It is no secret that babies need humans more than they need television and gadget screens. Did you know that too much TV viewing can cause serious damage to your toddler?
UNICEF shares that allowing babies and toddlers to watch too much TV can cause negative effects ranging from a shorter attention span to lower empathy.
Healthline lists the following factors that may result from watching too much TV.
It may impact a baby’s brain development – Research from a 2019 study looked at 47 healthy children, ages three to five years old, who viewed screens more than the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended guideline of one hour a day. The study found that these preschool-age children had “lower measures of microstructural organisation and myelination of brain white matter tracts that support language and emergent literacy skills and corresponding cognitive assessments.” The authors say that given the results of this study, they can speculate that before age five — when brain networks are developing rapidly — caution with screen time is warranted.
It may cause speech and expressive language delays – Placing a baby in front of a screen is enough to delay language development, according to 2017 research. That’s in part because babies who listen to what is coming from a screen are passively receiving information rather than actively participating with a parent or caregiver. Even if your home TV is on in the background, parents may tend to talk less to their infant, which negatively impacts language development.
It may impact sleep – The AAP says increased use of media exposure in early childhood is associated with fewer minutes of sleep per night. Moreover, they point out that infants exposed to screen media in the evening have shorter sleep durations than infants with no evening screen exposure.
Also see: 5 Ways to comfort baby during loadshedding
