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The "no TV for babies" rule gets a fresh look by the AAP - so how about apps?

Maybe you just have a TV - or two. Maybe you have TVs in every room, an iPad, a smartphone, baby videos, baby apps, computer learning games... Either way, your baby is most likely exposed to digital screens during at least part of each day.

The American Academy of Pediatricans - this country's preeminent group of baby doctors - has for the past 12 years said no, no, NO to screen time for children under age 2. The Academy even asked doctors to have moms report on how much TV their little ones had seen since the last well-baby visit. But hey, sometimes you just have to go to the bathroom/read your email/catch your breath. And giving the baby a screen to watch is one of the surest ways to grab those few minutes.

Last week, for the first time since 1999, the AAP issued a new policy on babies and screens. Maybe the docs listened to moms who said "get real"; maybe they based the new policy on more recent studies that show no long-term developmental fallout from some screentime (though some suggest the possibility of attention issues as a result of lots of meida consumption by babies and toddlers).

Here's what the AAP now says:

Be mindful of how much time under-twos are spending in front of one screen or another, even if it's a TV that's on in the background (just as distracting as a show you're actually watching)
Apps, TVs, videos - they're all screens, and none are better for babies
Screentime takes away from playtime, and playtime is when your baby really learns
Screentime takes away from baby-parent interactions, which are super important in the development of language, among other skills
For every hour a child under 2 spends in front of a screen, he or she loses about 50 minutes of mom-baby interaction and about 10 percent of creative playtime
There is no such thing as educational media for babies under age 2, and any development you might see happening as a result of an educational app or video would have happened anyway if you'd played or spoken with your little one
Try limiting media time for your baby on a daily basis.

The AAP doesn't say what that limit should be, so we're asking you: If you were going to limit screentime for your little one (or if you already do), including background TV, how long would that limit be? 5 minutes a day? 20? Please share!

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Comment by Sarah Mettee on November 8, 2011 at 11:26am: My son is 22-months old and he has never sat down to 'watch' a TV show. I am amazed when my friends tell me their baby has a 'favorite' show on television. Too much television is unhealthy for adults, much less children. They should be outside playing, using their imagination and building their creative minds and physical strength. And we wonder why obesity is such a problem in the US? Even having a television on in 'the background' has such adverse effects on children, per a children's therapist at my son's school. She is amazed when she makes house calls as to how many parents have the TV on 'for background noise only'. Turn on some wonderful music, especially now, Christmas music is already on! Sit down and have bonding moments and learning moments. An article this week from the OECD (organization of economic cooperation and development) came out and said the children in the US are so unprepared for 5K these days, that pre-school is a necessity! Help the future of this country and turn off the TV!!

Comment by Tameeka Ezell on November 2, 2011 at 12:48pm: my son is 18 mos and he never pays attention to the tv when its on...the only time he pays any type of attention to it is when a commercial with music comes on and he starts dancing lol which is his favorite thing to do :) then he returns to playing or running around chasing the dog

Comment by chelwig89 on November 2, 2011 at 12:00pm: Also, my DD has learned things from tv that I would not have taught her yet. She watches a lot of dinosaur shows (she loves dinosaurs) and tells me things that I didn't know. She has asked me for coloring pages of specific dinosaurs, and I have gone online to print them out so she can color them however she wishes. What's wrong with that?

Comment by chelwig89 on November 2, 2011 at 11:58am: We have the tv on all day, mostly for background noise. My 2 1/2 year old watches an hour or so of cartoons in the morning before I take over the tv. If my DD asks to watch a movie, we will watch it. If she asks to dance, we turn it off and turn on music. If she asks to color, we color. If she wants to read, we read. There is nothing wrong with it. She is a beautiful smart child, and at 2 1/2 she already meet ALL of the prek content standards to pass prek and ENTER kindergarten successfully. She also has a very vivid imagination and is her own person. And yes, as a student, about once a week I let her turn into a zombie doing her own thing, whether it's in front of a book, crayons, toys, or a tv, so that I can catch up on homework. And I don't feel bad about it.

Comment by momto4kiddos on November 1, 2011 at 11:48pm: No tv. . . I think it makes children unable to entertain themselves - they're too used to passive interactions.

Comment by Wonder Twin Mama on November 1, 2011 at 2:31pm: Our 19 month old twins watch NO tv. We turn on music during the day and have time to watch after they are asleep. We catch up on the news on the radio. I want to twins to have every chance to develop their creativity and learn from us.

I am upset by these guideline changes. Are we so far gone as a society that we can't turn the TV off during the day?

Comment by Erika, Star Mom on November 1, 2011 at 10:34am: We have our TV on all day long, and when our son goes to sleep, he watches TV in his crib before he falls asleep. He's one. During the day he just tunes in and out. It's cartoons until 11:00 then I change it to what I want on and he doesn't look at it at all. My son is a smart, happy, healthy, well rounded child, and I don't see any issues with having my Television on! However the only cartoons I let him watch are on PBS and Sprout, because they aren't like shows on Nickelodeon that lack any substance and have too many adult undertones.

Comment by Naomi Jordan on November 1, 2011 at 10:25am: I still say none!

Comment by Christina Cessor on October 31, 2011 at 3:29pm: We always have background tv in the family room/play room but our 14 month old could care less about watching tv. Sometimes she will go up to the screen and touch it but thats it. She is always grabbing her books and bringing them to us to read to her. We always play with her and take her outside to play. We have never placed her in front of the tv and left her.

Comment by sneakierbiscuit on October 31, 2011 at 3:07pm: Our 26 month old gets approximately 1.5-3 MINUTES of screen time a day, and our 9 month old gets NONE.

We have one television, but do not have it hooked up to service. When my husband and I want to watch a tv show on hulu, or a dvd movie after the children have gone to bed, we connect our devices then. No such thing as "background" television in our home.

Our 9 month old has never watched a screen. Our 26 month old watches a few short video clips of our family that we take on our iPhones. He likes to "relive" playing at the park. We let him watch 3 of these short videos (which range from 30 seconds to 1 minute long) as part of his bedtime routine each night, as a treat.

To keep them occupied on the occasion I need to go to the bathroom or make a phone call or whatever, the 26mo boy is happy to sit in the playpen reading books. The youngest is usually kept happy with a sippy cup of water (she's obsessed with her brother's sippy cups) or by bringing out one of the "lights, bells & whistles" toys for the duration. We usually keep the lights, bells and whistles toys for such times they need extra help. Otherwise we use cardboard boxes, blocks, cars, dolls, crayons, "cooking" items, books, puzzles, chasing games, singing & dancing together etc. to keep our children entertained.

I can't imagine ever "needing" television for anything, and I'm very happy with out choice to heavily limit television in our home. I do almost all my shopping online, and keep in touch with family and friends overseas (I moved from my home country) online, but we don't use the computer or our iPhone apps to keep our children amused.