Researchers at the University of Washington recently released a study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, that found popular baby videos, like “Baby Einstein” and “Brainy Baby” may actually hinder language development in babies 8 to 16 months old. The research team led by Frederick Zimmerman and Dr. Dimitri Christakis found that with every hour per day spent watching baby videos and DVDs, infants learned six to eight fewer new words than babies who did not watch videos.
These videos are marketed to parents who want to give their babies a boost. What parents really need to do is listen to the top pediatricians in our country. Way back in 1999, the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) released a statement advising that children under should not be exposed to any electronic entertainment – that includes so-called educational videos and DVDs
Despite evidence that screen time is not good for babies, Christakis and his colleagues found that by three months, 40 percent of babies are regular viewers of DVDs, videos or television; by the time they are two years old, almost 90 percent are spending two to three hours each day in front of a screen.
Christakis says the only thing baby DVDs are doing is producing a generation of overstimulated kids. His group found the more television kids watch, the shorter their attention span.
After this study came out, Disney (the makers of Baby Einstein) criticized the researchers saying they lumped Baby Einstein with all other baby DVDs and videos. That may be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that screen time isn’t good for babies.
When the AAP made its recommendation of no screen time for children under two, it was based in part on the way baby’s brains mature, in response to environmental stimuli. “Stimuli that optimize the development of brain architecture include interaction with parents and other humans manipulation of environmental elements like blocks or sand and creative, problem-solving activities,” according to The Effects of Electronic Media on Children Ages Zero to Six: A History of Research, 2005, Kaiser Family Foundation. The KFF has been pushing for more research on the effects of early media use for years.
Parents who want to help their babies build their brains, basically need to go back to the old time-tested methods – talking to their babies, reading to their babies and letting them explore the real world.
“What made Einstein notable was his capacity to imagine, imagination being the creation of mental images not generated by the sensory system. Descriptive language is the primary and perhaps the only stimulus that develops this capacity, not pictures flashing on a screen,” writes Michael Mendizza, Just Say No to Baby Einstein, www.ttf.com
