Much has been written and said about the effects of letting babies under the age of 2 watch TV or videos. Most experts seem to agree that television is not beneficial to babies’ cognitive development below the age of 2. I think its important though to point out two things about these studies:
- There is a correlation vs. causation factor to consider, as you can assume that households that let their babies watch TV regularly may in general by interacting with their babies less than households that don’t allow this – even when the child is not watching TV. This can have an impact which may be significant in also reducing the child’s measured cognitive development.
- There is no direct evidence of specific harms that watching television has on a babies’ mental development. What we have are primarily correlations, that babies that watch more TV tend to exhibit lower scores than babies that don’t – but there are few specific arguments as to exactly why this is.
As many moms who are busy do give in to preoccupying their child’s time for an hour or two with the television, I can see why some might feel guilty about doing this. It seems that the evidence is not conclusive on this issue, but overall that the #1 key to a young baby’s cognitive development is human interaction and playing. The more a baby plays and explores new things, the more she will learn and grow. TV can be a useful tool to use on a limited basis to keep a parent’s sanity, but should be used with caution and minimized when possible.
