I was one of those moms who vehemently stated that my child would follow the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines and not have any developmentally destructive “screen time” before age 2.
That assertion lasted until I gave birth when zoning out in front of the television was one of the few things that didn’t send my post-partum-depressed self reaching for the Xanax. During that first winter, watching movies with my husband while endlessly nursing my newborn became a regular activity. With Sofie’s limited infant vision, I didn’t feel terribly anxious about it then.
However, when her television consumption steadily grew over the next 18 months, so did my guilt.
It began with intense crying bouts of nighttime teething during which we quickly learned that a Baby Einstein video (shower gift from wiser friends) was one of the only things that would calm my daughter. Too easily, Baby Einstein went from teething distraction to give-me-enough-time-to-make-dinner babysitter to Mommy-just-needs-a-break! video madness. Of course, I felt like a bad mom. Where did my initial resolve go?
And why does the AAP advise against screen time? What’s the harm of television for children under two?
Research has shown that age period to be a most significant one in the brain’s development; television images can confuse and slow that growth, especially in areas of language development and reading. Studies show that babies and toddlers learn best from human interaction and unstructured play. Screen time is like mental junk food for their brain.
I’d love to say that we bit the bullet and locked the TV in a closet for two years, but we didn’t. Instead, we screened Sofie’s shows and tried to maintain some standards.
You can’t go wrong with Sesame Street an educational show that stands the test of time. Dora The Explorer, with its focus on animals and exploring the environment, gained our parental approval. I remember watching a Dora episode with Sofie in which she learned how to recognize ecological landmarks, say “mudslide” and bleat like a mountain goat. All good things.
In contrast, my husband banned Bob The Builder after previewing an episode in which Bob and friends recklessly dug up acres of coastal land, undoubtedly destroying several ecosystems in the process. Definitely not the kind of message we wanted our daughter to internalize.
As a family, we regularly followed only one show at the time—American Idol—a choice I rationalized as “music appreciation” while our musically-inclined daughter would sing and clap along.
While I still struggled internally with the fact that Sofie watched television before age two, I knew she watched far less than many other children. And I made sure to balance her screen time with plenty of unstructured play including reading, drawing, building, dancing and, like Dora, exploring the great outdoors.
The fact that we usually watched and discussed the shows as a family makes a big difference from using television as babysitter or as constant background noise. Today, of course, there are tablets and phones to add to the “screen time” worries of parents. I applaud those parents who do follow the AAP guidelines, as they are made of stronger stuff than I. I am glad we only had the TV to contend with when my daughter was young.
Now that she is seven, I can see that some early exposure did not harm her development. Sofie was speaking in full sentences before she could walk and now devours chapter books in one sitting. TV and videos are still a part of our family life, but not a big part. I guess we approach this “mental junk food” the way we approach edible junk food—everything in moderation.
You can download this “Green Time vs. Screen Time” tool from Nature Play to see how your child’s screen time compares to outdoor activities.
What are your thoughts? How do you handle TV and young children?
This post is featured on Thank Your Body Thursday, Party Wave Wednesday and Tuned-In Tuesday.
Sources:
http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/Babies-and-Toddlers-Should-Learn-from-Play-Not-Screens.aspx
http://www.healthychildren.org/english/family-life/media/pages/why-to-avoid-tv-before-age-2.aspx
I had read the same research and had the same goals. However, my mother-in-law watched our son when I returned to work and she put on tv at times so it was out of our hands. Regardless, like you, we kept it to a minimum. With a second child though, it’s even harder to keep her from watching tv. Our son now gets to watch a half hour show before his bedtime routine. It is near impossible to not let her watch. She wants to be where he is. Also, like you, we figure we do a lot of other things, so a little tv won’t make or break our kids (fingers crossed, ha, ha)!
Hi Renata, We also had a similar issue with relatives and caretakers who had the TV on as background noise. It must be so much harder to manage TV with two!
We got rid of our television entirely when our first daughter was born and I must admit that it is a huge relief. We don’t watch it, they don’t watch it. In general, we spend more time with each other without TV distracting us. In the evenings we read long books, play cards or games and just hang out together. It’s certainly not blissful or easy (truly, I’d love to have the TV babysit them when they’re arguing with each other!). However, we have to work through those ugly squabbles that we’d rather leave to the TV to numb for us.
Educational programs are not so educational, unless you consider your children getting roped into consumer culture “educational.” Dora was designed by corporate folks to have those large eyes to appeal to youngsters. Once one opens the door to Dora, one needs all the gear, including the underwear to go with it. Elmo? So innocent. Reading “Buy, Buy Baby” made me see him differently! We do not buy any TV branded toys. None. If we receive them as gifts, we donate them (most of them are made of yuck plastic from China anyhow, as if being a character didn’t already downgrade it enough).
Also, after getting my Master’s in Education, I had read enough to know that television wasn’t as educational in any sense as we had hoped (dang for that quiet moment to cook dinner!).
I hear you, we all need more help though!
I really admire your dedication to no TV, Jennifer. You’re so right about the licensed character craziness - I hated when my daughter went through the Disney princess phase. We avidly avoided all things princess yet she discovered it through friends at daycare and then my mom fed her desire. Even though Dora seemed more acceptable to us, she is still a consumerist ploy. Makes one wish for the days before television and advertising!
Oh yes, the Disney princesses are inescapable. I trained the grandparents early on that all character toys will be donated. It’s hard to un-do it once it starts, especially if one has two or more children. My 6-year-old knows all about them even though we don’t do any of it at home. It’s fine. I know about (and really like!) lots of things in the world that I don’t bring home too.
On Sunday evenings I let my older daughter watch some animal you-tube videos and now (go figure) my toddler (nearly 2) is all about “Hair washing” In her two year old way she says, “Dah-wah (the way she says her sister’s name), wash hair, lay-down, tub, Zin-nah (her name), wash-wash, AND watch baby-rangotan!!” She would have her hair washed 7 times a week to watch the baby orangutan video. Ugg. Then come the negotiations about how many you-tube videos and it’s left me wishing I never opened that door-or at least opened it a little later. Better not to be negotiating things like that on home ground! Then when they go to their friends’ houses for playdates and other parents park them in front of Dora for two hours I won’t mind so much!
If I had to back pedal and do some of it over, I wouldn’t make a peep that the computer has video capability! However, hair washings used to be a real bear and the following hair brushing even more traumatic, so I guess it’s a trade!
Oh that’s cute though, how she wants to wash hair and see the baby orangutans! It is hard to go back once you’ve introduced something, but you’re right about the trade-off. I did get necessary things done during those moments she watched Dora.
My son is six and I’ve noticed when he/we watch an education show, if there are nonsense commercials, it creates unruly behavior. So, I try to DVR shows and fast forward through commercials, choose channels without commercials (Disney Jr is the only one I’ve found) or watch a movie on a family network (HBO Family channel), and we do DVDs too.
I also have a rule “screen time = play / learn / exercise time.” However many hours put into the play / learn / exercise time, he can get up to that amount of screen time. Most of the time, he doesn’t watch TV at all and the bed time routine is so much better! But this give us an idea of how much to watch. And, I also don’t allow him to watch inappropriate shows (geared towards adults).
Great ideas, Jessica! I really like the screen time=play/learn/exercise rule.