Does Baby Einstein hurt more than help?
Categories: Newborns, Babies, Toddlers, Development, That's entertainment
In a new study, researchers have found that videos such as the "Baby Einstein" and "Brainy Baby" series may delay language development in toddlers. For every hour of watching the videos, children learned six to eight fewer words than children who did not watch any videos. The effect was most pronounced with infants eight to sixteen months old, when language skills begin to form.Findings such as this led to the American Academy of Pediatrics making the recommendation that no child under two watch any television at all. Dr. Dimitri Christakis of the University of Washington who co-led the study noted that "the majority of the videos don't try to promote language; they have rapid scene changes and quick edits, and no appearance of the 'parent-ese' type of speaking that parents use when talking to their babies." Parents, however, incorrectly assume that the videos will improve language skills, but it seems that may not be the case.
Certainly, no television is better than any television, but I have to wonder how these compare to other television, especially shows not intended for small children. How do they stack up, for example, against shows like Spongebob or even MTV or CNN? While my kids watched the Baby Einstein videos and, I feel, benefited from them, my first choice would have been to have them watch no telly at all; given that that was not an option, I think these sorts of videos are the best second choice.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jenn 8-08-2007 @ 2:15PM
Why is not watching TV not an option?
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Tara 8-08-2007 @ 2:22PM
I did not let my twins watch TV at all until they turned two. Contrary to popular belief, that is an option. I simply made the decision to not let them watch TV.
I don't know if it benefited or delayed their speech. I hope it was a benefit, because as a self proclaimed couch potato, it was HARD work to not watch TV while they were awake. Now that they are allowed to watch TV, they would almost rather not. I limit it to 2 hours a day, and most days don't come close to that limit. We're just too busy!
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Uncle Roger 8-08-2007 @ 2:41PM
For us, zero-TV was not an option because we simply could not afford for one of us to quit working and take care of them. We made the best of the situation we had, but it included some TV watching.
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Ethel 8-08-2007 @ 2:43PM
I am pretty sure television period is not a good thing. Kids need to be watching and listening to their parents talk, they need to be watching, listening and interacting with their parents or exploring their environment on their own.
Are you beginning to feel a little guilty about letting your kids watch television and are justifying by indicating "Well, it was Baby Einstein which is better then other television."?
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Sarah M 8-08-2007 @ 3:02PM
Okay, first of all, I am not a parent. I am, however, an SLP (Speech-Language Pathologist). I agree with the results of the study to a point. Clearly, if you park a kid in front of a video/DVD with absolutely no human interaction, they will gain little to no benefit from it. If, however, you sit with them and interact with them while watching it; then imagine the possibilities of all you can add. In addition, then you can focus on things that were in the DVD in your child's environment, reinforcing it all.
Even with all that, I can see how it may reduce the overall number of new words your child learns. However, the words they WILL know, will have a solid foundation complete with meaning as opposed to just being able to say a new word.
Bottom line, NEVER park your kid in front of a DVD that has the potential for incredible learning without you right there to help them learn it!
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Jenn 8-08-2007 @ 3:18PM
Fair enough, Roger. :)
I don't have a problem with people letting their children watch TV, and I don't really think that it makes you a horrible parent to allow your kids to watch the tube. My 2 year old watches some TV now (she didn't till not too long ago more out of her lack of interest than any serious effort on my part), and I'm not guilty about it in the slightest, and I don't think that it will affect her poorly. Just because she watches TV doesn't mean that I don't interact and play with her, and that she doesn't explore and learn from the real world around her.
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Amanda 8-08-2007 @ 3:23PM
too many parents are using the boob tube as a baby sitter. clearly the children in this study were, as Sarah M put it, left with very little human interaction.
My 30month old daughter LOVES her baby einstein tapes and really she just listens to them in the back ground while we are playing. Our personal favorite is the discovering water DVD because under the menu options is an 'aquarium' where they filmed beautiful fish in this huge aquarium and all you hear is beautiful classical music. I love to play that one for her while we rock in the living room, it puts us both straight to sleep!
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Amanda 8-08-2007 @ 3:24PM
oops I hit enter too soon! BTW she speaks as clearly if not better than most three year olds! We never used baby talk and we always speak very clearly to her and we taught her words ourselves. we didn't look to baby einstein to do anything other than entertain once in a while!
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AB 8-08-2007 @ 3:29PM
Actually, the researchers tested different kids of TV programs including educational, noneducational (SpongeBob, Toy Story) and adult (Simpsons, Oprah and sports.) The type of TV watched didn't make any difference -- if you're going to let them watch, educational TV is no better than SpongeBob. you can check out the full press release at the University of Washington:
http://tinyurl.com/2p5fg7
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roxy 8-08-2007 @ 3:32PM
I'm actually reading a book right now called The Plug-In Drug. It's a reprint and updated edition. The author urges no TV at all for young kids. He argues that content is totally irellevant- it's the state of consciousness that humans enter while passively watching TV that is harmful.
The AAP is usually a little slow to make proclamations- and is more permissive- than other international agencies, so when even they say no TV at all, I pay real attention.
