top of page
Search
Writer's pictureGeorgie
Feb 20, 201910 min read

Screens and babies: curse in disguise?


Honesty above all, right? Yes. I have been in that dark place where I've handed my baby the tablet in order to sneak a snooze here and there. However, as I normally do when I start finding myself repeating an action, especially one that I really know is not good practice. I research to really convince myself to break the habit or to avoid a bad habit to begin with. I did this as a teacher, and of course I continue with this little research obsession as a parent. In 2017, a survey of media exposure in the United States revealed that on average, children from birth to 23 months old spend 42 minutes with screens a day. Most of this screen time (72%) is spent watching TV. Other surveys report that 92.2% of 1-year-olds have already used a mobile device, some starting as young as age 4 months (Hill, 2016). Screen time is a controversial issue, because as many other things that involve analyzing consequences on humans, there is little experimental research that can be done with real babies. However, there is general consensus about screen time and infants.


Tablets, phones, and screens in general are not intended for babies. American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants under 18 months have no screen time at all, which includes being in a place where a third person is watching a screen. Keep in mind that when television is on in the background it is usually not on with child-friendly content, making it pretty much incomprehensible for small children. However, their brains mays still be trying to process this information, and this overload of stimuli, may disrupt cognitive processing by preventing them to focus on things they should be doing such as exploration and play. In France, the government has updated their general guidelines about screen time and don't recommend it for children under three. So, here I am making a "public" pledge to avoid screens in front of my baby for as much as I can. First I'll briefly expose the reasons behind this decision and then how I intend to pull this off and third, I'll make a short list of situations where I will allow myself veto the no screen rule.


What is the big deal with handing your baby a screen? It is the holy grail of entertainment, and probably the only thing that won't bore them in 2 minutes, huh? You can't protect your child from all screens everywhere, right? Of course not. We already live in would where we can't avoid them, our lives are completely entwined with them. However, you can decide what goes on inside your home. Yes, you, and only you can decide that. The science behind the no-screen-policy has to do with basic brain development. Human brains are still growing and developing at high speed after birth. You baby is making sense of the world around her and needs to be exposed to real world stimuli in order for these connections to be made. As an article in Psychology Today states: the stimuli babies need from their environment are by no means found in screens, additionally they mention that there is a critical period for brain development as it is laying the foundation for prior functioning (especially vulnerable until 18 months), therefore you don't really want to include an activity that is not contributing to his or her healthy development. Basically, if you think about it, if your child is watching a screen, she or he is missing out on another more valuable opportunity to learn, even if the means picking lint off the floor or banging on the table with a spoon, literally, anything they do is better than staring at a screen.


Really? no TV even if they are not watching? Sounds a little extreme, right? Because it's not like I'm sitting them down to watch a whole movie, I'm just catching up on This is Us while I watch my baby play. Come on! Well, several studies tracking children over time have shown that exposure to background TV is associated with a negative effect on children’s language development, cognitive development, and executive functioning skills (an array of mental processes that help humans apply past experiences to present actions, this also includes the ability to plan, organize, strategize, and pay attention to and remember details). Additionally, the presence of background television is associated with poorer parent-child interaction. That is a no brainer if you think about it, you literally can't watch your baby and the TV at the same time. When the TV is on, both the quantity and quality of parent–child interaction is affected. It is common knowledge, due to extensive amount of research, how critical healthy parent–child interaction is optimum for overall child development.


Now, if you are thinking, as I tried to fool myself into thinking: but they are learning, because I'm giving them some educational video, or a nursery rhyme or program that swears they'll increase my baby's vocabulary. Errr! Definitely not intended for an infant under one and a half. Even though research shows that babies as young as 6 months old can imitate simple actions they see on TV, immediately afterward and even up to 24 hours later; and by 18 months, toddlers can remember brief sequences that they saw on TV for up to 2 weeks (so always be cautious about what they are watching). The amount of learning an infant can achieve from watching a screen is nothing, compared to what he or she could be learning by doing something non-screen related. This is true even for older children. Studies show that the same content transmitted in person is much, much, much for effective than via screen. Babies so young don't transfer meaning from screen to real world, but their brains might be overloaded by trying to make sense of what they are seeing. Saying that, it is possible for older children to learn via screens, and that will depend of the content and context of the media chosen, and even better when it's a shared activity with a caregiver or other person that can offer guidance. Yes, so even when they are older, media time should by no means become, a time off time for parents. At least I am planning to be really present and help my daughter shape her use of technology (whole new blog post about that in the future, because I am a believer that there is great content out there for when kids are older).


One last fact, it's something I learned when I saw in a french documentary called Digital Addicts. Did you know that media companies, hire neurologists and brain specialists to develop apps and videos that will trigger the release of dopamine in our brains? Dopamine is a chemical in our brains that aids us in regulating many things, such as: movement, attention, learning and emotional responses. It also allows to see rewards and to take action to move toward them. Dopamine contributes to feelings of pleasure and satisfaction and it plays a big part in addiction. App developers, video producers and social media companies hire special 'architects' to build media than will generate instant gratification. Mmm...Ever wonder why #babyshark, become so sticky? There's a whole science behind consumer behavior, and yes, that involves children as well. I think it's important to keep this in mind, especially in older children, teenagers and us, the adults.


