has had help in learning alot of other things external from language including counting, remembering names, story order, concepts like friendship, identifying happyness and sadness in others and a miriad of other skills just from watching these shows. ::)'s

kids tv ahh i hate it my eldest is now 2 and hes only just been allowed to watch it i refuse to allow most but have come around to in the night garden infact we discussed this last night, i agree they appear to be making silly noises but the voice over is talking english with i think mac is taking in unknown to him self he sees coulerful images and what appears to be silly noises that got his attention maybe it works in much the same way as lisening to hypnotherapy tapes while you sleep and they have been proven to be effective for revision is that it?

i dont think it does any harm and it has opened up oppertunity for talk between me and mac, just namimg coulers and objects we see for now ive made no effort to teach him macca pakka etc and dont intend to if its something he picks up then fine but teaching him useless words is a waste of time and serves no purpose in communication...

i dont think your thinking about this too deeply at all infact im relieved im not alone i analyze eveything from his diet to his toys which is anouther thing i wont buy the branded jim jams and trainers i find there poorer quality with a bigger price tag he can learn just as much from me making an effort and asking him what couler top he wants to wear today....ive seen kids obsessed by that all they say is im wearing bob the builder etc so in that sence thats holding them back.

mac watches about 3 hrs a week max if i cld find something he enjoyed more than in the night garden we'd switch but ts that or sponge bob at the times he can watch now that ones a mistery to me....lol

I think I probably agree with Lifes Good that tv is not the educator - it should be part of everything else that is going on around them.  We watch Night Garden - my toddler loves it, my preschooler hates it, but even they get bored with it - so much is repeated and is the same.  I don't particularly like it but I'm not the one watching it - generally I'm washing up or vaccuuming. 

My 2 have never had speech problems - they have a good vocabulary, talk constantly and can hold a conversation - in fact people often comment on my 2 year old and how advanced she is.  The only thing I can think of that would have caused that is constant interaction - talking to them, listening to them, reading stories many times a day, singing together etc.... ie people talking with them, not the tv.

Im not a fan of the night garden as they dont talk! Im not fussed if other aprents like the show, I do like Raggs as its got good stories behind it plus fun music.Each to their own

My Son, watches In the night garden and he loves, he is 14mths and so far I can see no problems with him.  Of course I don't let him watch it all the time.  But I can really see no problem with it.  I sometimes sit with him and talk to him about what is going on.

My nephew was a teletubbies junkie, watched it all the time and even had the videos of it.   He is now 5yrs old.  has had no speech problems what so ever and has grown up to be one of the loudest talkative kids I know. 

With these programmes, I guess it depends on how often they are watched, and wether you as a parent sit with them and talk to to your kids about the programme.

I have to admit that we have CBeebies on much of the time as I like background noise myself, but my solution was to chat away to my kids about what was on the box, so they werent just getting "eh-oh"  on it's own.

The producers of these two certainly know how to catch the attention of 1 year olds - S (1) is mesmerised by them, but E (6) finds them boring, so I guess that is the kind of age they're aimed at. I certainly wouldnt advocate a diet of them, but occasionally is ok (though ITNG fries my brain, so I cant watch it, though I often get her to eat a healthy snack during it as she sits so still during it she will eat a whole banana).

The best childrens telly for my two IMO are Come Outside and Something Special - they seem to appeal to both my kids ages, AND I like them too (how many British parents & kids have not learned all about sewage from Aunty Mabel, eh?). S tries to copy Justin saying the words and E says the words while trying to do the signs.

I really don't like shows like that, but I think they are aimed more at imagery then the actual speech.. Or at least I like to think so.. Keeps me sane if I see it..  I don't usually let my son watch shows like this unless we have come down to watch telly and it is on before I have time to change the channel..

But I believe in my sons case more DVD's then anything have been a big help in his language development due to the fact that he is learning two languages at once and seems to have a really good grasp on any language I speak to him at the time.  He watches more telly these days then he did before, but usually one or two shows while I cook dinner, or if he is sitting with Papa if he gets home in time to spend some time before bed.  Most of the shows he watches are pretty educational.

But I find telly tubbies rather pointless and annoying.. But I can't remember what it is like to be a three year old so I guess there is something amusing in there... Ahhh they give me the irrets...

Time for telly bye bye... AHHHHHH

Hi there,

I have real issues when it comes to both the teletubbies and the Night garden . .  Why? Well its because I have seen way to many children making noises instead of talking. This is something I have discussed with my nephew's speech therapist and she agrees that these programs are okay for the occasional use (like 1once a fortnight) but they are not really any good for children if they are watching them all the time or frequently.

My middle girl D was never allowed to watch 'teletubbies' when she was little but a few of my friends allowed their children to watch it and sadly most of them ended up needing help with speech . . There are many good childrens programs available out there without having to use 'telebtubbies' or 'the night garden' . . .

This is just my opinion . . S2 loves to watch "in the night garden' but I only allow her to watch it around once a fortnight and interestingly she only uses sounds instead of speech after watching this program . .

Cheers Kellz

Oh and MrsSanders is a speech therapist, she would be the most qualified to help shed light here...

I guess a balance maybe. For me I think its okay to consider programs that make noises are age appropriate first, as well as stimulating other parts of the brain. Maybe for speech if your intutition  is to introduce talking and conversation programs early, then this maybe an area of the brain that needs stmulating. I also found, I am an intravert, so when I am at home I am very relaxed, I find myself not talking, so I have to for me make an extra effort to explain everything, which is a challenge at times...hope this helped a little...maybe flash cards work better than shows with noises or better still you could try and talk about what each noise is and why they are making the noise, would be what speech therapist would be telling me...hope this helped :0)