Babies and TV: Why Don’t the Two Mix?

New parents and caregivers typically want what's best for their little ones. That's why they will buy all the latest gear, update themselves on the latest safety news, and go out of their way to make smart and well-thought-out decisions about raising them. However, some of those choices could involve getting an early start on education by plopping their babies in front of a television show that promises to help with learning and development.

Most experts caution against exposing babies to television too early in life because the cons can far outweigh the pros when it comes to childhood development.

Why is TV bad for babies? Keep reading to find out.

According to the Healthy Children blog, both infants and toddlers under the age of 18 months should avoid watching television. That's because pediatricians mostly agree that a new baby's brain just isn't developed enough for the bright colors, quick-changing scenes, and engaging music, preventing them from making sense of everything they're seeing.

This causes them to waste valuable learning and developmental time on TV, instead of on their loved ones and their immediate environment.

Additionally, the website says that introducing your child to screens before that 18-month mark can also have some long-term impacts, including on your kiddo's language development skills. And that's not the only thing that suffers, either. Both reading skills and important functions like short-term memory development can also be hampered.

Down the line, parents and caregivers may also notice issues with sleep and attention spans as well.

Does having a new baby mean swearing off television for two years? Not necessarily. While the experts agree that plopping your infant down in front of the television to keep them engaged while you're doing something is not good for them, there are mixed reviews on the downsides of having your baby in the same room as a television.

According to the Community Choice Pediatrics blog, using a television for background noise can have some negative impacts on your growing baby.

That's because the constant hum of a television, even if it's just on in the background, can hamper your baby's language development skills. Since babies are sponges in those early developmental stages, and they are subconsciously absorbing the words and sounds that appear all around them, medical experts say that the hum of the television can take away from this important stage.

Instead of listening to the back and forth between their parents and another sibling, or hearing mom on the phone, they can become distracted by the multitude of sounds in the room, preventing them from focusing on the social exchanges that they would otherwise be learning from in the moment.

But, that doesn't mean that TV doesn't have a place in your home. When used by grown-ups at the appropriate times and in the appropriate settings, your television can still be an entertaining asset.

It's all about moderation, paying attention to what else is going on in your household at the time, and taking some cues from your new baby and how they react when the television plays in the background.