Isabel and TV

Like father like daughter, Isabel has discovered the magic of the television. She could be crying really loud and as her eyes glance at the TV, she would all of a sudden stop crying and become fixated on the TV. You would think this is good news as it seems like another way to soothe Isabel, but I did some research on the effect of TV on infants. Click here for more details.

The bottom line is TV is BAD for infants before the age of 2. Research states that it increases the chances for babies to develop ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) later in life. Since there is a lot of brain development from now until Isabel is 2, TV is too much of a stimuli for her little brain. TV changes scenery way too quickly and babies will begin to expect that in real life, which explains the risk of ADD. Besides, Isabel is beginning to stare at things without blinking for prolonged periods of time like all babies do. I am sure staring at the TV without blinking cannot be good for her.

Everything in moderation though. We cannot prevent Isabel from glancing at the TV once in awhile as we still watch TV, but we would never leave her in front of it unattended or let her look at the TV for more than a min or two even when we are holding her.

We will have to limit her TV watched when she turns 2, probably to 1 hr a day if possible. It's too early to think about that for now. I still want to treasure every little moment of her as a baby.

- Lei