Saturday, February 21, 2009

TV and language development

In a study of infants aged 8 to 16 months, researchers found that watching baby DVDs or videos may actually delay vocabulary development.

Researchers interviewed 1,008 parents of children ages 2 months to 24 months about their children's language development and how their youngsters spent their time.

Among the babies 8 to 16 months old, the more time they spent watching baby videos, the worse was their language development, according to Reuters Health. Some examples of baby DVDs/videos watched include Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby.

3 comments:

Mandy said...

I have to say I got a bunch of baby einstein videos for gifts when Noah was born and I was never impressed. I still think things geared more towards preschoolers (Sesame Street, Signing Time, etc) can be good for language. Noah's had a lot of alphabet reinforcement watching that and learned a huge signing vocabulary.

Karen said...

we loved our baby einstein videos...and more importantly Dalton did too. The very early ones (Dalton is 6 so I havn't seen any in years) were made to stimulate them. We never used them as a learning tool. Good ole fashioned one on one is the best learning tool. Children each have a different responsiveness having to do with environment, home situations etc. Since Dalton is an only child he has always had a grown upness about him. Dalton could (and can)hold a conversation with you that would make you think he is MUCH older than what he is. He has been that way for years. But, when it comes to school, academicly (sp) he is on target despite his advance vocabulary. Kids need a variety. I wouldn't put the ban on the videos just yet. He likes some more than others. You are smart ladies go with what works with your child. You have to watch for hidden agendas when it comes to some things that are published for "our childrens better interest".

Barb said...

I also think you need to consider the personality/temperment of each child. Emma was far more physically advanced than Maggie, Maggie was more verbally advanced than Emma. When you take a blanket poll like that you are assuming each one of those children would ahve been verbal. Emma could talk, she just chose not to at times. I think you have to be careful with polls because not all children are the same & will learn at the same rate no matter what. All my kids had the same amount of tv watching (until recently where I've had to give in because of the craziness of life right now) but not all my children grew at the exact rate verbally. I think these things can often be misleading.