Turn Tots Off of TV
Forty percent of 3-month-old infants are regularly watching TV, DVDs or videos – a number that jumps to 90 percent by age two. Here’s how to break your little one of a bad TV habit
Andrew Meltzoff, professor of developmental psychology at the University of Washington has an interesting new toy for babies that he can guarantee they won’t choke on and won’t cost parents a dime.
He says that people are the baby’s most favorite toy.
According to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute, many parents are ignoring warnings from the American Academy of Pediatrics by allowing their very young children to watch excessive amounts of television, DVDs or videos.
“Babies learn a tremendous amount from little social games like pat-a-cake and building towers from blocks,” he says. “They love playing with balls that roll and pots and pans that make noise. Mostly, they like playing with objects that are the ones adults play with.”
Infants learn about social behaviors from merely watching adults interact, he says.
“They love a toy telephone because we have one,” he says. “They like pots and pans because they see us using them. They learn about the social rules, customs, and rituals of our culture by watching us, and they learn the language by listening to us.”
The support for educational television or DVDs for children may not even be very well grounded in facts, Meltzoff says.
“Many parents believe that they are providing educational and brain development opportunities by exposing their babies to 10 to 20 hours of viewing per week,” he says. “Yet there is no scientific evidence to support this.”
He adds that all the evidence suggests that babies like smiles, touches, cuddles, and they like to show and share things with their partners. People are friendly partners with whom to share. It’s hard to share with a TV.
“Think of TV or DVD time as subtracting time away from them learning about people and language,” he says. “TV may be visually engaging but the babies zero to two years old do not do their best learning from TV. They learn best from people and real objects.”
If and when parents need a short break, however, Fredrick Zimmerman, University of Washington associate professor of health services says, “A small quantity of viewing for an otherwise healthfully stimulated child will not ruin him or her for life. Strive for high-quality videos and limit viewing time.”
All scientific evidence aside, Zimmerman says, the benefits of this kind of interaction are important for parents as well.
“Just remember, videos and TV are not a good substitute for playing or reading,” he says. “There's a reason that those interactions are the precious memories all parents think fondly of later.”
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