Should Your Kid Tune In to Baby Media?

We often get emails from our parent members asking for help with the conflicting messages surrounding media for the under-2 crowd.

"I read that this baby video will help my child’s brain develop better," one member wrote. "Is this true?" Or this from another mother: "You say that pediatricians don’t recommend TV for kids under 2. Then why are you reviewing materials for them on your site?"

Here's what you need to know:

Do videos make your babies smarter?

Simply put: No. TV and videos will not make a baby's brain develop better. There is no research that proves your child will gain IQ points by watching shapes and animated characters drift or dance across a screen.

Actually, it's parents interacting with their babies -- in front of the screen or not -- that's going to build their brains.

We understand and appreciate that you want the best for your kids. And it's easy to be seduced by media titles that seem to promise bigger brains.

Remember that every minute in front of a TV is a minute not spent exploring the world with senses other than sight and sound. When babies watch TV, they're not simply being entertained, they're learning to sit and stare at a screen.

Why do we review these media?

Because parents are using them. Baby Einstein, which launched in 1997, started a mini-industry that has grown so fast that today, one American child in three has seen either one of their videos or a competitor’s. Now, there’s an actual television channel -- Baby First TV – aimed at the non-verbal set.

Given the startling numbers of children under 2 watching TV (a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found that 61 percent of babies 1 year or younger watch an average of 1:20 hours of screen media in a typical day), we feel we should at least give parents some solid information about the products they're being offered.

Even so, at Common Sense we continue to take to heart the American Academy of Pediatrics' advice when they recommend no television before the age of 2.

Liz Perle is the editor-in-chief of Common Sense Media. Share your own thoughts about baby media on the Common Sense Media Blog.