Thursday, 05 March 2009
-
Infant TV Watching Can be Harmful
by Nurse Jenna 
It's called the "boob-tube" for a reason and it is the wrong kind of boob that should be feeding your baby--your baby's brain, that is. A study just came out from Harvard and Children’s Hospital in Boston that children do not benefit, and could be hindered, by the educational videos designed for infants. Despite the claims by Baby Einstein and the like, childrens’ cognitive funtion is not improved by media stimulation as an infant. Some studies show that infants placed in front of the television, even with the so-called educational videos, can show a delay in their development. These programs have been found to be a poor substitute for personal interaction with a baby such as singing, or playing.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children should not be entertained by screen time under the age of 2 years old. Children who have been exposed to TV viewing have shown to display a lower level of visual, motor and vocabulary skills than children who were not exposed to TV as an infant. The degree to which this has on long-term advancement has not been determined, but some see infant TV viewing as the formation of a TV-watching habit that can influence childhood obesity and cause other negative consequences down the road.
Nonetheless many parents are happy with the available educational media and feel it is something to engage their baby while they are taking much needed breaks throughout the day. Critics say it is electronic babysitting that begins at an early age and continues with TV watching and excessive computer use as children get older.
Did/do you use any media designed for infants? What type of limits do you set for your children on their time spent with technology i.e. games, TV, or the internet?
-
recommend
- recs 0
-
share
-
email
- sent 2
Related Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to momaroo's Momaroo Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in momaroo's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
About the Author
-
- From: NurseJenna
- Name: NurseJenna
- About Me: Hi Everyone, I'm a Registered Nurse in labor and delivery and also a Family Nurse Practitioner. I'm here to offer any advice or answer questions about pregancy, labor and delivery, or your newborn. I hope your find my suggestions helpful whether you are awaiting your little one, or trying to get a good night's sleep after coming home. Please feel free to ask me any questions and I will do my best to get you the answer, or at least let you know where to find it.
Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 22 Views: 0 50665 Comments: 0 774 View all posts by NurseJenna
Comments (33)
Haha, is it ironic that as I read this my 15-month-old is sitting in front of the TV?
I honestly don't like letting her watch much and she doesn't usually, but sometimes I just need 20 minutes to myself. It's usually a last resort though.
Oh and the timestamp says it's 8:41 but it's actually only 7:41 here, which is why she isn't in bed yet...
I'm pretty sure everyone knows its bad to let kids start watching TV at a young age, and in peoples minds they probably tell themselves stuff like "I wont let my kid watch TV until they're 4,5,6,7,8!" or something.
But really, its kinda bullshit. Unless you really are just a stay at home mom, you are probably too busy and tired to keep them entertained 24/7. Of course, Im not saying being a stay at home mom is easy, they need breaks too!
If this were a perfect world all TVs and Computers (and anything else in the like) would be turned off until a child is at appropriate age. But that isn't gonna happen. I'm sure over 90% of parents will let their infant/toddlers watch TV or do something electronic-wise sooner or later. Whether it be because their busy or because they're taking a much needed breath.
While I didn't try to shield my kids from that television that would pick up, I didn't specifically let them watch TV until 18 months and even then it was pretty sporadic.
My older boys, 3 and 5 years old, watch about 2 hours of TV a day (1 movie) and may spend half an hour on the computer. They are pretty self regulating with it, when their movie is over they turn it off and go play.
My son loves Elmo, he is 18 months old, and he watches elmo, and dances, sings along and repeats what he says.
I know I should not let him, but It is just something he enjoys. We normally watch it before bed time. Gives me time to unwind check my email.
He has a large vocabulary, is very social, interacts with children well.
MY SON IS 6 MONTHS. AND ENJOYS LOOKIN AT THE DIFFERENT COLORS ON THE T.V. AS HE GETS OLDER HE WONT BE ALLOWED TO WACH IT BUT AN HOURS OR SO EVERYDAY.