I think the biggest issue is wether we as parents are prepared to "give up" the little free time handing over an iPad, tablet, or tuning on the TV, can give us, and moreover, if we ourselves are willing to give up our own screen time in order to give our children our undivided attention. And by that, I don't mean drop everything else you need to do in order to play enriching and stimulating activities with your baby 24/7. Once again, do what needs to be done, of course (we all know no one is going to do it for you), but keep in mind your baby is going to learn so much more from seeing you put the dirty plates in the dishwasher, than watching you scrolling down your Instagram. What message do we want to send our kids? Honestly, I think we need to stop and and ask ourselves: who has the screen problem? Most likely, at least in my experience the answer is: my husband and me. My child is still a baby, all she knows is what she sees from us. So far, it is clear as glass to her that our phones our probably our most valuable object. Anytime she has the chance to reach for it, she will. I mean, I am always reaching for it, right? #monkeyseemonkeydo


I read about an observational study Researchers at Boston Medical Center of 55 parents and their young children eating at fast-food restaurants. They found that 40 of the 55 parents used a mobile device during the meal. Moreover, they reported that the more time that parents interacted with mobile devices, the more likely their children were to act out. Well, of course, child is thinking: how am I going to compete for my parent's attention. That is exactly what I don't want, for my daughter to think she is at the same level of importance as my phone! Because even though she is obviously not, it might seem like that to her. Another important thing, imagine you are playing with your baby, but have your phone around... hey someone might message you, right? Might be important! That moment you are interacting, she is learning everything from you, including words, gestures, how to socialize. But you are only occasionally checking your phone. Listen to this, in one experiment, researchers asked mothers to teach their 2-year-olds two novel words. Mothers received a call that interrupted them while teaching one of the words, but not the other word. Children were significantly more likely to learn the uninterrupted word than the interrupted word. This finding remained despite the child hearing the novel word the same number of times in both conditions. Once again, it's not that checking your phone will cause some permanent damage to your child, but once again no-phone or no-distraction beats, phones and distraction.


Knowing all this. What am I going to do? Throw my phone out the balcony and pretend I live in 1995. How in the world am I going to make this work, even worst now that I've committed myself to this blogging endeavor... yikes. Well I've started simple, with a few sets of guidelines that will make my addiction a little less easy to satisfy.

  1. Leave my phone far away when I am interacting face to face with my daughter. I might hear the buzzing sound, but somehow standing up and going to pick up up gives me a pause and time to think of #priorities.

  2. Only post things when she is napping. Which leaves two small windows of opportunity, but hey, it will have to work.

  3. Take pictures with my DSLR camera instead of with my phone. Something as simple as this can buy me so much non-media time. (Videos are still an issue because my camera is so freaking old it doesn't record). So yes, when she is doing something super cute I will still run to my phone.

  4. I will allow myself to occasionally use my phone during the day, but I make sure it's not at her reach or it's not when I'm at the same physical level as she is, for example, if I'm standing and doing things in the kitchen counter I'll have my phone there. Or if she is playing on the floor and I'm sitting at the table I'll have my phone snuck somewhere and occasionally look at it when she's not watching me. (See how there is a real addiction problem on my side that I have to think about this)

  5. Once dad comes home from work, all phones go to a basket and we will have real family time. This one is tough but dad is getting better at this each day.

  6. No watching TV when Victoria is awake. Non what-so-ever.

  7. Only use computer at night time when she is sleeping, or if I really need to finish something urgent or work, then only use at dinner table while she is snacking. It's literally the only time when I can actually get 5 minutes of writing. Maybe.. on a good day.


Now, to every set of rules, there are exceptions.

1. I will receive calls. In case of an emergency I can call someone or, I can get a call. I've set them to come through our Alexa Echo ;) Therefore, no need to grab my phone.

2. Facetime, Whastapp Video calls with family and friends are my loophole. Even research states there is more benefit in interactions with family via web than no interactions at all. I am fond of this technology, since I am miles away from every family member we have. I must say, we Facetime everyday with at least someone. So it's a BIG loophole. The mini rule to that exception is that 2 hours prior to bedtime, Victoria can't see the screen. Blue light in screens appears to cause sleep disruptions in people.

3. Long car rides. If Victoria is losing her mind, we obviously can't strap her out of her car seat, so I have added a piece of thick velcro to her little rearview mirror and another piece to her tablet, and we always have a few episodes of Baby Einstein downloaded on the tablet.


4. We will do our absolute best to keep Victoria distracted with books and other arsenal of little toys we haul along with us when we are at a restaurant, but, once we are out of objects she is interested in, and she is having a tough time letting us eat. We will take out the tablet for her, however, this only applies if we are still eating, if we are finished, we'll take turns taking her on a walk or distracting her with something else. If we are done, and it's already been a while of us talking and having fun, I rather leave than take out the tablet. I really want my daughter to learn how to behave, participate of a conversation at the table and have proper manners, but, I can't pretend like she will be interested in brunching for as long as we are! So, yes, we will have the tablet there for "emergencies".

5. We've added a little super-bowl clause also, I'm allowing my husband to watch TV when it's a SUPER important game as the Super-Bowl or Peru is playing soccer - that we cannot miss.

Wish me luck. I'm certainly trying to do my best here, but I'm not bullet proof. I'll probably mess up plenty of times, hopefully that wont't involve me messing up my daughter too much in the process.

That's a little video of her being awesome at brunch...until she wasn't. She'll learn though, hopefully #fingerscrossed.


Some great reads below and articles that have the research I've pointed out.



Thanks for reading :)

 

References

124 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments

bottom of page