The topic of screen time for infants has become a topic of much debate, one that can be quite confusing. Any parent, but especially new parents, want clarity and the truth about television’s effects. In my many years as a UCLA professor and as a child development professional consulting to media producers, I’ve reviewed lots of studies on television effects and very young children. The latest study on infant television viewing, published in the current March-June issue of Pediatrics was designed to answer the following question:

To what extent is watching television before the age of two related to vocabulary development and visual motor skills at age three?
The results of the study of over 800 infants who were followed for 3 years, revealed that infant television viewing (at average or higher than average amounts of time) had a neutral to no effect on vocabulary development and visual motor ability at age three. Moreover, the study did not distinguish between infant DVDs, commercial television, pay per view movies, or the news. Whatever television the baby watched was counted. There still were no harmful effects.

Why is this debate being waged in the news and in magazine articles?
There is nothing more important in the life of an infant than a fully committed and loving parent. The American Academy of Pediatrics published their 1999 media guidelines that recommended no screen time for infants under two, ensuring that parents would not sacrifice direct interaction with baby for time in front of the TV. However, the AAP Guideline is an either/or proposition in a world where most parents firmly believe that both “together time” and screen time can co-exist in a baby’s life.

I decided to work with the Baby Einstein Company because of its commitment to promoting parent-child interaction around the DVD content and other products. You can sing and dance with your little one, talk about all the things you see on the DVD, replicate the puppet skits anytime you and baby want to share a laugh, and even bring the video experience to life with a reinforcing trip to the petting zoo, or the market, and just taking a walk in and around the house. The DVDs not only provide developmentally appropriate entertainment but give parents something to work with for enhancing all the other time they spend with baby.

So what does this all mean for my reality as a parent?
No one brings more to the table of your baby’s development than you. Knowing that screen time is not harmful means you can focus more on content. Yes, content matters; especially if you want to use the Baby Einstein DVDs to achieve the greatest benefit. The experience for baby is enriched if you talk about the content, coo, cuddle and generally make an event of baby’s movie time. Electronic media are really extensions of the board books, plush toys and mobiles that are basic inventory in an infant’s room. Parents would appreciate less confusion and more supportive research on how to make best use of media in family life. That would be more helpful at this juncture than holding fast to the all or nothing point of view.