- I recently came across
the newborn sensory stimulation video trend on YouTube.
Now, I had no idea it existed until a few days ago.
So as someone who specializes
in newborn and sensory development,
I was pretty curious to find out what it's all about.
I wanted to understand what the perceived benefits are,
why so many parents seem to be using these videos.
and of course, what the reality is
in terms of the effects these videos have on babies.
In case you haven't seen these videos,
essentially, they're videos
that are highly stimulating for babies.
They use lots of bright high contrasting colors,
lots of movement, as well as music and audio
to provide further stimulation.
So what are the potential benefits?
Sensory videos are often seen as entertaining
babysitting tools which parents can use
so that they can complete other tasks like have a shower,
prepare a meal, or simply have some downtime,
while also assisting with the baby's overall development.
According to the titles and descriptions
of many of these videos,
when a baby watches sensory videos,
their visual and auditory stimulation is being enhanced
and it is helping to also develop their eye control.
Also, if your baby chooses to dance along to the music,
the video is helping to develop
their gross and fine motor skills.
Now, I do think it's important to acknowledge
that sometimes as parents, we do need some time
where our babies are entertained
while we get other things done.
But the question is, do these videos actually deliver
in regards to assisting a baby's development?
Unfortunately, the research indicates
that this is simply not the case.
In fact, current research indicates
watching screens before the age of 18 months
may be causing more harm than good.
Now you may be thinking this must be an over exaggeration.
Surely letting a baby watch TV
which has been developed for babies
would not have a lasting impact on their development.
But it's important to consider two factors here.
In the first three years of your child's life,
it is a really critical time for their brain development.
In fact, during the first three years, your child's brain
will triple in size and will have reached
80% of its adult volume.
This extraordinary brain growth is due to connections
being formed between the brain cells
in response to learning.
Babies, as well as toddlers,
learn through interacting with people
exploring their environment, and physically interacting
with items and objects.
It is through participating
in these real life experiences
that they develop their cognitive, language,
motor, and social emotional skills.
And secondly, for a video or TV show
to be developmentally beneficial for any child,
they need to understand the content of the program
and pay attention to it.
And unfortunately, children under 12 months of age
simply do not have the cognitive ability
to make sense or meaning outta the pictures
or the dialogue coming from those videos or TV shows.
So although an infant may enjoy staring at the bright colors
and the changing motions on the screen,
as well as listening to the music,
they can't comprehend what's actually going on
in order to learn anything from it.
It's simply a massive amount of sensory stimulation
that doesn't provide any educational
or developmental benefit.
We also know that babies learn
through physically interacting
and playing with items and people.
With these things in mind,
it's very understandable that excessive screen time
can have a negative impact on a baby's development.
In fact, research indicates excessive screen time
under the age of two can negatively affect
a child's language development, executive functioning,
and attention span, as well as their fine
and gross motor skill development.
So let's explore how it can negatively affect
the development of each of these areas
starting with language development.
Current research indicates parent-child interaction
and play is critical for early language development.
But watching television or shows
actually reduces the opportunity for a child
to play and interact with others,
and this has a direct impact on language development.
This was demonstrated in a study
completed by Frederick Zimmerman and team where they found
that with every hour per day spent watching
baby DVDs or videos, the infant actually learns
six to eight fewer new words
than babies who never watched videos.
Another study from the Hospital
of Sick Children in Canada published in 2019
followed 893 children between six months of age
up to two years of age.
And what the researchers found in this study
is that at the 18 month old checkup,
toddlers who were exposed to more handheld screen time
were more likely to have delayed expressive language skills.
The study also indicated that every 30 minutes
increase in handheld screen time per day
resulted in a 2.3 times increased risk
of expressive language delay.
Furthermore, research has also found
that having the TV on in the background
is enough to delay language development.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics,
on average, a parent speaks 940 words per hour
when a toddler is around.
However, when a TV is on in the background,
the number of words actually drops to 770 words per hour.
And we know that the more an infant
is spoken to or hears words, the more words they will say.
Therefore, the reduction in words a little one hears
when the background TV is on will have a direct impact
on their speech and language development.
By the way, if you're hearing me mention
all these different expectations in terms of milestones
and what to expect from your little one at different ages
and wondering how you're meant to keep track of it all,
I actually created a free resource to help you with that.
You can download a copy
of my free developmental milestone checklist
by clicking the link
in the description box below this video.
It shows you everything to expect in regards
to your little one's development in the first year of life
so you know when to be concerned and when not to.
Now let's look at the impacts of screen time
on fine and gross motor development.
Research also indicates that watching screens
can have a negative impact on the development
of these skills.
That's because children develop
their gross and fine motor skills
through exploring their environment as they move around
as well as engaging with toys and objects while playing.
And unfortunately, when the TV is on
even if it's just in the background,
researchers found that babies and toddlers
are frequently distracted by the TV.
And as a result, the length of time
that they play with the toy is less.
And this reduced physical interaction with toys
and other items has a direct impact
on the development of their gross and fine motor skills.
But it doesn't end there.
Let's talk about attention.
Another study completed by Dimitri Christakis
also found that the more television
a child watched before age three,
the more likely they were to have attentional problems.
Here is what they found.
Are you ready for this?
This study actually blew my mind when I read it.
For every hour per day that they spent
watching TV before the age of three,
their chances of having attentional problems
increased by about 10%.
So for example, a child who watched two hours of TV a day
before the age of three would be 20% more likely
to have attentional problems
than the child who watched none.
So what does all this mean
in terms of sensory stimulation videos
as a tool for newborn development?
In my opinion, it's clear that based on the research
and evidence we currently have available to us,
none of it supports the claims made by many of these videos
as being beneficial for development in any way at all.
In fact, it shows that any type of TV
or shows under the age of two
are likely to negatively affect their development.
It's also important to mention
that the American Academy of Pediatrics
also discourages screen media
in children younger than 18 months of age
except for video chatting, and to avoid solo media use
in children aged 18 months of age
all the way up to 24 months.
Now if you do want to know what activities you can do
with your newborn to accelerate their development,
then make sure you watch this video next
to find out four proven ways
which will facilitate secure attachment
and work on developing your baby's
social communication, emotional skills,
as well as their fine and gross motor skills.
And before you go, if you like this video,
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