Baby Care And Television
In earlier generations, children did not have a television to keep them busy. Instead, they spent most of their early days toddling around mom and dad and playing with toys. Later generations with televisions still only watched it infrequently and babies rarely watched it. Yet, in the modern age, things have changed considerably and babies, like most other children, are watching television. By some estimates, babies as young as six months old were watching an hour or more of television each day. Is this a good or bad thing?
There are two sides to this coin, but they often have a basis on the same thing. Children should not watch too much television at a young age. The reasons for this are many, but the largest reason is as simple as it takes too much of their imagination away and can often interfere with their ability to pretend play. Children who watch a lot of television do not spend enough time pretend playing, which is the heart of their development. Children who watch a lot of television at a very young age may not develop the same creativity levels as those that do not. Regardless of these facts, television viewing at long intervals is often very bad for a child's overall physical fitness level.
Is there any benefit to a baby watching television?
Children under the age of six months will not benefit from the use of television for any reason. Yet, those who are at this age and older may be able to get in some supervised time with mom and dad while watching television. Many television shows add some enrichment to a child's daily life and they can help them to learn things like colors, shapes, and even words. There is no doubt that children who watch television may learn more in their early years than the average kid that does not, but it is best that that learning comes from mom and dad, too, not just on their own.
Limiting television watching is crucial to anyone who has a young child. It will be an option for most children by the time they are one year old but still should have monitored. Children need more time to pretend to play and getting physical activity than most people realize. While it may be common for them to spend three or four hours in front of the television, this simply should not occur.