Screen Time and Your Baby – What You Must Know
In this Article
Technology is booming and in these modern times you have a lot of gadgets at your disposal. Your baby too seems to be growing with at the same speed as technology. It is quite obvious that you may find your little one get attracted towards the attractive smart-phone or the lovely I-pad. It seems like you may decide to encourage your baby to keep up with the times, to fuel a successful future ahead of course!
Life’s busy and you may fall short of time for your growing little one. Often, you will find a chance to leave your cutie-pie with your cool gadget. This will buy you time to finish things at hand and equally keep the little one busy. Now, does this screen time affect your baby? Here is what you should know.
Experts say, toddlers below 2 should be not allowed any screen time. However, for older ones the time should be very well limited. A close monitoring is also advisable.
Video : Baby and Screen Time – Effects and How to Control
Effects of excessive screen time
1. Limited Learning
Your little one is growing rapidly and the brain is developing way too fast. There is an immense increase in the volume of the brain which will process a lot of information. Your baby sticking to the TV or a smartphone will limit the learning and slow down the cognitive development. Your baby visualizing a ball on the screen will perceive it as a 2D view rather than the actual 3D view. Excessive screen time will also limit the language learning skill of your baby.
2. Keep Off
Always try to keep the screens off when attending to your little one. A constant noise on the TV will distract your baby. Again, learning will be affected and also your baby’s response time will be affected.
3. Red Marks
Screen time’s ill effect will certainly appear as a red remark onto your baby’s report card. Screen time is not limited to a certain age, you see! Too much time spent on the digital world will reduce interest and energy of your baby and hence the results!
Ways to prevent or control the screen time for your baby
1. Help Co-learn
Your baby will learn the most from the people around. Co-learning helps in many ways and you should focus on interesting ways to make it happen. Excessive screen time will create a lot of problems in young children ranging from eye problems to attention issues.
2. Limit
Set specified and defined limits for your baby’s screen time. This regulation is important because it teaches your baby the importance of time and discipline. A set limitation will compel your little one to finish the job at hand like eating or finishing the last page of the homework.
3. Availability
Your baby is self-sufficient most times. However, placing a gadget near the baby may keep the baby more occupied than you wish to, decreasing the bonding time he could have otherwise spent with you.
It is suggested that screen time should not be accessible until 3-4 years. However, it is completely based on you and your partner. Your little one will need a lot of guidance from you while growing up. Screen time has its benefits in teaching your child about the modern day world and is not necessarily a bad thing.
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