this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2025
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Parenting

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[–] Smokeless7048@lemmy.world 10 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I mean, yea?

We watch sesame street and spiderman and friends on youtube

[–] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 0 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I haven't kept up but can you still watch eastern european spiderman impregnate Big Bird?

[–] Smokeless7048@lemmy.world 1 points 27 minutes ago

No clue. If you are into that, go watch it.

[–] gustofwind@lemmy.world 18 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

It’s phrased like the child has the control here

Correct headline: 62% of parents let/make their 2 and under children watch YouTube

[–] l_isqof@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

Even a 2yo has an opinion, you know. You may not like it, but they still do, surprisingly...

[–] Prunebutt@slrpnk.net 10 points 19 hours ago

Miss Rachel has content for under two year olds. But that's supposed to be watched together with a parent (or some other guardian).

[–] msokiovt@lemmy.today 10 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

This is extremely wrong on so many levels. No kid should be using tech until they're much, much older.

[–] PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

We watch YouTube on the tv without ads, it's not any different than any other streaming service.

[–] ieGod@lemmy.zip 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Other services aren't pathalogical about their algorithms, queues, and automatic content playing as YouTube though. AFAIK, no other service will auto play videos outside the specific series you've selected.

[–] PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

Auto play is an option on smarttube. You can also just go to the subscriptions feed and just watch what you're subscribed to or search. We watch Blippi and Danny Go without signing in for example.

[–] msokiovt@lemmy.today 3 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

How are you able to do this without ads? Are you using an Invidious frontend or something along those lines?

[–] Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 3 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

A designated Kids YouTube profile has no ads. They're not allowed to collect data on under 13s, legally, so targeted ads aren't allowed. They're a sub account attached to your parents account.

[–] PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Smartube app on Android TV box, it also has built in sponsor block. I also removed all of the apps that the box came with, changed the front end and changed to an ad blocking DNS so that it's just the apps that I want on there and no ads anywhere.

[–] msokiovt@lemmy.today 1 points 1 hour ago

I've heard about Smartube for an Invidious frontend, and it's really nice for sure. I know Roku has Playlet, and it's still on the Roku app ecosystem to this very day.

[–] oeuf@slrpnk.net 4 points 18 hours ago

It's kind of amazing how captivating it is for our toddler just looking at family photos on a screen, and it adds weight to my theory that light-emitting colour screens themselves have a baseline addictive quality.

[–] twinnie@feddit.uk 4 points 20 hours ago

I let my kid watch sensory videos when she was a baby. The when she was older I let her sometimes watch educational stuff. It doesn’t mean she was watching AI slop or let her choose what to watch.

[–] volvoxvsmarla@sopuli.xyz 2 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

We showed our kid a 5-8 minute cartoon in the morning and in the evening at under 2. It was the only way to brush her teeth. Was I proud of it? No. Was it educational? No. Is it the best way to brush teeth? No. Did she have the shiniest teeth on the block? Absolutely yes.

I prefer the little harm of letting her watch The Little Mole on Youtube twice a day at 18 months old over having cavities or using force to brush her teeth. For months and months we tried every other method there is and eventually gave up and tried the TV.

[–] Botanicals@lemmy.world 3 points 17 hours ago

Oh my God this is the only way I can clip my son's nails. He's the same age. Solidarity!

[–] expr@programming.dev 1 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

Yeah only time my 2 year old son watches a YouTube video is when brushing his teeth.

I think there's nothing wrong with that at all. Screentime is fine in limited, intentional doses with clear boundaries (and shows that are not complete dogshit, like Paw Patrol). Because we limit screen time, he's very excited to brush his teeth because he gets to watch a short cartoon video. I think it's much more problematic when it becomes a regular thing during the day, especially at mealtime. I see parents at restaurants with their kid glued to an iPad for an hour and it's depressing.

[–] Maestro@fedia.io 2 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Try "Bluey" and "Blaze and the monster wheels"

[–] fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 2 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

It's more a consequence of parents not.having someone to watch the kid so they can go to a restaurant. It's awfully boring for a kid to sit through

[–] pulsewidth@lemmy.world 3 points 10 hours ago

Being bored is very important for children's development. It teaches them to use their imagination and emotional regulation.

Some suggestions for bored kids at the bottom of this article. https://theconversation.com/parents-you-dont-always-need-to-entertain-your-kids-boredom-is-good-for-them-136383