News Moms Need

It may be tempting to put your infant or toddler in front of the television, especially to watch shows created just for children under age two. But the American Academy of Pediatrics says: Don’t do it! These early years are crucial in a child’s development. The Academy is concerned about the impact of television programming intended for children younger than age two and how it could affect your child’s development. Pediatricians strongly oppose targeted programming, especially when it’s used to market toys, games, dolls, unhealthy food and other products to toddlers. Any positive effect of television on infants and toddlers is still open to question, but the benefits of parent-child interactions are proven. Under age two, talking, singing, reading, listening to music or playing are far more important to a child’s development than any TV show. For more information on your child’s health, visit www.aap.org.

Furniture and TVs sometimes tip over and cause injuries. The number of these injuries is increasing. Our wonderful big-screen TVs that are so perfect for the Super Bowl are part of the problem. These are the findings of a new study published in the medical journal Clinical Pediatrics.

One out of four of these injuries occurs when children pull over or climb on furniture. For children under the age of 7, the main hazard is the television. Children may injure their heads or necks or break bones. Tthese injuries can be serious.

So what can we do?

  * Place the TV low to the ground and near the back of the stand.

  * Attach TVs and furniture to the wall with safety straps or brackets.

  * Buy furniture that has wide legs and a solid base.

  * Install drawer stops on chests that have drawers.

  * Place heavy items close to the floor on shelves.

  * Don’t put your child’s favorite toy or the remote control on top of furniture or the television. Small children love these items and will reach for them every time.

Do you know any tips that can help? Be safe, everybody.

OK, here’s how it goes. And I’m speaking from personal experience.

It’s about 7:00 in the evening. You’ve been at work all day. Or you’ve spent the day tending to your kids and your house. You’re beat and just want to relax.

So what’s the easiest thing to do? Turn on the boob tube. Or surf the Internet for the latest news on Brangelina.

The TV and the computer have become baby sitters for all of us, including big adult babies like me. 

This week is National Turnoff Week. By turning off your TV and other screens, you and your family can take some time to connect with each other and your community. National Turnoff Week is supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

So bring out those board games or the building blocks. Sing or dance together as a family. Go for a walk. Play some baseball in the back yard. Draw or paint pictures of each other, your house, your dog. Spend some time doing a household project (clean out the junk drawer together!). Do a good deed for a neightbor. Plant a flower bed or read a book together.

Here’s the big one: Talk to each other.

How are you planning to spend National Turnoff Week? Me and my family? That junk drawer is going down.

The more time a child spends with television, movies, video games, magazines, music and the Internet, the more likely he is to be obese and to perform poorly in school. And as the child gets older, he’s more likely to smoke and use drugs. This is what experts at the National Institutes of Health, Yale University and California Pacific Medical Center found in a recent review of research.  

What does this mean since most of us and our children love media? I had a nutrition professor once he told us “Everything in moderation.” That’s good advice, it seems to me, for many things in life. So be sure you and your kids walk, swim, play ball, socialize, dance, go to the zoo, join clubs, visit with neighbors and friends. The media are great; they enrich our lives. But too much of anything isn’t a good idea.

As one of the researchers said, “Couch potato does, unfortunately, sum it up pretty well.” So let’s get up, get our kids up, and get moving!

How do you manage the media in your children’s lives?

For more info on the study, visit the Web site of Common Sense Media.