My son has loved TV since he was a newborn - if it was on, he turned his head toward it. We didn't have it on much, though. I did let him watch Baby Einstein videos (one per day, if that) because he loved them. He is a smart little boy who could recognize and say all of his letters before he was 21 months old. I don't think that a little bit of TV makes your kid stupid. Now he's almost 4 and he watches an average of about an hour per day (sometimes a bit more, sometimes none at all).
My daughter is almost 2 and has never cared for TV even a little bit. She has probably watched less than an hour of TV in her entire life. And she actually is less advanced (when it comes to letters, numbers, colors, shapes) than her brother is. Go figure.
It's so hard staying away from the television especially now that the weather is too cold to go outside. In the Spring/Summer the TV is hardly ever one. The TV is on a lot throughout the day but my 15 month old is usually busy playing with toys. There are a few shows he loves to watch and I'll let him. I don't really care what the "experts" say. I talk to my son a lot and play with him. He is extremely smart for his age. I'm not worried.
My daughter (16 months) has never watched TV. Well, she might've when someone else was watching her, but she doesn't at home. I figure that it'll be harder to keep our younger kids from watching it, though. It would be difficulty to let one kid watch TV and not the rest....
I'm going to preface this by saying that I personally don't believe that infants/children (or really anyone for that matter) need to watch tv.
BUT
I think you got your facts mixed up. The results of the study were that tv does no good or harm to babies. The study says that children who watched more tv scored lower on tests at age 3, but once those scores were adjusted for the mother's educational level, socioeconomic status, etc... the difference virtually disappeared. It was also noted that children of lower income families tend to watch more tv.
"The study of 872 children found no correlation between the amount of
time they had spent viewing television before they reached 2 years of
age and their progress at age 3."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29463687/
@neverdie373@xanga - What you are referring to was one component of the study. Another out of Harvard led researchers to conclude it could indeed be harmful. There are many studies about this topic. Either way, it was not found to be beneficial and some say potentially detrimental.
I think it's like anything else in parenting -- use your common sense. A little TV isn't going to hurt, too much is probably not a good idea. There is a lot of quality programming for toddlers and preschoolers, and they can actually learn quite a bit from watching, in moderation. My kids (who are now 7 and 5) both watched some of the Baby Einstein videos and enjoyed the stimulation. They are bright kids who had plenty of one-on-one attention then, and still do. There's nothing wrong with making television part of an overall responsible approach to parenting.
I don't know...maybe my children are just hyper or something but don't really watch it to much. I actually started turning it off all morning, so it doesn't distract me!! My 12 month old doesn't seem interested. My 5-year-old is home and might watch an hour here or there but prefers her toys and outside play. The others are just to busy jumping off the walls all day to sit down. Wait....maybe my children have to MUCH energy!!
I don't watch tv much myself, and do not expect to let my daughter, either.
When we visit my mother's (which is just about everyday) my daughter's eyes are instantly drawn to the tv when we lay her down. She'll be 3 weeks on Friday, so I dunno if this is what the article is talking about? Sure, we play with her, but holding the baby and giving attention to the baby every minute they're awake surely can't be good because then they'll expect it everyday until they're old enough to understand other things need to be done (which this type of understanding may not come until 6 or 7 years old). I don't use the tv as a source of keeping her entertained, but as she absorbs the world around her, sometimes the tv catches her eyes because there's movement, noise, and color.
Am I wrong for not moving her to where she can't see it?
We weren't allowed to watch more than 30 minutes of TV per day when I was younger, and my mother didn't even let us watch that until we were 5 or 6.
My siblings and I had to come to an agreement about which show we were going to watch.
My cousin wouldn't let her son watch TV until he was 2 years old. He's rather smart, at 3 years old his sentences were more like a child who was twice his age, but I don't know it that had to do with him not watching TV or if that's just him.
It helps that we don't own a TV (by choice), but my daughter (now 2) didn't watch too much of anything besides a few video clips when I really needed her to be occupied...and also videos of herself or family. I was very tempted with those "educational" dvds and toys, but I'm not a big fan of electronics (due to battery replacement costs) besides the laptop. haha When she does watch even a short clip, her eyes are just glazed over and she doesn't blink, like she's in a trance, so we won't be getting a TV anytime soon.
