Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Babies and Television

53 replies

Zideq · 04/08/2011 07:48

Hi,

My DS is 7 weeks old while he doesn't really watch the television he sometimes stares at it etc. Is it harming his development in any way?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
PIMSoclock · 04/08/2011 10:25

Seriously?!?
Fast images that upset neural connections??
In a babies tiny unmylonated brain it could be suggested that any kind of stimulation could upset their delicate synapses.
FGS, let's be reasonable. TV is not the work of Satan.
In terms of evidence to support?
How many mnetters have been exposed to tv at a young age and gone on to achieve great practical and academical qualifications.
I certainly have!

Seriously, don't panic! Everything in moderation and you won't go far wrong Grin

pinkgirlythoughts · 04/08/2011 10:26

I know of very little 'scientific research' showing that TV harms tiny babies' brain development, but, as Zideq shows, there is evidence to show a co-relational, rather than a causal, relationship (i.e. children who were exposed to more TV were also slower to develop language skills, but the one didn't 'cause' the other). And I speak as someone with a degree in Early Childhood Studies, who- shock, horror! -occasionally lets her baby watch music channels while I go and do the washing up. I think if you Google something like that, you will find all sorts of unscientific, scaremongering stuff designed to prey on the worries of first-time mums.

ScarlettCrossbones · 04/08/2011 10:32

Sorry, bit of x-posting going on there!

It just baffles me why people are looking for loopholes in the evidence in order to justify continuing to show their DC television. If there's any doubt at all, why take the risk? Would your life really be so bereft without TV? Why all these attempts to massage the evidence so you can tell yourselves "Ah, it's really not that bad, is it?"

Anyway, the evidence (some of it!):

www.whitedot.org/issue/iss_story.asp?slug=ADHD%20Toddlers

blog.cleveland.com/health/2008/12/television_is_harmful_to_babie.html

www.news.com.au/features/study-finds-tv-bad-for-baby-brain-development/story-e6frfl49-1225720060790

www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/life-style/5268118/Mounting-evidence-TV-shows-bad-for-babies

slartybartfast · 04/08/2011 10:35

i can't STAND tv being on in day time.
whats wrong with radio and/or music.

FjorgynAndHotWater · 04/08/2011 10:37

talia I just meant that those who say 'we have the telly on all day but don't watch it - it's just for background noise' then why not turn it off and put the radio on. Not everything has to be 'educational' surely Confused

slartybartfast · 04/08/2011 10:37

i think penelope leach touches on the Radio subject it in her book - music vs words.
but i can't remember, i think it was background music was better for babies.

is it a class thing?

worldgonecrazy · 04/08/2011 10:37

Some research here This Science Daily page also has links to several other research papers regarding young children and television. In the couple I looked at, adjustments had been made for socio-economic background etc.

And Links to more research studies here

FjorgynAndHotWater · 04/08/2011 10:37

I agree slarty!

FjorgynAndHotWater · 04/08/2011 10:40

BTW my DC1 didn't watch TV until she was at least 1, but obviously DC2 started at a much earlier age... I am not precious about TV but much prefer to have radio/music on during the day and my DC have a v eclectic taste in music now Smile

pommedechocolat · 04/08/2011 10:41

Right. But isn't the main bit of bf-ing advice (another big subject with lots of 'research' and people throwing 'papers' at you constantly around here). Watch dvds/tv and eat cake?! So therefore a 7 week old would be exposed to the telly.

Everything in moderation and in moderation everything.

Taila · 04/08/2011 10:45

FjorgynAndHotWater- oh gods no! Definately, not everything has to be educational. What I mean by that is if I have the choice between say 'lady gaga' and mickey mouse counting, I personally would rather have my child listening to counting instead of bad romance lol

In addition, when you have something on all day it looses its novelty. If I were to have the radio on all day, then my dance partner might not be so interested in 'shakin our booties' And then what excuse would have to look as silly as I do bouncing around the house!? Surely, the cat wouldnt be impressed if I were to dance with her Grin

Momo36 · 04/08/2011 11:06

Mothers will NEVER agree on this subject as it is a personal choice for all of us to make.

One of the quoted articles said this:

Does TV affect children's brain development?
With television programs?and even a cable channel?designed and marketed specifically for babies, whether kids under two years of age should be watching becomes an important question. While we are learning more all the time about early brain development, we do not yet have a clear idea how television may affect it. Some studies link early TV viewing with later attention problems, such as ADHD. However, other experts disagree with these results. One study found that TV viewing before age three slightly hurt several measures of later cognitive development, but that between ages three and five it slightly helped reading scores [11].

The American Academy of Pediatrics takes a "better-safe-than-sorry" stance on TV for young children [12].