That said, my caregiver (Molly's grandfather) watches all day long. I've begged him not to, and we have no other option for childcare, so she does see television. We've started keeping it off any time she's present in our home at least.
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Pops 8-08-2007 @ 3:37PM
Try reading the U of Washington article on the topic here: http://uwnews.washington.edu/ni/article.asp?articleID=35898
Also, here's a link to the actual study's abstract:
http://www.jpeds.com/article/PIIS0022347607004477/abstract
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M4Mommy 8-08-2007 @ 4:14PM
My daughter has been watching tv with me since she was born. Everything from reruns of ER (Clooney is sexy!) to All My Children in the afternoon.
Her speech has been clear since she began talking and her vocabulary rivals many 2nd graders. She still does not enjoy the Baby einstein dvds or even Sesame Street(sadly) But I do not just park her in front of the tv. I am always sitting right there with her. We discuss everything, always have.
I did have a child in my daycare though whose parents thought that parking her in front of the tv to watch crap like TeleTubbies and those other stupid bleeping things, was ok. Funny how the child was delayed in her speech and . I kid you not. Only made "bird" noises chirps and cheaps etc. Just like the characters she watched all day on the weekends.
To condemn tv is absurd. Try parenting. It isnt all that bad
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Amanda 8-09-2007 @ 7:59AM
My daughter said her first word at 8 months and at 15 months had an evaluation placing her at the language level of a 2.5 year old. She was an avid Baby Mozart watcher - while I took a shower, fixed dinner, etc. But not all day long. I think TV is definitely NOT a babysitter, but limited, educational programming can be beneficial. Did my daughter learn to speak from these vidoes? No. But they didn't hamper her development either.
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Tamyu 8-09-2007 @ 8:31AM
I didn`t let my son watch tv until he was around 2 and a half.
He still can`t talk at 3.
I think that it is *easier* for parents to have slow speakers watch tv. With my son, I can see this. He has great receptive language, but can`t speak at all. It`s frustrating for him and me to try to communicate. He`s happier to passively watch television.
That doesn`t mean I let him watch more than about 45 minutes a day, but I have to wonder whether the television is really the cause of all the speech delays or whether children with delayed speech just prefer to watch television.
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AB 8-09-2007 @ 9:11AM
M4Mommy, it's wonderful to hear (again!!) what a great job you're doing with your child. But the researchers specifically found that it made no difference how much parents watched with their children, so that's unlikely to be the reason that your child is not language-delayed and this other child was.
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CGOMEX 8-09-2007 @ 11:37AM
I think the key sentence is "Spending time with your children" you dont put your children in front of the TV and expect to learn the language. My son is 2yrs old and it is better than some 3yr olds. But when we had my son, I told my wife to not baby talk. We go down to his level and talk to him clearly. Now he pretty much says anything I say so I have to be careful.
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M4Mommy 8-09-2007 @ 9:17PM
Your right AB Maybe it was because the other parents were flamming idiots when it came to child rearing in general. The mom once said to me, and I quote." We are going to try and get pregnant again after we move. We are hoping that the next one is normal"
I called CPS on them several times. one day they dropped the child off with burns on her hand. They werent watching her and she put her hand through the car wheel (brake coolers) and she touched the brake pads that were still hot. They let the kid eat unpropagated cherries off the ground. Had her out at a local car show all day in the sun. Nice sunburn from that. Took her out and kept her out til 2am nearly every other night.
yes. I AM doing a great job parenting my child. And ya know what. She is going to be the one taking care of all the frekaing morons that are being raised by all the crappy ass parents out there now. Actually. screw them. I hope she takes care of the animals and the planet that all the crappy ass kids ruin. The planet and the animals deserve her attention more.
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Anna 8-09-2007 @ 10:41PM
My daughter didn't babble as an infant... that was the beginning of her speech delay. TV had nothing to do with it. My son was vocal early & has actually been almost completely opposite from DD. He watches TV any where from 25 minutes/day to 25 minutes/week or less. We pop in a DVD for him & watch together until he's done or it is done. He is never parked in front of it alone. DD though does watch a lot some days, but some days not at all. I'm very choosy about what & for how long. There are days though when I just don't pay attention & she gets waaayyy over stimulated from not enough supervision. Those are days when TV is highly limited for the next several weeks. Oh yeah, we only own one TV. I didn't have TV in my bedroom til I was 17...
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Clever Daddy 8-11-2007 @ 7:15PM
My 4 1/2 year old daughter watched a fair amount of TV ever since about 6 months old. I'm sure at least an hour a day on average. She hardly ever babbled but it turned out that she developed language skills far earlier than most other kids. Our friends, family, and her doctors, gymnastics, and daycare teachers were all astounded at her ability to speak clearly and with a much larger vocabulary than other kids her age.
We take care to let her only watch content that rates higher on our personal educational scale. We watch with her, spend tons of time talking and playing together, and read books together all day long. Her 18 month old sister is turning out the same way!
For something new, have you seen these educational DVDs that star YOU? They advocate watching with your kids and it's more fun that way anyway!
http://www.totbyme.com/?aff=CD
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