When I was growing up we didn't even have a TV in the mainroom of the house till my brother and I were three and five, and then we were only allowed 30 minutes a day. My mom got plenty of time to herself, we just learned to entertain ourselves. TV was just not a focal point of our lives ---- books were actually. I don't see why it's so hard to just turn it off and keep it off. Even now, I hardly watch TV. With a baby on the way (in less than three months!!!) I've already told my husband that we won't be letting him watch TV --- not until he is older. I just don't see the point of it.
a close friend of mine has a now two year old son who has been laid in front of the television - rather than being held, told stories to, or sang to - since he was four or five months old. a few weeks ago, i met one of my other friends' stepdaughter, who is a year and a half old.
despite the six month gap in their age, sadie can clearly express words like, "doggy," and ask for a refill of water. alex is just now starting to talk, and most of his words are nothing but vowels. he's also much more prone to temper tantrums and howling fits, and will have fits if you change the channel on a show he has interest in.
for her part, alex's mom STILL insists the television lets her get rest, and has actually put one in his room, that she doesn't supervise whatsoever. she's currently expecting her second baby, who will also sleep in that room.
i'm expecting my first child now and have no intentions of using the television as a substitute for real attention.
eh. my daughter watches tv while I'm doing homework (i work part time and am college and husband is frequently away on business)but every chance I get I sing along with the tv or talk to her and half the time she's not even looking at it. I'm positive its just about parenting. However that may work. The kids shows will definitely hold her interest a little bit better than NCIS, tho. And the guys from Imagination Movers are adorable.
@NurseJenna - Would you mind directing me to the study you read? I'm actually working on a paper for this right now and would like to read up about it as much as possible.
Our afternoon feeding schedule seems to line up with 'Clifford the Big Red Dog'...the color of which draws Megan's attention and the cute little story line can usually distract me while I'm waiting for her to finish. I've used one of the shows as background noise to sing and dance with her, too, but she isn't really watching it during that time...it is just background noise.
I can see how a lot of parents would get so in the habit of using it as a babysitter...it would hold her attention for longer than the twenty minutes or so (she's still staring at it when I turn it off to get up), then we put all this pressure on ourselves to be Super Woman, and time freakin' flies when you're busy with something... I'll get busy cleaning while Megan is napping, before I know it it's 2 hours later and she's awake while it feels like she just fell asleep! I think it's important to realize that we're moms first and everything else is secondary; cleaning, "me" time, etc..
Both of my children (ethan-2 and Alexandria 9 months) watch tv.but not very much...and its only sesame street or anything on noggin.I'm a stay at home mom,so generally I'll turn the tv on first thing in the morning while im getting breakfast together.They watch tv right before naps,usually one episode of elmo.if it wasnt for the tv though,I wouldnt be able to take a shower untill my husband got home
Autumn watches a ton of tv, but she started daycare today, so she won't be watching as much, and now that it's warmer here in the sunshine state, we will be spsending our time outdoors more often, going canoeing, swimming, hiking and whatever else we can think of. : )
Did I mention tv has not affected her intelligence at all? She watches everything of every type like the other family members, and she is actually ahead of her age group in many tasks.
We are very selective about our TV use. I do own various Baby Einstein videos and do use them from time to time (maybe once a month on average??) for 20 minutes at a time. Often times I am with the kids in the room and we talk about what is on the video (the ones for older kids anyway). Even the older kids don't really watch a lot of TV. We choose educationally entertaining videos if they do watch. Some days they get no TV, others they get 20 minutes to an hour. Or we'll sit and watch a Movie together. TV in itself isn't "bad", I think there are lots of educational and fun things that are fine for kids to watch, but all in moderation. There were times when the kids were watching more TV than they are now and I can say their imaginations weren't engaged as much and they played differently than they do now.