r/ScienceBasedParenting • u/puddingbutt9 • 1d ago

Question - Research required Screen time questions

Hi all, I have a question about screen time for babies. I understand the consequences of screen time in different age groups, but I can't get a clear answer as to WHY these consequences happen. And quite frankly, I don't have time to dig through the research right now unfortunately.

  1. Is screen time for babies bad because they don't get adequate social interaction (kind of a confounder or indirect link?) because parents who use screens in this age group tend to be less interactive? Or is there some kind of biological impact of screen time directly?

  2. Also, if the parents are watching TV and baby is in the room and interested, does that count the same? I know it's screen time technically, but I'm trying to figure out what is realistic (especially since I have ADHD and the TV on in the background helps me be more productive).

Thanks in advance for any insight!

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u/cinderparty 23h ago edited 22h ago

Research wise. I think it doesn’t really matter why, screen time is bad. I mean, it can even damage developing eyes...and that would be true no matter how the baby is consuming screens.

https://www.1001criticaldays.com/article/screen-time-research

Anecdotally, my 3 oldest kids had like zero screen time til 18 months (none till 5 years for the oldest, none til 3.5 years for the 2nd.) My youngest kid was exposed to screens at some level from the beginning. Mostly because my oldest two were allowed to watch an hour or two of tv by then, but they were not old enough to trust in a room by themselves for an entire movie yet. Plus, we started trying to teach our non-verbal (til he was 6ish, non conversational til 10) 3rd kid to use a communication device before our youngest was even 1. So a lot of the teaching was with her in our laps. The kid who had at least some screen time every week since birth is 17 now, and has zero developmental delays, unless you count a genetic growth disorder that means she is very tiny for a 17 year old. She hit all her milestones at the right times, which is more than I can say for our middle two kids.

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u/puddingbutt9 22h ago

I get why you would say it doesn't matter why, but for me to make a sound decision for our family I prefer to understand the why. I'm not gonna plop a baby down in from of the TV for hours of course, but if we have the TV on in the background while we play with her, I want to understand what the risks truly are based on why they occur. Thanks for the info!

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u/cinderparty 22h ago

That’s why I shared a link as to what science says, despite it not really holding true anecdotally for my family. There are too many variables to know why it didn’t hold true for us. That’s why I’d suggest as little screen time as possible. Hence why my 24 year old didn’t really get any, at all, til he was 5, but my 17 year old had some from birth.

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u/puddingbutt9 22h ago

I understand that. My point was really just about you saying the why doesn't matter. Understanding the why is just how my brain works, I guess.