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Wagamaga OP t1_j77h4xf wrote

If you’re a parent, you’ve probably been there. You have a baby howling for attention, but you need to cook dinner or get a sibling to take a much-needed nap. Baby TV shows, touch tablets, and digital phone toys can feel like lifesavers in keeping an active infant calm and contained while juggling what life brings.

But a new study suggests that too much screen time during infancy may lead to changes in brain activity, as well as problems with executive functioning — the ability to stay focused and control impulses, behaviors, and emotions — in elementary school.

“The infant brain thrives on enriching interactions with the environment, and excessive infant screen time can reduce opportunities for real-world interactions that are important for brain development,” says Dr. Carol Wilkinson, a developmental behavioral pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital who was part of the study. “Especially today, when screens are with us all the time, we need to better support parents in non-screen time tips and tricks to keep infants engaged and parents sane.”

https://answers.childrenshospital.org/screen-time-infants/

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JKUAN108 t1_j77rgp9 wrote

> “Especially today, when screens are with us all the time, we need to better support parents in non-screen time tips and tricks to keep infants engaged and parents sane.”

Thanks for including that quote. I doubt the researchers are trying to "shame" parents who put their infants in front of screens, but it seems like their overall goal is to support parents in ways that also help their children.

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hezzaloops t1_j7aag18 wrote

This is what happens when nobody has a village to help raise the child.

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Angerina_ t1_j7aoy5p wrote

Friend of mine has a kid who can run from mom to grandma to grandpa to uncle all day, every day. I have nobody else around. My toddler loves to watch videos of people doing artisanal or technical things, like repairing machines, baking, painting, building, making music etc. We watch it together, I explain what they do.

And then she runs to her toys and wants to play what she saw, taking her cars apart and screwing them back together or she wants to bake muffins or draw with my help.

I rarely leave her to watch something alone, we talk about everything, her daddy does the same once he's home from work.

No fuss when screens are off or getting turned off.

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