I am so blessed to have the sweet little boy that I have. I thought that when he was first born that he would be this high-strung child and I would have a long trek ahead of me. I was so prepared for dealing with lots of crying and difficult times, but I was soon mistaken. It's as though he's gotten better each month. He's more relaxed, better able to play by himself (I am a HUGE believer in teaching your child to play by themselves quietly.) He's better at signaling when he wants to eat and sometimes I can figure out when he wants to poop or pee, though this is a bit more difficult. I'm sure we will continue to learn on that one.
Sometimes I wonder if it was because I had to have a breech c-section (yes, I'm gonna go for a VBAC) and getting pulled out of the womb by his thighs made him more high-strung. Maybe it was the fact that he was born in the winter and Ben and I don't like spending a lot of money on heat, maybe it was our latch issues or the fact that he was two weeks early... I don't know. Whatever it is, I have found that he is so focused and is easy-going and not high-strung at all. I am so thankful for this wonderful little boy.
I have been reading and hearing a lot lately that Doctors do not recommend exposing your child to a television screen for the first two years of their life. Apparently it causes the fast brain to work and can actually hurt them developmentally as far as their attention skills verbal skills. I was listening to this NPR show that was talking about how Baby Einstein is a hoax and they were talking about it. I'm thankful that we don't have a TV and so we don't have to worry about it, but sometimes I have to watch when we go to someone else's house and we want to watch a movie or something like that. I can just feel like it would be so HARD not to allow that for your child. I have to watch that if I'm going to watch a show off the internet on my computer that it's during Levi's nap time or that he is in a position where he won't see the screen. Whew, this makes me so tired to think about.
What do y'all think? Has anyone else heard this or have any thoughts about it?
Thank y'all for reading!
Yes! American Academy of Pediatrics says no tv before 2. And in my maternal/child health classes in grad school they taught us that all those baby einstein things are "bad" because they can actually delay speech, etc. Carolina would be a tv junkie if I let her. I actually thought about using it as a tool to get her to roll over, but decided otherwise. I'm sure she catches enough glimpses of my awful crime shows as it is. Can babies have nightmares?
ReplyDeleteI often wonder about the nightmares. Levi wakes up in the middle of the night with a cry sometimes and then goes back to sleep, I often have to let him cry himself to sleep because he will get very worked up if I come in and he sees me. So I don't know. I have heard that they dream, but it is less organized than our dreams.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the TV junkie thing! When he's been in the same room as a TV that's on he will completely twist himself around to see it. He loves it. He takes after his mom, I love it way too much, which is why we don't have one :)
It is interesting because Trey was exposed to tv, including Baby Einstein, before two and I don't think he has suffered verbally. :) I wonder how much television it would take to stunt their brain development. Are these studies meant for the parents who just park their kids in front of television hour after hour, day after day, looking for it to be a babysitter? Are do they really apply to children who watch an hour every other day or just a couple of times. Jody, I'm not encouraging you to let Levi watch, nor am I saying you are wrong not to own a television. I'm just saying not to get to stressed out about it. There may be times in the future when Levi is watching a great movie such as "Planet Earth" or some other educational video and your sixth child (hehehe), who is a year old, is in the same room. I think television, just like anything else, needs to be kept in balance, and we need to be wise with what our children are viewing.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?
That's true Marcie, Trey for sure does not struggle with his verbal skills :) I'm sure that as we have more children we won't be able to shield them as much, and I will probably be more lenient about stuff. I'm hoping we can just always keep things like TV at a minimum.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree that those studies are for people who use the TV as a babysitter and expect their children to be geniuses. The "experts" on the NPR show I was listening to said the best way for a child to develop socially, mentally and emotionally is through your own human interaction with them. To this we can say, "Duh." :) I love it.
I totally agree with Marcie. We have a TV, but no cable or anything so Maddie really only watches Veggietales. When I was pregnant with Michael and right after he was born we let her watch a little bit to give me a break and she, in no way/shape/form is lacking in verbal skills ;)
ReplyDeleteI definitely don't think it needs to be a babysitter, but I think a little bit every now and again is ok. And just to be mindful of what we are letting our children watch and enter their little minds.
Not that you need to start letting Levi watch TV, but if he happens to catch a glimpse now and again I don't think it would be a huge deal :)