"It may be tempting to put your infant or toddler in front of the television, especially to watch shows created just for children under age two.

But the American Academy of Pediatrics says: Don't do it!

These early years are crucial in a child's development. The Academy is concerned about the impact of television programming intended for children younger than age two and how it could affect your child's development. Pediatricians strongly oppose targeted programming, especially when it's used to market toys, games, dolls, unhealthy food and other products to toddlers.

Any positive effect of television on infants and toddlers is still open to question, but the benefits of parent-child interactions are proven. Under age two, talking, singing, reading, listening to music or playing are far more important to a child's development than any TV show."
FjorgynAndHotWater · 04/08/2011 11:06

talia I agree with you re lady gaga who should be shot Grin

Zideq · 04/08/2011 11:07

Scarlett do you have any links?

OP posts:
ScarlettCrossbones · 04/08/2011 11:09

? Have posted some upthread Zideq! Good ones from worldgonecrazy too.

Flowerface · 04/08/2011 11:10

Other music is available!!

PIMSoclock · 04/08/2011 11:15

They are some of the most unscientific papers I have ever seen!
They are observational! They can report relationships in anything... Probably found that kids who watched tv had bigger feet too, how does that prove that tv caused it????
Just because there is a correlation in something does not mean that one causes the other.
And seriously?!! A 5%increase in bmi,
So if the average adult BMI Was 20 a 5% increase is still in the healthy zone!
Those figures are worse than meaningless, they are misleading as the study is not powered to be statistically significant!
It tells you nothing about the other potential variables that could have affected these numbers
It really frustrates me that people assume that ALL articles they read are the god given truth and the writers can't possibly have any motivation to present anything other than the facts!
The fact that studies are looking for an association makes them biased from the outset. It is easier and much more objective to disprove a null hypothesis than prove a positive one.
If you have Any objective research to support ur point I'd be delighted to read it!
Otherwise, please stop posting misleading information

Zideq · 04/08/2011 11:15

Apologies I din't see the second page.

OP posts:
Zideq · 04/08/2011 11:30

PIMSoclock, I total agree and second the call for some objective peer reviewed research that supports a negative impact of TV viewing on children.

OP posts:
worldgonecrazy · 04/08/2011 11:39

Not all peer reviewed research but you may find what you're not looking for here:

www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tvc.htm#ref52a

If you read to the end of the Science Daily links (rather than just skim reading the stuff written for non-science bods such as myself) it also tells you what the studies were and where they can be found (again mostly peer-reviewed sciency stuff).

PIMSoclock · 04/08/2011 11:49

I did read to the end, all the way to this..
Linda S. Pagani, Caroline Fitzpatrick, Tracie A. Barnett, Eric Dubow. Prospective Associations Between Early Childhood Television Exposure and Academic, Psychosocial, and Physical Well-being by Middle Childhood. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2010; 164 (5): 425 DOI: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.50

That's how I knew the quality of this was questionable. The name of the study is inherently biased, and it is observational. It can not prove a causal link!

PIMSoclock · 04/08/2011 11:50

And just because something is peer reviewed doesn't mean it can prove a causal link either

PIMSoclock · 04/08/2011 11:57

The references from your second article are weak at best and outdated. If you want a critique of each individual one I'd be more than happy to oblige.
That article uses lots of words like 'association' but you won't find any 'direct casual relationships' that's because none of the studies are able to prove that.
The phrase 'more research is needed to establish the exact nature of the link' about sums it up.
The scientific evidence is not very scientific and proves nothing

EdithWeston · 04/08/2011 12:04

I suppose it depends, to a certain extent, on how many children you have. My third was certainly "watching" TV from a shockingly young age.

And I suspect it's more widespread than people generally admit to.

tigerlillyd02 · 04/08/2011 12:16

I was against tv mostly for my lo until I stumbled across Mr. Tumble! That is so educational, he loves it and he's learning, bit by bit, sign language! Oh, and I'm learning with him! At 20 months he sings the hello and goodbye songs more or less perfectly too. I'd say it's done him more good than harm.

Before I came across this though we did watch some dvds together occasionally - Teletubbies (which again had him counting to 4 at 12 months old) and really brought on some good speech as he attempted singing the songs so early on and also Mickey Mouse which I'm not convinced he learnt anything from other than the word "hotdog!".

I use television as another form of education - and it works well! On Tuesday, I'd finished re-decorating my kitchen and it has a multicoloured theme with spots etc and he saw it and exclaimed "Mommy, look! Mr. Tumbles spotty kitchen". Made me smile as I knew he understood what look and spotty meant, he had managed to associate it with that he'd learnt from tv, and his speech was fantastic. For this reason, I will continue to allow him to watch this particular programme.