Electronic Babysitting

When my husband and I moved into our suburban utopia, sans kids, we bought a giant flat screen TV. A few months later we could boast of having 3 computers, at home. Media (television/Internet) is like breathing, a necessity to my survival. Embarrassing, but true.


As a pediatrician and mother, if you ask me how I feel about television for my 12 month old daughter, all I can say is no thanks. Not now, anyway. That opinion is supported by the American Academy's Policy statement of television viewing in kids under 2 years. In a nutshell, no TV before age 2.

When I mention this at routine well child visits, many parents tell me that they allow their infants to watch 30 minutes to 1 hour day. They go on to say that they use only what they call "educational DVDs", like the popular Baby Einstein. Most parents, assume that these DVDs are actually educational and help kids learn. To be sure, Baby Einstein was created by a single individual, and as far as I understand has no scientific research to prove educational value.


Until now, it has been challenging for me to convince overwhelmed parents that avoiding the television before 2 years is best. I often explain that talking and singing to your child is better than the 30 minutes of television. Most parents understand my thoughts, but they explain life gets in the way: laundry, dinner, dishes etc. And so, visit after visit, parents tell me that their kids get "educational time" with the tube.

But most pediatricians know, intuitively that TV is not helpful for a child's growth. The March 2009 Pediatrics journal describes a study on the relationship between infants, TV and learning. The study concludes that for kids under 3, television does not assist in learning.

The researchers came to that conclusion by studying children from birth to 3 years. They tracked how much time a child spent watching TV from birth until 2 and at age 3 tested cognitive outcomes. What they found was, that kids who watched television did not have increased language and visual skills.


But what I find fascinating is that Baby Einstein uses this same study in the March 2009 journal of pediatrics on its website as a reason to explain why television is not bad for your child. I was stunned when a blog writer for the NY times writes about this same study and says "But here’s what else the study showed: contrary to what the researchers had expected to find, those babies were not WORSE off, either."



I don't know how anyone can draw that conclusion considering that many previous studies have linked children watching television to ADHD, obesity, violent behaviour, and decreased language and motor skills. Other studies have linked television with irregular sleep patterns in kids less than 2. Early television exposure has also been linked to hyperactivity. An important concept to consider when placing your infant in front of the tube. But, again when you read the baby Einstein websites, they handpick only a few studies from the vast research and then suggest that there is no harm.

The study in this months' pediatric journal did have some shortcomings. The researchers did not address exactly what the infants were watching. It also measure outcomes at age 3, and it is possible that this may be too early to test for improvement or detriments in visual and cognitive skills. An earlier study, tested kids at age 6 and determined that watching TV did lead to lower cognitive outcomes. Despite that the study seems to have many strengths. However, I do not interpret the study to suggest that television is not at all detrimental to a child's health.

That said, I, like many of my parents, am tempted to reach out and place my little girl in front of the TV. So far we have avoided putting her in front of the television. (And I do understand that if I had multiple children, it would be much harder to avoid television for the younger child.) I don't believe that my daughter will never watch television. Remember, I live and breathe media. But, I am going to hold out for as long as I can, hopefully until she is 3 years old.

When she does start watching television, it will be limited as the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends. My goal will be to be particular about what she watches, watch television with her, and talk her to about what she is watching. This will help ensure she gets the messages I want her to get.

In the mean time, I will be spending time with my daughter. The developmental studies have proven that talking, singing and spending time with your child, does greatly assist in your child's cognitive development.

So when families do come back to me trying to figure out how to get their kids away from the TV, I offer the following ideas:

Get outside and get moving.

Talk, sing, dance and jump around.

Sit down and play together

Read together

Make up your own stories

Create art
Build something

Cook together

Use your local libraries, parks and recreation areas.

Hopefully, parents who do use television when they really need to do not feel guilty about it. But, it is important to have the correct information before you decide to put your infant in front of the tube.

Breast Feeding 101

Many nursing mom's switch to this.





Without judgement, I completely understand why.


Although I am a pediatrician, I did not want to breast feed my baby. I know, having learned over and over again in medical school and then again in residency all of the reasons why women should breast feed.
I had heard the mantra "breast is best" over and over. Many of you know that breastfed babies have better immunity, tend to "bond" with their mothers and the books say, it is easier than formula feeding!

Regardless of all of this information, I had decided in my mind, at some point in medical school that I hated the thought of "me" breast feeding. I wanted everyone else to do it, all my patients and my friends. But, me, breast feed-- No Way! I mean no thanks. But, before my baby was born, I promised my baby's daddy (also a pediatrician) that I would at least try to breast feed.

The day arrived unexpectedly, and so did my first true test.

Day 0, hour 1 of my daughter's first day. I lay awake and asleep in my hospital bed to find my precious little daughter in my arms. It was time for her to eat.

She latched. She sucked, She drank. We did it! To be honest, the first time around, I was so dough eyed in love that I didn't really know what was going on.

And then, we got home and it started to sink in. She cried with hunger, she cried with exhaustion, I breast fed. But, I was exhausted and in pain from surgery. I was also overwhelmed by the new person in our home, yet for some reason I continued to breast feed. My little daughter lost weight the first week and was jaundiced. I worried she was not getting enough to eat, and despite that I continued to exclusively breast feed.

There it was. I had not given her any formula. Hip Hip Hooray!

But I still felt, well, not comfortable with breast feeding.

Despite that,I marched on. I continued to love, love and love my little daughter. But the breast feeding all I could express to others was, "they say, "breast is best."

so, at 3 months post partum I felt like this:

What job can only one person perform every 2hours, for 20-30 minutes at a time, 24 hours/day, 7 days a week for months and months at a time.
Breastfeeding. Only a mommy can do that.

This is what no one talks about. The challenges of breastfeeding. No coffee breaks, no bathroom breaks and certainly no meal breaks. How does anyone manage to take a shower, answer a phone call, or have a coherent thought in the middle of all of this. And I did not even mention the middle of the night feedings, diaper breaks, dirty laundry, oh yes, and grabbing a bite to eat yourself.
With all of this, it is no big surprise that most woman in the US don't do breast feed for long. Most women give up or wean before or around 6 months post partum.

All the while, that powdered white formula is sitting there, like a tiny while bottle of evil, calling my name, enticing me to pick it up and use it.

Some of my colleagues, wondered why I didn't give my daughter the occasional bottle of formula. But they just didn't know me in that special way. My obsessive compulsive tendencies weigh in and prevented me from going for the formula. If I was going to do something, I always do my best. And then was the other simple truth about me, if I tried the bottle of evil, a quick and easy shortcut, would I even be able to go back to breastfeeding?

So, I trudged on. Exhausted, and waking up every 2-3 hours to feed her all day and night.

As a mommy who has been exclusively breast feeding her baby for 10 months (no formula yet). I can say it ain't easy.

So why did I keep going? Because my daughter was thriving, and she was thriving so beautifully I did not want to give her any less than my personal best. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you there were many moments where I loved being the one person who she needed the most, for love, attention and her meals, but it went beyond just that. Something I just can't explain. With the combination of sleep deprivation and breast feeding, somehow, perhaps with the help of all of the maternal hormones still surging thru me, I was able to manage to wake up every day and be excited about seeing her and breastfeeding her.

In the end, I think that if someone had told me how much work the breastfeeding was, I might have been better prepared. Now, I hope you might be. But realistically, I don't think anyone can know, until it really happens.

As far as I can tell, I just passed my first test of motherhood, with patience, dedication, hard work and lot of love. Now, only many many more years to go.